FERRARI DISH OUT WARNING

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Aug 24, 2008 | by BYRTON YOUNG

LEWIS HAMILTON was blown away by Ferrari's Felipe Massa after just one bend in qualifying for today's European Grand Prix in Spain.

And Britain's 23-year-old championship leader admitted he has a battle on his hands to beat the flying Ferrari ace.

Massa is desperate to bounce back from the misery of the last round where a certain victory slipped from his grasp.

Hamilton believed he was sitting pretty after firing in the fastest time to top the session with minutes remaining.

But Massa stormed round to his first pole since Monaco in May, and his fourth of the season.

In a sport measured to thousandths of a second, the gap was more than two-10ths, a Grand Canyon in F1 terms. But at least Hamilton has the consolation of starting on the first row. After the fireworks on the opening bend in Budapest Hamilton is gunning for a little revenge of his own.

BMW ace Robert Kubica starts third, world champion Kimi Raikkonen fourth and the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen fifth.

The lurking menace of Raikkonen could be magnified in Valencia, as he was the only one of the top four to opt for the harder, longer- lasting, Bridgestone tyres.

Massa's speed in the first six corners was so explosive he could even afford two small errors on the rest of the 5.44 km lap and still collar pole.

Hamilton said: "In sector one he destroyed everyone.

"They are going to be hard to beat tomorrow."