Kubica wins Bahrain GP pole; Ferrari, McLaren take next four spots
CBSSports.com wire reports
SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber edged Ferrari's Felipe Massa on Saturday to take pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Kubica, Formula One's first Polish driver, snapped a Ferrari-McLaren monopoly on the top spot that had lasted 22 races. Fernando Alonso's pole for Renault at the Chinese GP in October 2006 was the last for another team.
Overall leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren will start from third while Kimi Raikkonen had the fourth best qualifying time in his Ferrari.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the top five for Sunday's race at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Kubica, who was second at the Malaysian GP last month, clocked 1 minute, 33.096 seconds in the final 10-minute session. Massa, who won both of Friday's practice sessions, had 1:33.123.
"I was not expecting to be on pole, but I'm happy," Kubica said. "We have developed quite a lot."
It is Sauber's first ever pole in 252 races, a stretch dating beyond its union with BMW in 2006.
Kubica's eight championship points this season -- coupled with Heidfeld's second-place showing at Melbourne -- meant expectations were already high for the team coming into Bahrain.
"This is an example of never giving up, even if there are problems. We pushed as hard as possible and we managed to be ready," Kubica said. "I'm confident about the race as well. We'll try to analyze now and prepare the car as best for tomorrow."
Hamilton leads the drivers' standings with 14 points, three more than world champion Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber. Heidfeld placed sixth in qualifying.
Massa, with zero points from the first two races, got stuck behind Rosberg and Alonso as he went out for his final qualifying lap.
"I did incredible laps during the whole weekend and just in Q3 was the only time I was behind cars," the 26-year-old Brazilian said. "It's a shame but in a way I think we have a great car and we can have a great performance tomorrow."
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