Motor Sport: In-form Felipe Massa grabbed pole position for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix on a circuit he admits he loathes.
Massa, who has won two of the last three races, grabbed top spot for the 78-lap showdown around the streets of Monte Carlo to edge out Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen into second.
With an all-red front row, it means Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a win on his favourite track appears unlikely as he starts third in his McLaren.
Scoring Ferrari's first pole since 2000 at this track, a stunned
Massa said: "I can't believe I'm on pole! I've been learning how to
drive here because every time I come here I've
struggled.
"But then I managed to put everything together, and I've a great car....it's unbelievable I'm on pole. But I did a perfect lap, which is almost impossible to do here."
Reigning world champion Raikkonen, who leads this year's championship by seven points, missed out on pole by 0.028secs with Massa clocking a lap of one minute 15.787secs.
Anticipating a wet race tomorrow, Raikkonen said: "It will probably be very difficult conditions, so it's going to be good fun."
Hamilton felt he and his team did "a solid job," but added: "We anticipated being quicker and we're surprised by Ferrari's pace. I had no problems, the car felt good, and I strung together two solid laps, but the time wasn't there.
"But we've a good strategy, so we will have to hope for the best."