Massa grabs pole for Turkish Grand Prix

By Elmar Dreher Aug 25, 2007, 13:37 GMT

Istanbul - Felipe Massa claimed pole position Saturday for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix, beating championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes into second place.

Brazilian Massa, who also took pole last year at Istanbul Park, registered a time of 1 minute 27.329 seconds for the 5.338-kilometre circuit, with Hamilton second in 1:27.373.

Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari will start from third, alongside defending world champion Fernando Alonso in a McLaren.

Robert Kubica qualified fifth in a BMW-Sauber, ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld, followed by Renault's Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg of Williams in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault completed the top 10 qualifying places.

'It was very tough,' admitted Massa after securing his fifth pole of the season. 'It was always a tight fight between all four drivers.'

Hamilton said he was pleased to start on the front row of the grid and expected to be competitive in Sunday's race.

'I lost a little bit of time coming out of the last turn,' said the Briton. 'But it was good for me and good for the team to be in the top four.'

Meanwhile, Raikkonen said his failure to put in a perfect lap in the third qualifying session had cost him a higher starting place on the grid.

'I had a bid of oversteer in the last two corners but third is okay,' said the Finn. 'I think we are still in with a good chance.'

Hamilton heads the drivers' standings on 80 points with six races remaining, seven clear of Alonso in second. Raikkonen lies third on 60 points, one ahead of Massa.