Lewis Hamilton put on a dominant qualifying performance on Saturday to claim pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Mercedes' three-time Formula One world champion set a new 1-minute, 27.319-second qualifying lap record to pile the pressure on championship rival Sebastian Vettel, who lapped the Suzuka circuit almost half a second slower in his Ferrari for the third fastest time.

Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas clocked second fastest, but a five-place grid penalty will start him seventh Sunday, with Vettel moving up to second.

"It was just incredible to come here with this car. This track has always been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, circuits and with this car it is just mind-blowing," said Hamilton, who with Saturday's effort completed his set of pole positions on all 20 current F1 circuits.

"(Suzuka) has always been one of the craziest rollercoaster rides, but now with these cars, with the downforce that we have now...it's insane the speeds."

Hamilton was happy the friendly version of his car showed up in Japan after a difficult race last weekend.

"The car is a lot different this weekend, a lot more enjoyable to drive. Last weekend was a bit of a disaster, we still got pole, which was unusual, but generally, we take a step a little bit slower where the Ferraris do the opposite (on race day)."

Vettel was upbeat despite the large qualifying deficit to Hamilton.

"I'm pretty happy, to be honest. The car balance was getting better. We still were lacking a bit of balance but all in all I think it was a positive day," said the German.

"The car should be better in the race. The last run in (qualifying three) I tried a little bit more than there maybe was...took a bit more risk. It didn't work, but still happy with third and front row for tomorrow."

"(Mercedes) have been a bit up and down. Last week they were not very quick but this weekend they seem to be back to normal, so I think so far this year has been very close and I expect it to be very close tomorrow."

Red Bull teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will share the second row for Sunday's race. It is the first time in the past seven races that the Australian has bettered his Dutch colleague in qualifying.

Ferrari's No. 2 driver Kimi Raikkonen almost did not make qualifying after a practice crash left his car damaged and once on track, was never challenging for pole, taking the sixth fastest time.

For the Honda-powered McLaren team, Belgian youngster Stoffel Vandoorne did not reach the final qualifying stage after being pushed into 11th by his teammate Fernando Alonso.

It mattered not, however, as the Spanish driver had already accumulated a 35-grid place penalty for engine part changes and will start from the back, elevating Vandoorne into the top 10.