Planet-F1

Qualy: It's pole position for Felipe Massa

Saturday 22nd March 2008

After being outdone by McLaren one week earlier, Ferrari fought back at Sepang, locking out the front row of the grid for Sunday's Malaysian GP.

In a session later overshadowed by the stewards' decision to penalise both McLaren drivers five grid slots for impeding Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso, Massa's time of one minute 35.748 seconds was almost half a second ahead of team-mate and defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

The performances of the duo gave a welcome boost to the team and its supporters following its worst start to a campaign in 16 seasons.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli produced an impressive performance to take third ahead of the BMW Sauber duo Robert Kubica and Heidfeld.

Mark Webber moves up from eighth to sixth for Red Bull, with Alonso ninth quickest but starting seventh after the McLaren penalties.

Meanwhile, Timo Glock rounded out the top 10 on an excellent day for Toyota.

Times
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.748
02 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.230
03 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.613*
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.709*
05 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.711
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.727
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.753
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.009
09 F. Alonso Renault 1:38.450
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:39.656
11 J. Button Honda 1:35.208
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:35.408
13 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:35.562
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:35.622
15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.670
17 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:36.240
18 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.388
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.677
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.087
21 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:37.101
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.481

* Kovalainen and Hamilton since deducted five grid places for impeding Alonso and Heidfeld in Qualy.