ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP):

Felipe Massa's bid to become world champion gained momentum yesterday after the Ferrari driver won the Turkish Grand Prix for his second victory in three Formula One races.

Massa held off McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton's challenge to win by 3.779 seconds at Istanbul Speed Park circuit and claim his third straight victory in Turkey.

The Brazilian trails defending world champion and teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third, by seven points in the standings after also winning in Bahrain last month.

"I'm in the fight. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't win, but it's important to be competitive," Massa said after picking up his seventh career victory. "It's important to be consistent."

Model of consistency

Massa has been a model of consistency in Turkey, where every driver starting on the pole has gone on to win in the race's four-year history.

"It might really almost be worth asking for a Turkish passport," Massa said.

Ferrari has now won four straight races. Raikkonen has 35 points with Hamilton and Massa on 28, while Ferrari opened up a 19-point lead over BMW Sauber in the constructors' standings.

"We always said we are very happy with our drivers. We feel the potential of these two drivers in the team is perfect," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said. "They complement each other."

Raikkonen, who started fourth, managed to avoid pitting despite his front wing being clipped after slightly touching Heiki Kovalainen near the start. He battled back after dropping to sixth.

Be happy

"Sometimes you need to be happy with what you get and today was one of those days," said Raikkonen, who miss almost all of Friday's opening practice session with a gearbox problem.

Hamilton's race was compromised by his tire selection, one year after one blew at the same track to leave him off the podium. Still, the 23-year-old Briton was pleased with the result after having to adopt a three-stop strategy.

Hamilton overtook Massa for the lead 24 laps in, but the extra time in the pits proved costly.

Best race ever

"I think this is the best race ever for me," Hamilton said. "It's not about winning, it's about feeling that you extract 100 per cent from yourself and the car and I did that today. If I had managed to get the car on pole, I could have won."

Kovalainen, who started on the front row, punctured a tire after tangling with Raikkonen and never recovered to finish 12th.

The result was encouraging for Kovalainen considering he was in hospital two weeks ago after being knocked unconscious from a high-speed crash into a wall at the Spanish GP.

"I think it's been the most competitive weekend for me. Hopefully it carries on from this," Kovalainen said.

Kovalainen's slip-up allowed Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber to remain in the title race. The Polish driver finished fourth and has 24 points. Teammate Nick Heidfeld moved up from ninth to finish fifth.

Renault's Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber of Red Bull, Nico Rosberg of Williams, Red Bull's David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli of Toyota round out the top 10.