Massa edges out Hamilton for pole 
Ferrari's Felipe Massa produced a storming final session to take pole for Sunday's French Grand Prix, beating McLaren's Lewis Hamilton into second.
Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was third but Fernando Alonso's McLaren was hit by mechanical problems and the world champion finished down in 10th.
Brazilian Massa clocked one minute 15.034 seconds for the 4.411km circuit, just 0.070secs ahead of Hamilton.
Hamilton leads the standings by 10 points from Spanish team-mate Alonso.
Massa's pole was his fourth of the season and seventh of his career, suggesting Ferrari are becoming a real threat again.
But the biggest story of the day surrounded Alonso, who suffered his lowest qualifying position since September's Italian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard endured a troubled morning as he spent most of the hour in the garage as mechanics had to replace the brake-sensor system.
It was not until the dying minutes he finally emerged on track, so when a problem occurred at the start of Q3, it was clear the gremlins had bitten again.
It could get even worse for the reigning champion, too.
If he needs an engine change, the 25-year-old will automatically be relegated down into 20th spot.
Whatever happens, his chances are slim of closing the gap on championship leader Hamilton, who was more than happy with qualifying.
"You can't be perfect all the time but the team has done a fantastic job," said the 22-year-old Briton.
"The car was pretty sweet for the qualifying session. I had the car for pole but I lost a bit of time at turn 15.
"But I'm very happy. We are on the front row and we've got a good strategy for tomorrow. I'm sure we will be very competitive."
Hamilton was unconcerned about Ferrari's apparent revival.
"Everyone makes improvements and steps forward," he said. "Ferrari have done that, but I still believe we have the best car and we just have to prove that tomorrow."
Massa, though, is delighted to have a competitive car again.
"It's great for us to be back fighting after what has happened," he said.
"I wouldn't say we are completely in front of our competitors, but we are back fighting, which is really encouraging, and I'm happy to be starting again from pole.
"Hopefully we can have a car all the time to be at the front, or at least fighting."
Behind the front three came Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber, followed by the Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen.
Nick Heidfeld is seventh in the second BMW Sauber, with Jarno Trulli eighth in his Toyota and the Williams of Nico Rosberg in ninth.
Earlier in qualifying, the unreliability of the Red Bulls again came home to roost, with David Coulthard forced to abandon the second session with a mechanical problem, which means he will start in 16th.
For fellow Briton Anthony Davidson, who broke the nose of his Super Aguri car on the left-rear tyre of Liuzzi's Toro Rosso in the pitlane in practice on Friday, it was his worst qualifying performance of the season as he finished in 20th.
Official qualifying result:
1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:15.034
2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:15.104
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:15.257
4. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:15.493
5. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:15.674
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 1:15.826
7. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:15.900
8. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:15.935
9. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 1:16.328
10. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren
11. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 1:15.534
12. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:15.584
13. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:15.761
14. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 1:15.806
15. Scott Speed (U.S.) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.049
16. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull-Renault
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.142
18. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams-Toyota 1:16.241
19. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.366
20. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Spyker-Ferrari 1:17.826
21. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker-Ferrari 1:17.915
22. Takuma Sato (Japan)* Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.244
*awarded a 10-place penalty after overtaking under yellow flag conditions at US Grand Prix
Credit - BBC Sport