Felipe's talking Turkey

May 11 2008 By Tim Hamer

RED-HOT Felipe Massa is determined to land a hat-trick of wins at Istanbul Park after romping to pole position in Turkey.

The Ferrari ace has reigned supreme on the track for the last two years and is confident of taking the chequered flag again today.

Massa beat McLaren pair Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton to pole yesterday and the Brazilian can't wait to get back in his car.

He said: "It was a great qualifying session. I'm so happy - it's my third time here with Ferrari and my third time on pole. I love this track. I get a lot of pleasure from driving on it and I hope I can repeat the wins."

Finnish star Kovalainen was thrilled with his performance after passing a medical following his 150mph shunt at the Spanish Grand Prix a fortnight ago.

The McLaren ace, who suffered concussion in Barcelona, said: "It has been a bit of a rollercoaster, surviving without any major injuries. I was lucky "I still feel confident in the car and it's a pleasure to start on the front row."

British star Hamilton is desperate to win to close the nine-point gap on championship leader Kimi Raikkonen.

He edged the Ferrari ace into fourth yesterday but initially claimed he could have made pole with a better choice of tyre in the final qualifier.

Hamilton said: "The tyre didn't give me a performance and the car didn't feel great." But he later changed his tune after meeting team technicians.

The 23-year-old said: "I've looked at the data and it was the right decision."

Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber took fifth followed by Mark Webber's Red Bull and Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Completing the top 10 will be Jarno Trulli for Toyota, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Scots star David Coulthard in his Red Bull.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello will break a world record when he appears in his 257th grand prix today. The Honda driver starts in 12th place.