Massa on pole - adds comments

Ferrari's Felipe Massa squeezed out Lewis Hamilton in the final seconds to secure pole positionat the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Saturday.

McLaren's 22-year-old championship leader joined the Brazilian on the front row, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen lining up third and McLaren's double world champion Fernando Alonso fourth.

British rookie Hamilton leads his Spanish team mate in the tight championship battle by seven points with six races remaining. Raikkonen is third, a considerable 20 points off the lead,with Massa one point further adrift.

Massa won last year's race in Turkey, in what was also his first grand prix victory, after securing the first pole position of his Formula One career. He secured the top slot again with a last lap of 1:27.329 seconds. Hamilton, in fourth place before his final flying lap, had moments earlier crossed the line in 1:27.373 while Raikkonen paid the price for an error.

"It was very tight," said Massa of his eighth career pole and fifth of the season. "It was always a big fight between all four drivers. Especially after a very bad result in Hungary, I think we deserve it."

Massa failed to score in the previous round in Budapest at the beginning of August after Ferrari failed to refuel his car in the second phase of qualifying, leaving him starting 14th at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

If Massa could breathe a sigh of relief, so too could championship leaders McLaren after emerging from the session with both drivers in the top four and no repeat of the controversy that beset them in Budapest.

"I think it could be a good race," said Hamilton, chasing his fourth win in 12 starts and looking relaxed as ever.

"I'm looking forward to having a race with these guys."

Poland's Robert Kubica will start in fifth place with his German team mate Nick Heidfeld alongside as BMW Sauber were again the best of the rest.

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen was seventh and Germany's Nico Rosberg completed the fourth row for Williams.

Germany's Ralf Schumacher, still without a firm contract fornext year, had a disappointing afternoon for Toyota and qualified 18th.