The McLaren star has come under fire this week for his aggressive driving style, but the 23-year-old produced a stunning performance to clinch the 13th pole position of his Formula One career.
But Hamilton has the red menace directly behind him as Ferrari duo of outgoing world champion Kimi Raikkonen and title rival Felipe Massa start second and third at the Shanghai International Circuit.
A happy enough Hamilton said: “It’s looking good.
“There were some positives after what happened last weekend as we came here very strong and very determined, and that was one of my best qualifying performances.
“I’ve a huge amount of support from back home, from across the world, from my team and especially from my family.
“It was still tough out there with everyone very competitive, but I’m happy I got the lap done.”
With a five-point cushion in the title race to Massa, Hamilton will have to finish six points better off than the Brazilian in the race if he is to become the sport’s youngest world champion.
Sadly, he failed to be given a helping hand by team-mate Heikki Kovalainen who could only qualify fifth, with Fernando Alonso fourth in his Renault.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber initially qualified sixth, but he will drop to 16th due to a 10-place grid penalty incurred after an engine change after the Renault unit blew in final practice.
BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld will start from the third row, while Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso and Jarno Trulli in a Toyota make up the fourth row.
The second Toro Rosso of Sebastian Bourdais and Nelson Piquet Jr in a Renault complete the top ten.
Championship contender Robert Kubica in a BMW-Sauber struggled to get through to the second round and managed only the 15th-fastest time - one place above those who did not advance.
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