Moncao Grand Prix: Ferrari Lock Out Front Row

McLaren were expected to dominate qualifying in the streets of Monte-Carlo, but the formbook has been thrown totally out of the window as Ferrari took first and second places on the grid ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix.

And Felipe Massa, who says he does not like the Monaco circuit, is the one who has taken Pole Position ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen with a time of 1:15.787, a tenth of a second faster than the world champion.

Lewis Hamilton, who was expected to dominate the seeion, ended up third on an all McLaren second row, with Heikki Kovalainen coming in fourth.

Robert Kubica ended up as the best of the rest in fifth in his BMW, with teammate Nick Hiedfeld ending up in 13th position, not what was expected of him, with an impressive looking Nico Rosberg lining up sixth.

Fernando Alonso, two-time winner of the Grand Prix, was seventh in his Renault. The Toyota of Jarno Trulli and the two Red Bulls of Mark Webber and David Coulthard rounded out the top ten.

Coulthard did not take part in the third session after a 180 mph smash at the end of the second session at the exit of the tunnel.

Jenson Button was knocked out in the second session, along with Honda teammate Rubens Barrichello.

Felipe Massa had been saying all weekend that he preferred other tracks such as Bahrain and Turkey, and said that Monaco was his least favourite track. However, he really pulled it out of the bag to slot onto pole.

He had been fastest in both first and second sessions in qualifying but few expected him to be on pole at the end of the crucial third session, yet the Ferraris defied pre-qualifying odds to line up on the front-row.

With Monaco, a notoriusly difficult place to pass on, it seems that the Ferraris go into the race as marginal favourites. Hamilton and Kovalainen will need something special to overhaul them in the race.

And watch out for the rain, it still might come!

Should be a cracking race!