Brazilian on top for third year in a row.

Felipe Massa put himself in the driving seat for a third straight Turkish Grand Prix victory after claiming pole position in a hard-fought qualifying session at Istanbul Park.

The Brazilian, who has won from top spot in each of the past two years, clocked 1min 27.617secs in the final phase of qualifying to secure the top spot, while Mclaren showed that it could be a factor by claiming second and third.

Heikki Kovalainen registered his first front row start in F1 after using the softer Bridgestones to pip team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who decided to fit another set of the harder rubber despite his car looking uncomfortable on it. The Briton ended up three-tenths off Massa, the accepted difference between the two compounds.

Kimi Raikkonen made an error on his final run to come in only fourth, while Robert Kubica upheld BMW Sauber honour in fifth, ahead of Mark Webber. Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld and David Coulthard complete the top ten.

Full report and result to follow....