Turkish GP: Bridgestone qualifying report

Bridgestone Motorsport's Saturday Update

Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) has set pole position on Bridgestone's medium compound Potenza at the Istanbul Park Circuit for the fifth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix. This was Massa's third consecutive Turkish pole position.

Massa's lap of 1min 27.617secs was almost two tenths faster than the session's second fastest lap, set by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen. Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) set the third fastest time using the hard compound Bridgestone, whilst Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) joins Hamilton on the second row. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1 Team) qualified in fifth, and Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) will be next to him on the third row. Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team) qualified seventh and Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota Racing) was eighth fastest today. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1 Team) and David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing) were the final two drivers to qualify in the top ten.

In the morning practice session Webber went fastest, with a time of 1min 27.030secs. Times were exceptionally close, with only a second separating the top 16 drivers. The session began with a wet circuit, and Bridgestone's wet tyres were used initially. Webber set his time in the closing moments, using the medium compound. The weather conditions were warmer than Friday's, although there was rain in the morning. Despite this, the track conditions also showed improvement. Today's fastest lap time was a 1min 25.994secs, set in Q1 by Massa. This time was over eight tenths quicker than the best last year, a 1min 26.841secs, set by Fernando Alonso (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) in Q2. Last year's pole time was a 1min 27.329secs, set by Massa.

Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development, said:

"The difference between the two compounds was quite small today, but the medium compound was the faster. The circuit has improved from yesterday, despite the rain we have seen, but there is still not as much grip as we would expect. Drivers reported that that they were experiencing tricky handling during the sessions today. We are not sure if this lack of grip comes from the track still being green, or from the lower temperatures compared to August, although it was warmer than yesterday. If the weather is similar tomorrow, the circuit should improve further and it will be very important for the teams to decide which compound they start their races on. In terms of allocation for this race, we are happy with our choice. Because of turn eight and the graining here, it would not be practicable to bring softer tyres from our range. "

Stats of the Day
Total amount of laps completed by all drivers: 603 laps
Average number of laps per driver: 30 laps
Most laps by a driver: 39 - Heidfeld
Fastest lap: 1min 25.994secs - Massa (Q1)
Compounds used: Hard / Medium / Wet

Turkish Grand Prix in 2007 Ferrari's Felipe Massa won the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix, beating Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team- mate Kimi Raikkonen by 2.2 seconds. Fernando Alonso (McLaren Mercedes) took third position. Massa used a medium-medium-hard tyre strategy to win a race which saw the track temperature reach 49C and ambient 35C.

-credit: bridgestone