Massa fastest in final Istanbul practice
Felipe Massa hinted that he might be able to fight for a fourth consecutive pole and victory in Turkey by topping the final free practice session at Istanbul Park
The Ferrari driver was quickest for the majority of the hour, swiftly getting back on top after his early benchmark was beaten by Williams's Nico Rosberg and Brawn's Rubens Barrichello.
The Brazilian was then the first to try soft tyres with seven minutes to go - enjoying the track entirely to himself for his flying lap but was unable to improve on the time he had managed on hard rubber.
Massa was not the only one to find the soft Bridgestones offered little advantage, and the times remained relatively static compared to the usual flurry of last gasp improvements.
But some drivers did find time on softs, most notably Toyota duo Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, who jumped up to second and third, 0.039 and 0.111 seconds respectively behind Massa. Glock then spun without damage at Turn 1 having completed his quick lap.
Also leaping forward late on were Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), who completed the top five.
The Brawns of Barrichello and championship leader Jenson Button were pushed back to sixth and seventh as others gained places in the closing minutes.
Rosberg, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen - who made a slight error at Turn 2 on his last lap - and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel filled the remaining top ten spots in another extremely close session. The entire field was blanketed by just 1.4 seconds, with only half a second covering the first ten drivers.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:27.983 26 2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:28.022 + 0.039 21 3. Glock Toyota (B) 1:28.094 + 0.111 23 4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:28.122 + 0.139 19 5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:28.320 + 0.337 20 6. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:28.332 + 0.349 21 7. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:28.360 + 0.377 19 8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:28.364 + 0.381 19 9. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:28.415 + 0.432 16 10. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:28.451 + 0.468 18 11. Piquet Renault (B) 1:28.503 + 0.520 15 12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:28.563 + 0.580 19 13. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:28.678 + 0.695 18 14. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:28.715 + 0.732 19 15. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:28.738 + 0.755 19 16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:29.050 + 1.067 18 17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:29.076 + 1.093 19 18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:29.167 + 1.184 21 19. Alonso Renault (B) 1:29.261 + 1.278 15 20. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:29.421 + 1.438 17 All timing unofficial
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