Brazilian Massa grabs pole for Singapore GP
Last Updated: Saturday, September 27, 2008 | 2:07 PM ET
CBC Sports
Felipe Massa grabbed the pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix after edging rival Lewis Hamilton of McLaren on Saturday. (Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)Ferrari's Felipe Massa took the pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with the fastest time on Saturday.
Massa grabbed the No. 1 spot for Sunday's race after edging rival Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.
With Hamilton holding provisional pole in the waning seconds of the qualifying session, Massa raced to a sizzling final lap, setting a time six-tenths of a second faster than Britain's star rider — a big margin in closely contested session.
"The car was just perfect, so nice to drive," Massa said. "And I managed to do a perfect lap."
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen will start third on the grid and BMW's Robert Kubica will begin the race in fourth.
Hamilton is fortunate to be starting in the second spot as he just made it into the final part of qualifying after finishing 10th in the second Q2 session.
If Mark Webber of Red Bull had gone three-tenths of a second faster on his final lap, Hamilton would have been forced to start 11th on Sunday's grid.
"It was a little bit nerve-racking for sure, but I still managed to get a spot on the front row," Hamilton said. "We are not worried, we are in a very strong position with the strategy we have."
With files from the Associated Press
