Massa on pole as Alonso disappoints

F1 Grand Prix, GP Turkey, Istanbul Park

Felipe Massa will start from pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix where he won last year. The Brazilian was faster than Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen is third after a slight mistake. Fernando Alonso was also disappointed as he could not confirm his pace from earlier in the session.

Similar to the temperatures on Friday, this qualifying session is held with an ambient temperature of 35°C and the track rising as high as 52°C.

The first session sees no real surprises, except maybe for Ralf who is only 18th and knocked out in the first part of qualifying. His performance stands is stark contrast with his best race result of the season at Hungary as he went home from there with 3 points. Together with him, both Toro Rosso's, the Spyker's and Sato are not allowed to compete in Q2.

Yamamoto will start from the back of the grid tomorrow as he spun and was eventually outpaced by his teammate by 1.5 seconds. Even with a BMW Sauber that would mean knockout.

In Q2, Alonso puts in the fastest lap ahead Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa. The top 6 runners at that time are sure of their places through to the final session. A final flow of flying laps places Rosberg in 7th place, followed by Kovalainen, Trulli and Fisichella. Davidson, Webber, Coulthard, Button and Barrichello on the other hand are knocked out. Wurz is joining these 5 men, possibly due to increased pressure in his flying lap as he missed a corner in his first attempt.

5 minutes later, Raikkonen is the first to queue for the final session. He is ahead of Hamilton and Massa. Alonso on the other hand has the engine running in his pitbox while his crew cools off the engine.

In the first fuel burning laps, Massa does not look to be relaxed as he misses several corners and often locks up one of the front wheels. If such behaviour continues, it may well decide Massa's race as he will have a hard time staying ahead of any competitor. Raikkonen is constantly fastest in these first laps while Alonso is 6th fastest. He is running in the back of the pack.

The front runners all fit the softer tyres for their first attempt. They come out with Massa on top, ahead of Raikkonen and Alonso. All three are within 0.058s while Hamilton is 4 tenths behind his teammate. Kovalainen and Trulli meanwhile only attempt one flying lap.

Raikkonen is the first to cross the finish line but doesn't improve due to going a bit wide in the final corner complex. Hamilton follows and surpasses Raikkonen but is slower than Massa. Alonso can finally also not improve on his time as he surprisingly is fitted with the harder tyre compound.