FORMULA ONE

• Massa edges Hamilton for Brazil pole

  
  

  Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sports Network) - Brazilian Felipe Massa captured the pole for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. The No.5 Ferrari circled the 2.677-mile, counterclockwise course in one minute, 11.931 seconds to take the top spot.

  The pole victory was Massa's second in a row at Interlagos, sixth of the season and ninth of his Formula One career.

  Starting on the front row with Massa will be points leader Lewis Hamilton, who posted a second-best time of 1:12.082.

  Kimi Raikkonen (1:12.322) and two-time defending World Champion Fernando Alonso (1:12.356) will make up row two.

  Massa won the first session that saw the elimination of six drivers. Then Raikkonen took session number two as the two McLaren and two Ferrari drivers continued to dominate as they have all season.

  Massa put up the early time to beat in the final session. Then in the final 30 seconds he bettered his time. It was a good thing he did because Hamilton made a great run at him on his final lap, but finished in second place.

  It wasn't that long ago that Hamilton looked like he was cruising to the championship, the first ever for a rookie in the series.

  Hamilton overcame rain, fog and the field to capture the Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway and put himself in great position to win the Formula One drivers championship. After the race had been completed, Hamilton owned a 12- point lead over McLaren teammate and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's top driver Kimi Raikkonen by 17 points.

  There were just two events left on the schedule and Hamilton had finished worse than third just four times all season. All he had to do was maintain his margin and he would clinch the championship - the first time ever for a rookie in the series.

  But a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation...the Chinese Grand Prix.

  Everythingseemed ok when Hamilton grabbed the pole at the Shanghai International Speedway. But that was in dry weather. As the race began a rain storm moved in and possibly changed the entire championship.

  Hamilton got away cleanly while Massa and Alonso exchanged third and fourth place twice on the first lap in some great side-by-side racing. By the end of the second lap, the steady rain had begun, but Hamilton was still building his lead.

  The track began to dry as the storm moved away, but another was expected to come along in 10 minutes. Hamilton's brain trust left Hamilton out through the first pit stop on the original tires and they were beginning to fail. Raikkonen was six seconds faster than the points leader.

  Alonso was also catching Hamilton, he was now just six seconds behind his teammate.

  It wasn't until lap 30 that Hamilton turned down pit lane, but he spun into the gravel trap after one of the tires blew apart and he got stuck.

  Raikkonen went on to win the race, which he had to do to stay alive. He beat Alonso by 9.806 seconds as both drivers were buoyed by Hamilton's problems. Instead of celebrating a championship, there were now three drivers who dreamed of being the 2007 World Champion.

  Hamilton (107 points) still leads, but his margin is just four points over Alonso (103) and seven points over Raikkonen (100). If Alonso wins the race, Hamilton must finish second to clinch the title. If Raikkonen wins, he must have Hamilton finish no better than sixth and Alonso no better than third.

  The race is set to drop the green flag on Sunday at 12 p.m. (et).

  10/20 13:34:48 ET