Those to miss out this time were Rosberg, the Hondas of Barrichello and Button, Vettel and Glock – the latter almost a full second adrift of
Toyota team-mate Trulli – with Raikkonen outpacing Kubica, Massa, Kovalainen, Webber and Hamilton up at the sharp end of proceedings and
both RBRs making it through to the final top ten shoot-out for the first time in 2008. Less than six hundredths of a second blanketed Webber back to Alonso in fifth to eighth.
Heidfeld – whose driving style seemed not to be getting his tyres warmed up as effectively as the more aggressive manner behind the wheel of team-mate Kubica – was the first man out in Q3, but the German was back in again at the end of the lap as his Turkish weekend continued to be far from delightful. He returned to the track again straight afterwards, in company with Trulli, and with seven minutes to go the action was underway.
As the times tumbled, Raikkonen, Kubica, Kovalainen and Alonso all put in strong laps as Hamilton got sideways at 150mph on his effort and subsequently went out on
hard tyres for his final run, in contrast to Kovalainen's softer rubber. Massa, however, had by this point blown them
all out of the water with a lap six tenths faster than even world championship leading team-mate Raikkonen, with the McLarens back in fifth and sixth – as in Barcelona, behind Kubica and Alonso once more.
A strong middle sector from Hamilton kept him in the mix, and a superb final sector vaulted him up into second place behind only Massa. Kovalainen then went quickest of all in the middle split, and nicked pole by just shy of a tenth of a second. Massa claimed it back again – though less than two tenths ahead – with Kubica slotting into fourth and Raikkonen really struggling, succeeding only in displacing the Pole to end up P4.
