It was the fifth career pole, and second straight, for the Ferrari driver. He ended the 2006 season with two pole positions, but only won the Brazilian GP.

Massa was timed at 1 minute, 32.652 seconds on the 5.412-kilometer (3.363-mile) Bahrain International Circuit ahead of Sunday’s 57-lap race.

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was second in 1:32.935, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at 1:33.131.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth in 1:33.192.

Hamilton, a 22-year-old British rookie and F1’s first black driver, can make F1 history this weekend.

No driver has started his F1 career with three consecutive finishes in the top three _ Hamilton finished third in Australia and second in Malaysia.

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