Istanbul, 25th August 2007

One year after taking his first ever F1 pole position in Turkey, Felipe Massa made it two consecutive Istanbul poles today after another thrilling contest which once again turned into a battle between the two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers and the McLaren-Mercedes pairing. It was very close with only just over two tenths of a second separating the first and fourth man. It's the series leader, Lewis Hamilton who will share the front row for tomorrow's 58 lap race, the twelfth round of the world championship. Kimi Raikkonen is on the inside of row 2, in third place, alongside the man with the coveted "Number 1" on his car, Fernando Alonso. Row 3 is an all BMW-Sauber affair, with Robert Kubica in fifth place ahead of Nick Heidfeld, on the first weekend since both drivers have had their seats reconfirmed with the team for next season.
It is true to say that any Grand Prix is a tough race, but tomorrow's event will be particularly hard on the drivers for a variety of reasons: it is very hot and quite humid and the track is one of the few to run in an anti-clockwise direction, thus putting a greater strain on neck muscles more used to working the other way. This is particularly true in corners like Turn 8, which will seem to go on for a very long time as the race progresses. In addition, the wind here has been unpredictable, occasionally gusting and upsetting the balance of the cars in mid-corner. It will be a significant race for the Scuderia duo, as it really needs to bring home maximum points to keep in the hunt for both world titles, as there are only five races remaining after this one.