Brazilian GP Qualy: Home Hero Massa Takes Pole

Home hero Felipe Massa secured the final pole position of the 2008 season at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Title rival Lewis Hamilton will start from the 4^th position, behind the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Lewis Hamilton will be comforted by the presence of teammate Heikki Kovalainen who will start beside the British driver. The Finn has refuted rumours that he is unhappy in McLaren, and will be hoping to score some important points for the team.

Fernando Alonso will be disappointed to start only from the 6^th position, after having topped the 2^nd and 3^rd practice sessions. However, we may be looking at some great strategy by the Renault team to ensure the Spaniard gets a good result for the final 2008 race.

Both the Toro Rossos made it into Q3 again and Sebastian Vettel starts his last race as a Toro Rosso driver in 7^th place, while Sebastien Bourdais start in 9^th place. BMW’s lone representative in Q3 was Nick Heidfeld in 8^th place. Robert Kubica struggled visibly in his BMW and could only manage a 13^th place.

David Coulthard runs a special livery in white color promoting “Wings for Life” charity, which supports people who have suffered spinal cord injuries for his final race as an F1 driver. He starts from the 14^th place.

While the qualifying session took place on a dry track, there is a high chance for a wet race today and it would appear that Felipe Massa would be rather safe if he pulls away from the start. Lewis Hamilton will have to hope that he escapes any incident with other drivers.

The starting grid will be as follows:

01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:12.368
	02 J. Trulli Toyota 1:12.737
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:12.825
	04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:12.830
05 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:12.917
	06 F. Alonso Renault 1:12.967
07 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.082
	08 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:13.297
09 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:14.105
	10 T. Glock Toyota 1:14.230
11 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:12.137 *
	12 M. Webber Red Bull 1:12.289
13 R. Kubica BMW 1:12.300
	14 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:12.717
15 R. Barrichello Honda 1:13.139
	16 K. Nakajima Williams 1:12.800 **
17 J. Button Honda 1:12.810
	18 N. Rosberg Williams 1:13.002
19 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:13.426
	20 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:13.508

* Timing set during Qualifying 2 run
** Timing set during Qualifying 1 run
-- Starting grid if there are no further changes or penalties incurred by any of the drivers.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

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