Hamilton on pole, one inch from the crown.

The China Grand Prix was at the qualifying session phase today on the Shanghai recetrack and Lewis Hamilton jumped on the occasion to register the best time of the plateau and grab the pole position for tomorrow's race.

This 16th event of the 17 scheduled races could very well crown this season champion come tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton only needs to finish in front of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen to be declared world champion tomorrow.

At his very first season in F1, Lewis Hamilton represents the ''after Schumacher'' era. The season has been exceptionally interesting for racing fans this year. We haven't seen a three way race for the individual title in years and it was refreshing for the fans. You can bet that next year, it will be equally interesting... everybody will want to beat Lewis on the track.

Will Lewis Hamilton be crowned champion tomorrow afternoon?

Here are the top 10 times registered today:

Pole: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 1:35.908
2-Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:36.044
3-Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:36.221
4-Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1:36.576
5-David Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:37.619
6-Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1:38.013
7-Mark Webber (Red Bull) 1:38.153
8-Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:38.455
9-Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1:38.472
10-Jenson Button (Honda) 1:39.285

(Picture: Lewis Hamilton, Canadian Press)