Brazilian Felipe Massa took the first pole position of his Formula One career on Saturday as Ferrari swept title rivals Renault off the front row at the Turkish Grand Prix. Massa pipped team mate and seven times world champion Michael Schumacher by 0.377 seconds in qualifying at the Istanbul Park circuit to secure the fourth all-Ferrari front row. Renault’s overall leader Fernando Alonso will start right behind the Ferrari pair in third place, alongside Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. The champion leads Schumacher by 10 points in the drivers’ championship with five races remaining while Renault are just seven clear of Ferrari in a tight battle between the constructors’. “I think we did the maximum we can for today,” said the Spaniard, who has seen Schumacher whittle his lead down from 25 points over the last four races but remained optimistic for Sunday. “I think the Ferrari and Bridgestone package was extremely quick for one timed lap and we were not able to be close enough.Schumacher, who can expect Massa to let him through and then try to keep Alonso at bay given that the young Brazilian has no hope of the title, was less happy after twice running wide at the first turn. “It didn’t go exactly to plan,” said the 37-year-old German, who said he had driven more cautiously after the errors on a track that was not kind to him last season. “I had a good car and for whatever reason I couldn’t translate all of our performances.” “But we are on the first row so we shouldn’t really complain. I’m not sure honestly that I could have made up the three tenths that Felipe made, he must have done a very good lap. But we are very well sorted.” Massa, who will be starting his 66th race on Sunday, enjoyed his breakthrough moment but recognised that he would have to be a team player rather than thinking seriously about a first grand prix victory. “It is a fantastic moment for me, the first pole is always much more important than the others because the first time y1ou are much more happy. I will try to do the best I can, to do my race and also thinking about the championship,” said the 25-year-old. “We are looking forward to fighting for the championship in whatever championship we are trying to win,” he added.Alan Baldwin
