Qualification – Massa first pole man in Valencia!

Felipe Massa beats Lewis Hamilton to take pole position for the first European Grand Prix on the Valencia street circuit in Spain.

The duo delivered a magnificent battle in Q3, which turned to the advantage of the Brazilian with nearly half a second lead over Hamilton, who made a small mistake in the final sector.

Not at all distracted, the Briton starts his second fast lap and comes within just 0.2 seconds of Massa, who improves his time to 1:13.989.

Behind, on the second row, Robert Kubica again showed very good pace and is third on the grid for BMW, leaving Kimi Räikkönen and his Ferrari as well as Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren in fourth and fifth positions.

But the true star of these qualifying sessions is undoubtedly Sebastian Vettel, who was the fastest in Q2 and secures a brilliant sixth place on the grid for Toro Rosso. His teammate, the Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais, reaches Q3 for the first time and finishes this qualifying session in 10th place.

Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, very strong in Q1, is the seventh qualifier ahead of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW and Nico Rosberg’s Williams. Kubica’s teammate was lucky to reach Q3 as he caused the only minor scare during the qualifications. The reason being, he had to go into the run-off area in Q1 to avoid the Toyota of Timo Glock, who is 13th.

One of the biggest surprises of these qualifications is the underperformance of the national hero, Fernando Alonso, absent from Q3. The former world champion was fast both in practice and in Q1, but a curb on his last lap of Q2 left him in 12th place behind the second Williams, driven by Kazuki Nakajima. Nelson Piquet also faced difficulties, as he will start only 15th.

Nakajima was therefore unable to join his teammate Rosberg in Q3 by 0.092 seconds.

The Red Bulls are being humiliated by the Toro Rossos as in practice. Mark Webber still competed in Q2 and finishes 14th, while David Coulthard is only 17th.

Honda does not achieve the morning’s feat, Jenson Button remains stuck in Q1 in 16th place. Rubens Barrichello, in a final effort, gains a place to avoid the last position which goes to Sutil. Fisichella is 18th and sees no improvement, just like his team Force India.

Results of the Qualifications – Valencia Street – August 23: