One year after taking his first ever F1 pole position in Turkey, Felipe Massa made it two consecutive Istanbul poles today after another thrilling contest which once again turned into a battle between the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers and the McLaren-Mercedes pairing. It was very close with only just over two tenths of a second separating the first and fourth man. It's the series leader, Lewis Hamilton who will share the front row for tomorrow's 58 lap race, the twelfth round of the world championship. Kimi Raikkonen is on the inside of row 2, in third place, alongside the man with the coveted "Number 1" on his car, Fernando Alonso. Row 3 is an all BMW-Sauber affair, with Robert Kubica in fifth place ahead of Nick Heidfeld.

It is true to say that any Grand Prix is a tough race, but tomorrow's event will be particularly hard on the drivers for a variety of reasons: it is very hot and quite humid and the track is one of the few to run in an anti-clockwise direction, thus putting a greater strain on neck muscles more used to working the other way. This is particularly true in corners like Turn 8, which will seem to go on for a very long time as the race progresses. In addition, the wind here has been unpredictable, occasionally gusting and upsetting the balance of the cars in mid-corner. It will be a significant race for the Scuderia duo, as it really needs to bring home maximum points to keep in the hunt for both world titles, as there are only five races remaining after this one.

This was the seventh pole for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro out of twelve qualifying sessions held to date in this championship and for the fifth time, courtesy of Felipe Massa. This is the second time that a Ferrari driver will start the Turkish Grand Prix from pole position, the first one also set by Felipe for whom this is the eighth pole of his career. The Scuderia has thus taken its total number of poles to 193.

Jean Todt: "This was a really closely contested qualifying, with Felipe delivering us our seventh pole of the season, while Kimi took third place. It's true that this is only the first small step in the evolution of the race weekend, but from what we have seen this year, its value should not be underestimated. Tomorrow we can expect a very tough race on a circuit that is particularly demanding on the driver from a physical point of view: reliability, team work, strategy and tyre performance will, as usual, be the vital parameters to take into consideration."
 

Felipe Massa: "Sensational! After a nightmare of a weekend in Budapest I am very happy to have taken pole this afternoon. It was a very hard fight, right down to the nearest thousandth of a second. In the first two qualifying sessions I was not perfect, but I gave it my best shot in Q3, when the car was really well balanced. I am optimistic, because I think we are very competitive in race trim. The final corners on this track are very important because it is easy to lose a lot of time in a short distance. In Q3, I tried not to be too aggressive. I hope I get a good start and that our strategy turns out to be the right one. It would be great to repeat last year's result."

Kimi Raikkonen: "Of course I would have preferred to have started from pole position, but it is better to be third and start on the clean side of the track, than to be second. In Q1 and Q2, the car was well balanced, but that was not the case in Q3, when I took on my fuel load for the first part of the race. I made a few small mistakes in the final two corners, which probably cost me pole. We have a very strong car in race trim, so there is every chance of getting a good result."

Luca Baldisserri: "A very exciting qualifying! We missed out on an all-red front row by a whisker, but both our drivers are in very good positions on the starting grid. It will be a very tough race in which strategy, reliability and consistency in performance from both types of tyre will be crucial, as is always the case in fact. Yesterday, we showed we were competitive over a distance, but that also appeared to be the case for our main rivals. We will have to do everything perfectly if we want our result to match our expectations, which are to bring home the best result possible."

Qualifying details: K. Raikkonen: 3rd 1.27.546 11 laps chassis 262; F. Massa: 1st 1.27.329 11 laps chassis 263; Weather: air temperature 36/35°C, track temperature 48°C, clear skies.