Nakajima had a spin that compromised his efforts, whilst
David Coulthard vaulted up to place best-of-the-rest in fifth with nine minutes of the session remaining. At this point the two BMWs – who had kept their powder dry throughout the weekend – had yet to put in an appearance, whilst
Mark Webber, on the harder tyre to
Red Bull Racing team-mate Coulthard's soft rubber, was just two tenths of a second in arrears of the Scot in sixth.
In trouble at this stage was
Rubens Barrichello – marking his record-breaking 257th start in Istanbul this weekend – down in 18th spot, whilst Heidfeld and Kubica's first efforts placed them seventh and tenth respectively, the former celebrating his 31st birthday today.
With just a handful of minutes remaining,
Renault's
Nelsinho Piquet,
STR rookie Sébastien Bourdais, Barrichello, Sutil and Fisichella were the men in the danger zone, with
Williams duo
Nico Rosberg and Nakajima on the cusp. Kubica, meanwhile, moved up to fifth to guarantee his place in Q2.
Perhaps tellingly, unlike the two McLaren-Mercedes', second-placed Raikkonen and third-placed Massa felt the need to venture out again in the closing moments, whilst
Jenson Button – twelfth and barely a second away from the chop – played chicken by leaving the pit-lane on the harder tyres for his final run. There was better news, however, for fellow Brits Hamilton and Coulthard, fastest respectively in the first and second sectors (Hamilton) and final split (DC).
A late improvement from Fisichella pushed Barrichello down to 19th, with Rosberg moving up three places from 14th to eleventh and Barrichello subsequently safely making it through in twelfth. Button's final lap was no quicker, but at least maintained the Briton's 14th spot and position in Q2, whilst those to miss the cut were Nakajima, Piquet – who went off at turn ten on his last-ditch attempt – Bourdais, Fisichella and Sutil, with the latter pair set to swap places as a result of the Roman's penalty.
