Resurgent Massa to start second on grid at Malaysian Grand Prix

After years of frustration following his life-threatening injury, it seems Felipe Massa is finally back among Formula One’s elite drivers.

Massa will start from second on the grid in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix after qualifying ahead of his more illustrious teammate Fernando Alonso for the fourth straight race. Sebastian Vettel earned the pole. Massa’s positive showing is good news for a Ferrari team looking for its first title since 2007 — and even better news for Massa, who has struggled ever since he sustained a fractured skull in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009. He hasn’t won a race since the injury and in 2011 became the first Ferrari driver to go a full season without a podium finish, leading to speculation the team would replace him.

But he placed third in the seasonending Brazilian Grand Prix last year and has a chance to confirm he’s back to his best on Sunday.

“I feel very happy . . . driving the car. I like the car that we have this year much more compared to the car we had last year,” Massa said. “I think I understand a lot more the direction for the setup and everything. The best thing for the team is always to have the best drivers finishing in the best positions, so that’s really a positive point for the team and for myself as well, for Fernando, so I think it’s a good direction.”

INDYCAR: Will Power has won the pole for the IndyCar season opener at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Penske Racing driver earned the top starting spot for Sunday’s race on his final lap of the qualifying session. It’s the 30th pole of Power’s career, moving him past Dario Franchitti for seventh on IndyCar’s all-time list.

Takuma Sato qualified second Saturday and was followed by Simona de Silvestro in the highest qualifying effort of her career. The Swiss driver is making her debut for new team KV Racing Technology and had never before advanced to the Fast Six round of qualifying.

Canada’s James Hinchliffe was fourth.