Felipe Massa claimed pole position on 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 one minute, 27,329 seconds for the 5,338km 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 teammate 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.
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. — Sapa-dpa