Massa edges out Schumacher for pole
Felipe Massa claimed his first Formula One pole position with a late flier to deny team-mate Michael Schumacher in qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix today.
Massa, 25, has started from second four times this season but he finally went one better thanks to a late lap of one minute 26.907 seconds.
He will line up at the front for the first time in 66 races as he chases a maiden win.
That stunning lap denied Schumacher by 0.377secs as Ferrari locked up the front row of the grid for the fourth time this season.
Schumacher’s championship rival Fernando Alonso, who leads the standings by 10 points, starts directly behind Massa in third.
Renault team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella took fourth spot while Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher set the fifth fastest time but will drop to 15th after an engine change this morning.
BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld inherits fifth place from the German while Jenson Button, winner of the last race in Hungary, is sixth on the grid.
The Honda driver, who has targeted a podium this weekend, was less than a second off Massa’s pace after maintaining his strong practice form.
Last year’s winner Kimi Raikkonen struggled to match his pre-qualifying boast that McLaren were right on the pace and lines up seventh.
Scotsman David Coulthard failed to make it through first qualifying after just missing out with his last flying lap.
The Red Bull driver dropped into the bottom six thanks to a last-gasp effort from Christijan Albers and was unable to counter with his final attempt, condemning him to start 17th.
Pedro de la Rosa came back down to earth after his career-best result last time in Hungary.
The McLaren driver was second in Budapest but failed to even make it through second qualifying today and starts 11th.
Rubens Barrichello was another to miss the cut in the second session, taking a disappointing 13th while team-mate Button breezed into the pole posiion shoot-out.
