Zoom Harder rubber and lower temperatures in Turkey

Felipe Massa has set pole position on Bridgestone’s medium compound Potenza at the Istanbul Park Circuit for the fifth round of the Championship, the 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 McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen. Lewis Hamilton set the third fastest time using the hard compound Bridgestone, whilst Kimi Raikkonen joins Hamilton on the second row.

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, Tyre Development Director
“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.”

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