Massa snatches pole for Monaco Grand Prix

MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Felipe Massa led a Ferrari one-two in final qualifying to snatch pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.

Massa completed a lap of one minute 15.787 seconds just a few seconds before the end of the session, to edge teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton will take third place on the grid, with his fellow McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen fourth.

Finn Kovalainen was fastest in the final practice session but then broke the rear suspension of his McLaren after striking a barrier with his right rear wheel as he emerged from the swimming pool complex.

Red Bull's David Coulthard also suffered a spectacular mishap during the second qualifying run.

The Scot lost control of his car as he came out of the tunnel -- the fastest part of the street circuit race -- and slammed into the right wall.

The front right wheel was damaged while the rear right wheel came loose, forcing the car to skid into the run-off area.

The accident meant that he lost five places on the starting grid because team mechanics needed to fit a new gearbox for the race.

He had qualified for 10th place but was relegated to 15th after the change.

Massa will start from pole position for the 12th time and it be Ferrari's first pole in Monaco since 2000.

Pole Robert Kubica was fifth for BMW ahead of German Nico Rosberg in a Williams. Twice champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso in a Renault was seventh and Italian Jarno Trulli eighth for Toyota.

The Red Bulls of Australian Mark Webber and Coulthard completed the top 10.

Brazilian Massa was fastest in the opening mini-session and the Ferraris continued to dominate the second, with Massa remaining on top.

"I still cannot believe this has happened and I am on pole," said Massa.

"This is incredible. I still do not like this circuit much because it is so difficult and it is not my kind of track. It is so difficult to get a clear lap in Monaco, a perfect lap, but today I managed to have one and was lucky."

The last Ferrari driver to win from pole was South African Jody Scheckter in 1979, on his way to the drivers' title. "It is not going to be easy, I know it is going to be tough, but I am very happy," said Massa.

"Let's see what happens. It is a tough place and it could rain and it is so difficult to keep the car on the track for the whole race."

Hamilton said: "I think we did a good solid job and I must say I am surprised by the speed of and the performance of Ferrari. It was very close for us all and maybe the fuel loads and the strategies will unfold in the race."

Rain fell steadily on Sunday morning and a slippery and unpredictable race was in prospect.