Spain - Kubica starts the race from fifth position

McLaren were expecting a drubbing from Ferrari in qualifying, but in the end Felipe Massa took pole position by just three-hundredths of a second from world champion Fernando Alonso in a dramatic conclusion to the final session.
Earlier on Alonso had beaten the two Ferraris with a lap of 1m 21.661s to Massa's 1m 21.163s and Kimi Raikkonen's 1m 22.084s. But on their final runs, when all but the Renault drivers chose Bridgestone's medium (softer) tyre compound, Massa's 1m 21.421s proved just beyond Alonso's 1m 21.451s reach.
Behind them, Raikkonen edged Lewis Hamilton for third with 1m 21.723s to the Englishman's 1m 21.785s.
The leading quartet ultimately outran the BMW Saubers, which had looked fast all through practice and qualifying. Robert Kubica managed the fifth-fastest time of 1m 22.253s, but Nick Heidfeld was separated from his team mate by Jarno Trulli in the sole Toyota to get beyond Q1. The German lapped in 1m 22.389s compared to the Italian's 1m 22.324s.
Behind them, the Renaults sandwiched David Coulthard's Red Bull. As the Scot made full use of his revamped car to lap in 1m 22.749s, Heikki Kovalainen out-qualified team mate Giancarlo Fisichella, with 1m 22.568s to 1m 22.881s.
The second session weeded out Williams' Nico Rosberg (1m 21.968s), Honda's Rubens Barrichello (1m 22.097s), Super Aguri's Takuma Sato (1m 22.115s), Jenson Button (1m 22.120s) in the second Honda, Anthony Davidson (1m 22.293s) in the corresponding Super Aguri and Tonio Liuzzi (1m 22.508s) for Toro Rosso.
The two works Hondas were reliable but not fast enough, while Sato's Super Aguri stopped out on the track and Davidson spun his. Toro Rosso simply did not send Liuzzi out after he had made it through Q1.
In that session the fallers were Toyota's Ralf Schumacher (1m 22.666s), Williams' Alex Wurz (1m 22.769s), Mark Webber (who had suspected hydraulic problems with his Red Bull after an initial lap of 1m 23.398s), Adrian Sutil (1m 23.811s) and Christijan Albers (1m 23.990s) in the Spykers and Scott Speed, who did not do a flying lap after problems struck down his Toro Rosso.
"When you look how was things after Q1 and Q2," Massa said, "the idea is that everybody is very, very close. Ferrari and McLaren have a similar pace and this was the most real idea of our performances that we saw today."
In other words, tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix is going to be a very tough battle between the leading quartet, while BMW Sauber will be a threat if either of the leading teams stumble.

Results:

1st Line
1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 1.21,421
2. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 1.21,451

2nd Line
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 1.21,723
4. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 1.21,785

3rd Line
5. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) - 1.22,253
6. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) - 1.22,324

4th Line
7. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) - 1.22,389
8. Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) - 1.22,568

5th Line
9. David Coulthard (Red Bull) - 1.22,749
10. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) - 1.22,881

6th Line
11. Nico Rosberg (Williams) - 1.21,968
12. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) - 1.22,097

7th Line
13. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) - 1.22,115
14. Jenson Button (Honda) - 1.22,120

8th Line
15. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - No time
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) - No time

9th Line
17. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) - 1.22,666
18. Alexander Wurz (Williams) - 1.22,768

10th Line
19. Mark Webber (Red Bull) - 1.23,398
20. Adrian Sutil (Spyker) - 1.23,811

11th Line
21. Christijan Albers (Spyker) - 1.23,990
22. Scott Speed (Toro Rosso) - No time