Massa on pole as Ferraris dominate Malaysian GP qualifying

Mar 22, 2008, 9:33 GMT

Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa (front) of Ferrari steers his car ahead of British Lewis Hamilton (rear) of McLaren Mercedes during the Qualifying session at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 22 March 2008. Massa won the pole position and British Lewis Hamilton clocked fourth. The Formula One Grand Prix of Malaysia will take place at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur on Sunday 23 March. EPA/Kerim Okten

Sepang, Malaysia - Felipe Massa of Brazil led team-mate Kimi Raikkonen of Finland in a Ferrari one-two to claim pole position in qualifying Saturday for Sunday's Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton, winner of last week's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, was fourth, behind McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen of Finland.

Massa posted 1 minute 35.748 seconds on the 5.543-kilometre-long Sepang circuit, with reigning world champion Raikkonen about half a second behind on 1:36.230.

'I managed to put it all together in the third session and do a great lap,' Massa said.

Both Ferraris had suffered engine failure in Melbourne, leaving Raikkonen with one point and Massa without any.

'What happened in the last race was incredible. We had a lot of problems and after a great winter it was not expected,' Massa said.

'So our championship starts now and hopefully we will be quick and consistent.'

Raikkonen said his Ferrari was strong but he was not completely happy with qualifying.

'I was not too happy with Q3 (the last session) but I couldn't get the grip and couldn't get the best out of it,' he said.

'But second is a good place to start and the car is good. It will be a long, hot race but I'm looking forward to it.'

Jarno Trulli of Italy in a Toyota was fifth behind the McLarens, with Poland's Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber sixth and team-mate Nick Heidfeld of Germany, the runner-up in Melbourne, seventh after running into traffic on his last flying lap.

Mark Webber of Australia in a Red Bull was eighth, Spain's Fernando Alonso in a Renault ninth and Timo Glock of Germany in a Toyota 10th.

Nico Rosberg in a Williamns, third in Australia, failed to make it to the third and last session and starts in 16th place on the grid.

Kovalainen, who was 0.865 seconds behind Massa, was pleased with third place on the grid.

'Third place was the maximum that we could achieve. I am happy with that. It is still a good position to start from tomorrow,' he said.

Hamilton was 0.961 seconds slower than Massa, saying he struggled to find grip in the third session.

'The set up isn't where I want it to be. We changed some things today and I'm not sure that was the right way to go,' he said.

'I have to find out where I'm losing time because I'm quite a long way off the Ferraris so it will be interesting.

'I wouldn't say we're on the back foot for the race but they have a very good car and we have to stay positive and go out and get some good points.'

Rain had been forecast for the qualifying session but held off apart from a few drops in the third stage. However Sunday's race could be affected by rain, according to forecasts.