GP – Qualification: Massa on pole, McLaren follows

Felipe Massa will start from pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix for the third consecutive year after a brilliant performance in the qualifying session at Istanbul Park.

The Ferrari driver, who is also seeking a third victory on this track, was almost half a second ahead of his pursuers after his first run in Q3. While the McLarens were neck and neck, the Brazilian once again managed to accelerate at the right moment to improve his first time and secure pole position with a 1’27”617.

Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton are in 2nd and 3rd place respectively for McLaren. The championship leader, Kimi Räikkönen, could do no better than 4th place with the second Ferrari. On his last lap, he managed to relegate Fernando Alonso behind him.

The McLarens were more than a second off the pace set by Massa in the first part of Q3. The silver arrows then gained competitiveness during their second run. Hamilton used hard tires while Kovalainen briefly took provisional pole position from Massa.

Robert Kubica completes the top 5 with his BMW, four places ahead of his teammate, Nick Heidfeld.

Red Bull Racing placed both its cars in the top ten for the first time this season. Mark Webber and David Coulthard then chose to save fuel with only one timed lap during Q3. They are in 6th and 10th place, respectively.

Jarno Trulli achieves for the 5th time this year, the feat of reaching the 3rd part of qualifying. He finishes this session in 8th place while his teammate, Timo Glock, is only 15th.

Alonso was not able to replicate his performance from Barcelona but comfortably finishes in the top 10. He will be in 7th position on the starting grid.

Rubens Barrichello was unable to reach Q3 for his 257th Grand Prix, which is a record, but finishes ahead of his teammate, Jenson Button. Honda positions in 12th and 13th place just behind Nico Rosberg on Williams (10th).

The German fought until the end of Q2, including against Heidfeld, to secure a spot among the top 10.

The withdrawal of the Super-Aguri team has made it more difficult to reach Q2, with only 15 cars allowed instead of 16.

The Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and the Renault of Nelson Piquet suffer the consequences as they are 16th and 17th. The Brazilian was, at one point, 15th but dropped back to 17th because the other drivers improved their times in the last seconds.

Sebastian Vettel reached Q2 with his Toro Rosso, but his teammate Sébastien Bourdais is only 18th. In the end, the Frenchman is just 179 thousandths behind Vettel, who is in 14th position.

The Force Indias are on the last row. Although Giancarlo Fisichella was half a second faster than his teammate Adrian Sutil, he will start in last position because of his penalty for exiting the pits under red lights.

Qualifying Results – 2008 Turkish GP