1. L Hamilton 1:25.368

2. F Alonso 1:25.438

3. K Raikkonen 1:25.516

4. F Massa 1:25.765

5. N Heidfeld 1:26.505

6. J Button 1:26.913

7. M Webber 1:26.914

By Jonathan Stevenson

"I think there is a problem with your system. It says on my computer that Button is seventh. Please rectify this obvious error."
Ki, in Colchester via text

Come on, don't be like that, Ki. It's about time the Brits started dominating F1, don't you think? Anyway, that's it from me for a brief but nevertheless enjoyable morning stint. Don't forget to tune in tomorrow at the equally ungodly hour of 0530 BST for live updates of the actual race, brought to you by my quite frankly exceptional colleague Mr Sam Lyon. Laters.

0701: Qualifying is done. Hamilton produces the goods with seconds to spare, with a fabulous lap to get pole position ahead of Alonso. Stunning stuff from the young Englishman.

0658: Two minutes to go. It's almost pole o'clock.

0656: Felipe Massa's on a flying lap. It's his 26th lap in qualifying so far, which seems like an awful lot.

0653: Seven minutes to go. The cars are getting into the pits to change tyres. It's about to get hectic.

"How am I supposed to contribute on 606 if its closed for another two-and-a-half hours? But no-one's talking to you so morning! Also why are we not at Suzuka this year?"
S, via text

Ah, some banter, finally. S, you don't know what this means to me! Regarding 606 - I know it seems ridiculous, but we can't open up the forums until we've got enough people in for moderation purposes. And the lazy so-and-so's don't get out of bed until later. As for Suzuka, apparently their contract ran out last year and this track next to Mount Fuji stepped up. Need to do something about the fog, though, clearly.

0646: Lewis Hamilton, Fernand Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button, Robert Kubica, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel get the third and final qualifying session under way. This is when it gets properly serious, incidentally.

0640: So the next lot out are Giancarlo Fisichella (11th), Heikki Kovalainen (12th), David Coulthard (13th), Jarno Trulli (14th), Vitantonio Liuzzi (15th) and Ralf Schumacher (16th).

0635: Lewis Hamilton is still ahead of Fernando Alonso, but David Couthard needs to produce a quick lap in the next two minutes otherwise he's gone in the next batch of six.

0630: Jenson Button produces a fine lap to move into fifth, his Honda adapting well in the still difficult conditions - it's fine rain near Mount Fuji, but fingers crossed qualifying can be finished without any stoppages.

0618: Rubens Barichello (17th), Alexander Wurz (18th), Anthony Davidson (19th), Adrian Sutil (20th), Takuma Sato (21st) and Sakon Yamamoto (22nd) are out after the first qualifying session.

0615: Ralf Schumacher had got himself into the top 16 but once again spins off and loses his rear wing in the process.

0614: "Lewis Hamilton is looking a little bit unstable breaking at the minute - he's 18th at the moment and needs a decent lap too."
BBC 5live's David Croft.

0610: Ralf Schumacher is currently in the bottom six. He needs a half-decent lap and quick, otherwise he's on his way out already.

0603: Qualifying is under way. We have a spinner already, with Ralf Schumacher in his Toyota running off.

"At least the cars have gone out for qualifying, we were worried they wouldn't be able to. Cloud is coming over and the track temperature is only 20 degrees."
BBC Radio 5live's Holly Samos

0556: Lewis Hamilton has certainly stoked the fires ahead of this weekend's action with his recent comments about title rival Fernando Alonso. With three races to go, the duo are separated by only two points. Everything, and I mean everything, to play for.

0549: With qualifying set to start in just 11 minutes, we're still none the wiser about conditions in Japan. Qualifying was stopped because the FIA's medical helicopter had to be grounded after just five minutes in the air.

0530: Welcome to coverage of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway - but let's dispense with the (very) early pleasantries and get on with the chat.

It's not great news in fairness, after fog and rain led to Saturday's morning practice session being cancelled.

Details are sketchy at this stage, but we'll bring you further information as and when we get it.

Qualifying results from the Japanese Grand Prix, Saturday.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1 min 25.368 secs
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:25.438
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:25.516
4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:25.765
5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:26.505
6. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:26.913
7. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1:26.914
8. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:26.973
9. Robert Kubica (Poland BMW Sauber 1:27.225
10. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:26.033
11. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 1:26.232
12. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull - Renault 1:26.247
13. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:26.253
14. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1:26.948
15. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota
16. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 1:26.728 *
17. Rubens Barichello (Brazil) Honda 1:27.323
18. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams - Toyota 1:27.454
19. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri - Honda 1:27.564
20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker - Ferrari 1:28.628
21. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri - Honda 1:28.792
22. Sakon Yamamoto (Japan) Spyker-Ferrari 1:29.688