Fiery Hamilton grabs pole

 Lewis Hamilton lapped in a league of his own on Saturday to seize pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix with Mercedes team-mate and championship favourite Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row.

Rosberg has a 12-point lead and can afford to let Hamilton win Sunday's day-to-night race, knowing a podium finish at Yas Marina will secure him a first championship to match father Keke's 1982 triumph.

Hamilton has to be in the top three to have a chance of becoming Britain's first four-times world champion.

He gave himself the best chance under the floodlights, setting a series of fastest sector times that left little doubt about his determination to try to beat the overwhelming odds against him.

"It's been such a privilege driving this car," he said. "This weekend so far I've got the car in a real sweet spot...and yeah, I'm in a perfect position for tomorrow."

His time of one minute and 38.755 seconds was a real statement of intent, the champion a mighty 0.303 faster than Rosberg's best effort.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo qualified in third place for Red Bull, with a lap more than half a second off Rosberg's pace, and will share the second row with Ferrari's 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel starts in fifth place with Red Bull's Max Verstappen sixth.Britain's Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, will line up for his farewell race in 12th position for McLaren.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, also leaving after Abu Dhabi, qualified 10th for Williams.

Force India impress

Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez will start seventh and eighth on the grid.It is a landmark race for Force India, who are on the verge of finishing a record fourth.

They are 27 points ahead of rivals Williams in the battle for fourth and only a disastrous race can stop Force India from achieving the milestone.

Abu dhabi Grand Prix qualifying results

DriverTeam    Time1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain)Mercedes     1:38.7552. Nico Rosberg (Germany)Mercedes     1:39.0583. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)Red Bull     1:39.5894. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)Ferrari     1:39.6045. Sebastian Vettal (Germany)Ferrari     1:39.6616. Max Verstappen (Netherlands)Red Bull     1:39.8187. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany)Force India     1:40.5018. Sergio Perez (Mexico)Force India     1:40.5199. Fernando Alonso (Spain)Mclaren     1:41.10610. Felipe Massa (Brazil)Williams1:41.213