Ferrari's Felipe Massa has set pole position on Bridgestone Potenza tyres for the Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica after a scintillating qualifying session under scorching sun at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Massa set a 1min 21.421secs time in the final qualifying session and was a mere three hundredths quicker than McLaren Mercedes' Fernando Alonso and three tenths faster than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who was third fastest. It was Massa's third consecutive pole position this season, and Ferrari's fourth.

The morning practice session saw Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) set the fastest time with a lap of 1min 21.233secs, heading team-mate Alonso by just under a tenth of a second. BMW Sauber team-mates Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were third and fourth fastest.

Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport Head of Track Engineering Operations: The results speak for themselves as we had a very exciting qualifying session with a very close battle. As predicted, almost everybody set their fastest times in qualifying on the medium tyre because it provides better grip and a faster lap time. Not only was it a tense battle for pole, but it was a close battle for the group behind. We saw a further improvement in the circuit today and this has meant that tyre behaviour is slightly different. This improvement should continue tomorrow and this will keep the teams busy working out their strategies for the race.