The main noise to be heard in the Circuit de Catalunya paddock this weekend is the cry of "Alonso, Alonso," from all his fans in the guest suites above the pits. But this afternoon, those cries were silenced as the local hero was beaten to pole position by Felipe Massa. The on-form Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro man took his F2007 to a third consecutive pole position, beating Fernando Alonso's McLaren by just three hundredths of a second. It was an exciting climax to the qualifying as, in the first part of Q3, Alonso had been almost half a second quicker than a group made up of the two Prancing Horse cars and his McLaren- Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton.

Lining up behind Felipe in third place on the second row is his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who has Hamilton alongside him in fourth. Robert Kubica took his BMW-Sauber to fifth place, while Jarno Trulli completes the top six for Toyota. Today, it was announced that the Spanish Grand Prix has a contract to run here at the Barcelona circuit until 2016. As for tomorrow's race, it will be interesting to see if changes made to the track configuration in the name of safety also have the anticipated effect of adding some more overtaking opportunities.

This is the fourth race of the season and it is fourth pole position for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, for a third time courtesy of Felipe Massa. It is the twelfth time that a Ferrari driver will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position and the 190th in the history of the Prancing Horse in Formula 1. For Felipe, it is the sixth pole of his career.

Jean Todt: "As has always been the case in this opening phase of the championship, we once again witnessed a very closely contested qualifying session. Thanks to a fantastic lap from Felipe, we have maintained a 100% record for pole this season and our great overall performance was confirmed with a third place for Kimi. We realize today is only the first hurdle out of the way as we aim for victory, while the hardest part is yet to come tomorrow afternoon. As usual, we will have to put all the elements together to meet our objectives: the start, the strategy, team work and reliability. Barcelona is the first race in Europe and we are here with various new elements on the car, as indeed have all the other teams. Also making an important contribution are our technical partners, first and foremost Shell."
 

Felipe Massa: "I really got a great lap! This third consecutive pole shows that our car is really competitive. My first run was not perfect, but on the second I managed to get things right without making the slightest mistake. Tomorrow's race will be very close and I hope that with a huge crowd like we saw today in the grandstands, the spectators will see a real spectacle. I hope to make a good start and make the most of pole. Along with the team we are working very well and I am very motivated and also confident about the race."

Kimi Raikkonen: "It seems that taking third place in qualifying is now becoming a habit. It's not a bad position, but obviously you always hope to be in front of everyone. On my second attempt, I was going very well but I lost time in the final sector, where the rear of the car was sliding a bit. I hope I will be able to make up some places, but I know it won't be easy. My feeling for the car is improving: there is still work to do, but it's going in the right direction."

Luca Baldisserri: "We struggled a little bit again this morning in the third free practice session, especially in doing a quick single lap. We made some choices in terms of set-up and strategy that we hope will work out for us tomorrow afternoon. The two types of Bridgestone tyre are pretty similar in terms of consistency of performance, but of course the softer one has the edge on the first lap. We could see different tyre use strategies to those we have so far with this season with the new rule format. What is certain is that it will be a very tight race. The two cars had not particular technical problems and we will do all we can to bring them home with the best result possible."

Qualifying Details - Barcelona: F. Massa: 1st 1.21.421 11 laps chassis 260; K. Raikkonen: 3rd 1.21.723 11 laps chassis 262; Weather: air temperature 28 °C, track temperature 39/40 °C, Sunny.