Massa Takes Pole As Hamilton's Tyre Gamble Backfires

Lewis Hamilton looked as if it was he, and not Heikki Kovalainen, who had recently received a bang on the head. The Englishman may have attributed his pained look at the post-qualifying press conference to a need to visit the lavatory but his discomfort probably had just as much to do with the prospect of starting today"s Turkish grand prix from third on the grid behind the Ferrari of Felipe Massa and Kovalainen"s McLaren.

It is only the second time this season that Hamilton has been edged out by his McLaren team-mate during qualifying but Kovalainen"s performance is all the more laudable because it comes just two weeks after a heavy crash during the previous race in Spain. The Finn can remember nothing about the accident after being knocked unconscious for a brief period. The statistics will remind him – and Hamilton – that he was on a better race strategy than the Englishman when a front wheel failure caused the crash. Both McLaren drivers are now aware that the grid for today"s fifth round of the championship presents Kovalainen with an opportunity to deal with unanswered questions and unfulfilled promise.

Hamilton yesterday blamed choosing the wrong tyres for the third and final phase of qualifying. As ever, drivers have been provided with a hard and a soft tyre, Hamilton using them both and going against expectation and popular choice by favouring the former for his final run. "There was not a lot to choose between the two," said Hamilton. "The car did not feel as good when I ran the option [soft] tyre, so I decided to stay with the prime [hard] because it was more consistent. It was the wrong decision. I made no mistakes on my final lap and did the best I could with the car. It was the quickest I could have gone."

It was also a tenth of a second slower than Kovalainen and a massive 0.3 seconds behind Massa, who will start this race from pole for the third year in succession. Whether the Brazilian can convert that into a hat-trick of wins in Turkey depends on the strategy chosen by Ferrari and whether or not the Brazilian was running with less fuel than his rivals in order to gain an advantage during qualifying. Massa"s body language suggested that his second pole position of the season (the first driver to do so) was won strictly on merit at a track he enjoys.

"It was a very good lap," said Massa. "It"s a fantastic track for me and I"m always happy to come here. I made the right choice of tyres at the right time and warmed them up in the right way."

Kimi Raikkonen could not say the same thing after qualifying a disappointing fourth, the leader of the world championship making a mistake half way round his best lap and losing time on the long back straight.

"I"m a bit disappointed that I made mistakes and I have to accept that," said Raikkonen. "I would obviously have preferred to have been further up the grid but fourth is definitely not the end of the world. What matters most is the race, when the points are given out. We"re up against very strong opposition, which is no surprise to us."

Unlike Hamilton, Kovalainen chose the softer tyre and made good use of it during a lap which was fast enough to give the Finn the first front-row start of his F1 career, a result that added to his sense of well-being after a dramatic few weeks.

"I"m just pleased to be here and have no physical injuries after that accident," said Kovalainen. "I had a headache for a few days – just as you would if someone had hit you over the head with a baseball bat. They did all the scans and checks and everything was OK. I went to a sports institute in Finland specialising in head injuries and then made a maximum effort during training here to make sure my body could take the stress.

"I felt perhaps a little more nervous than normal when I went out for the first time on Friday but, after half a lap, everything was functioning like normal. No one in the team asked how I felt after that. It was just a case of 'Right, let"s get on with it.'"

Roughly translated, it means Kovalainen is out to win his first grand prix, a prospect that must add to Hamilton"s discomfort as he deals with his team-mate as well as the ever-present Ferraris.