Masa Takes Pole With Hamilton Second

Felipe Massa caused a considerable surprise by clinching pole for tomorrow's Turkish Grand Prix. It is the fifth time this season and eighth time in his career the Ferrari star will start from top spot on the grid. Current championship leader Lewis Hamilton managed to split the Ferraris in his McLaren as he joins Massa on the front row, with Kimi Raikkonen third ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Massa won his first race here from pole last year, but until the closing 15-minute session had barely been in the running as Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton all appeared quicker. At least on this occasion there was no controversy to mar qualifying as was the case at the last grand prix in Hungary.

Unlike at the Hungaroring when Alonso set off immediately behind Hamilton, the two drivers were comfortably spaced. Hamilton was second out on the track for the final 15-minute run, with Alonso last of the drivers competing in the top-10 shoot-out. But despite that advantage for Alonso, he failed to make it pay and potentially faces a tough battle to close the seven-point gap on Hamilton.

Behind Alonso come Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld for BMW Sauber, with Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella seventh and 10th for Renault, sandwiching the Williams of Nico Rosberg and Toyota of Jarno Trulli. Anthony Davidson narrowly missed out on a top-10 grid spot for what would have been the first time this year. The Super Aguri driver will start from 11th, equalling his best position since the season-opening race in Australia, finishing just 0.122secs off reaching Q3.

Behind the Briton come Mark Webber and David Coulthard for Red Bull Racing, followed by the Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, with the Williams of Alex Wurz in 16th.

After his recent upturn in fortunes, Ralf Schumacher did little to improve his chances of landing a new contract with Toyota for next season. Schumacher had reached Q3 at the last three races, prompting kind words from team principal John Howett yesterday that the German is "doing a good job." But on this occasion Schumacher failed to even make it beyond Q1 and will start from 18th, with the usual suspects around him.

Tonio Liuzzi starts 17th for Toro Rosso, while behind Schumacher will be Takuma Sato (Super Aguri), Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) and the Spykers of Adrian Sutil and Sakon Yamamoto.

Massa, who only qualified 14th in Budapest due to a number of problems, wore a big smile this time as he said: "It was very tough, very tight. You could say that through qualifying for all four drivers, but I put in a great lap and I am very proud, especially after such a bad result in Hungary."

Hamilton was happy enough with second, stating: "I'm quite pleased with that. I kept on pushing, losing a bit of time in the last corner, which is a tricky corner. But it's good for us and good for the team. The car is good. The team have been pushing to gain another step. We've a good package, which stands us in good stead to have a fight with the Ferraris."

Hamilton revealed there were independent pit crews for himself and Alonso to ensure there was no repeat of the incidents in Hungary.
"It was easier to have two pit crews, and I think it worked quite well," assessed Hamilton.

Massa trails Hamilton by 21 points, with Raikkonen 20 behind, and for the latter he knows a victory is vital if he is to remain in the hunt.
A confident Raikkonen said: "We're still in a good position tomorrow, and we will see what we can do in the race."