Massa on pole as McLarens pay grid penalty (Roundup)

Mar 22, 2008, 13:54 GMT

Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Ferrari steers his car through a turn during the qualifying session at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 22 March 2008. Massa won the pole position at the qualifying session. The Formula One Grand Prix of Malaysia will take place at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur on 23 March 2008. EPA/KERIM OKTEN

Sepang, Malaysia - Felipe Massa grabbed pole ahead of Ferrari team-mate Kim Raikkonen for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix and then saw rivals McLaren Mercedes dropped down the grid for holding up other drivers in qualifying on Saturday.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton, winner of last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, will start from ninth place, one behind Finnish team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, after being penalized five places.

The McLaren drivers had finished in the second row behind the Ferraris, but stewards ruled they had impeded Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber and Fernando Alonso in a Renault near the end of qualifying.

'We accept the ruling of the sport commissioners and are now starting from further back. Who knows what this is good for - perhaps we will have the last laugh in the end,' said Mercedes sports chief Norbert Haug.

Ferrari, who had suffered engine failure to both their cars in Melbourne, will now be regarded as clear favourites to win Sunday's second race of the season.

The Italian team dominated qualifying, with Brazilian Massa posting 1 minute 35.748 seconds on the 5.543-kilometre-long Sepang circuit, with reigning world champion Raikkonen of Finland 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.

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

'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 finished fifth fastest but moves up to the second row in third place, with Poland's Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber behind him.

Heidfeld, the runner-up in Melbourne, improves from seventh to fifth as a result of the penalty for the McLaren duo.

The German had complained that the McLarens prevented him from achieving a higher grid position than seventh.

Hamilton and Kovalainen had completed their last qualifying sessions and were cruising back to the pits, trying to save as much fuel as possible for Sunday's race.

Heidfeld was still on a flying lap and lost time steering his way through the traffic.

'If you look at the times they were very, very close - I lost two tenths and I think that would have put me third,' he said.

'We reported it on the radio, and from my point of view it was not correct what they did.'

Speaking before the punishment, McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said the team had informed its drivers there were cars still on their flying laps.

'They did all they could to squeeze over to allow Nick and Fernando to do their quick laps,' he said.

'I don't think we impaired Nick but I can understand visually if you have got all of those cars and you are trying to do a quick lap it is not something you are going to be comfortable or happy with.'

Alonso, world champion in 2005 and 2006, moves up from ninth to seventh, a place behind Mark Webber of Australia in a Red Bull.

Timo Glock of Germany in a Toyota remains 10th, now immediately behind Kovalainen and Hamilton.

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

Kovalainen, who was 0.865 seconds behind Massa, was initially 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 before the decision to move him down the grid.

'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.'

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.