Monaco GP: Saturday Qualifying

Felipe Massa will start the Monaco Grand Prix from the pole position after leading a
Ferrari 1-2 finish in qualifying on Saturday.


The Brazilian driver, who has won two of the last three Formula One races, gave Ferrari its first pole in Monaco in eight years after setting a best lap time of 1 minute, 15.787 seconds around the famous street circuit.


Teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who won in Monaco for McLaren in 2005, will start on the front row for Sunday's race, with McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen filling the second row.


Ferrari, which has won four straight races coming in, hasn't won from the pole since Jody Scheckter in 1979 and is looking for its first win in the coastal principality since Michael Schumacher took the checkered flag in 2001.


Showers are expected for the race. In dry conditions, the outcome is usually determined by the fastest qualifier — making Saturday's session important.


Ferrari has been focused on Monaco since Massa finished over a minute behind McLaren pair Fernando Alonso and Hamilton last year.


Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber will start fifth ahead of Nico Rosberg of Williams, who had been strong all weekend.

Alonso, going for his third straight victory at Monaco, will start from seventh in his Renault, ahead of 2004 winner Jarno Trulli of Toyota and Red Bull's Mark Webber.


McLaren, with 14 wins in the past 25 races here, had dominated practice through Saturday with Kovalainen setting the pace in the morning before a crash ended his session.


The Finnish driver came out of a curb and swiped the opposite wall to leave his rear left tire wobbling. He emerged unhurt from the smoking car and was seen smiling inside the British team's garage.


At last month's Spanish GP, Kovalainen was left unconscious after a high-speed crash into a tire wall. He spent a night in a hospital after receiving slight injuries, including a concussion.


Red Bull's David Coulthard had set the sixth fastest lap time through the first two qualifying sessions before a high-speed crash left him starting 10th.


The Briton lost control of his Red Bull car as he came out of the tunnel — the fastest part of the street circuit race — and slammed into the right wall. The front right wheel was damaged while the rear right wheel came loose, forcing the car to skid into the runoff area. Coulthard appeared unhurt getting out of his car.


POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT TIME
1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:15.787
2. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 1:15.815
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.839
4. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.165
5. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber 1:16.171
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1:16.548
7. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 1:16.852
8. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:17.203
9. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1:17.343
10. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault No Time
11. Timo Glock Germany Toyota 1:15.907
12. Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:16.101
13. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 1:16.455
14. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 1:16.479
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:16.537
16. Sebastien Bourdais France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.806
17. Nelson Piquet Brazil Renault 1:16.933
18. Sebastian Vettel Germany Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.955
19. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Ferrari 1:17.225
20. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Ferrari 1:17.823




SOURCE : AP