The Maranello marque have struggled of late, but Massa just pipped championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren to top spot with a lap of one minute 15.034 seconds for the 4.411km circuit, leaving Massa celebrating the fourth pole of the his career.

The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen will start third, with double world champion Fernando Alonso in 10th due to a mechanical problem with his McLaren. It was Alonso's lowest qualifying position since the Italian Grand Prix.