Pole on Pole in Bahrain

Felipe Massa was the fastest driver leading up to qualifying but the Brazilian couldn’t put his Scuderia Ferrari F2208 on the pole position when it counted. Massa was fastest in both sessions of Friday practice, was second during Saturday morning practice and was also fastest during Q1 and Q2. Although fuel loads probably played a factor in Q3, the best that Massa could do was put his car second on the grid. He will have Lewis Hamilton and team mate Kimi Raikkonen on the row right behind him.

If as suspected, he is carrying more fuel than Kubica, he and the others will need to stay close and not fall to far off the pace as the fuel loads decrease.

The pole was the first for Kubica and the BMW Sauber team. This pole clearly shows that they are the best team in Formula 1 behind Scuderia Ferrari and Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes. It was great to see the big smile on the Polish driver’s face when he was in the paddock afterwards. In fact his smile was bigger than that big nose of his.

Sunday’s race will be interesting. If Robert Kubica is carrying a lighter fuel load as suspected then the race will really begin after the first stops. The teams will level out and I would suspect Kubica will fall to fourth or fifth. If the practice sessions mean anything then I would predict a 1-2 finish for the scarlett Ferraris but with Lewis Hamilton in the race, it is hard to say as he seems to get things right when it is needed.