Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen finished third at Istanbul Park, giving Ferrari two podium spots.

But there was disappointment for the Brackley-based Honda team of drivers. Jenson Button finished 11th and team-mate Rubens Barrichello 14th of the 17 drivers who completed the 58-lap course.

McLaren driver Hamilton passed Massa for the lead in the middle of the race, but his three-stop strategy succeeded only in beating Kimi Raikkonen to second place.

Massa, on a conventional two-stop plan like his team-mate, had pace in hand to keep ahead of Hamilton.

But the Englishman did cut Raikkonen's championship lead to seven points.

And Hamilton, who is tied on points with Massa but behind him in the standings on win countback, will be encouraged by his McLaren's new-found competitiveness.

The BMW Saubers put in their least competitive showing of the season and could manage only fourth and fifth places, with Robert Kubica ahead of Nick Heidfeld.

Behind them, Fernando Alonso was sixth for Renault, winning a battle with Red Bull's Mark Webber, who continued his impressively consistent season with his fourth points finish in a row.

Kovalainen, who had started from the front row for the first time in his career, saw his chances dashed when he suffered a puncture after his car was brushed by Raikkonen's on the first lap.

He pitted for a replacement and fought his way back impressively from last to eighth place, passing Williams's Nico Rosberg with eight laps to go, before a late stop for a final splash of fuel left him down in 12th.

Giancarlo Fisichella's Force India ran over the back of Kazuki Nakajima's Williams, taking both cars out of the race.

Result of Turkish Grand Prix :
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one hour 26 minutes 49.451 seconds
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 3.779 secs
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +4.271
4. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber +21.945
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +38.741
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +53.724
7. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +1:04.229
8. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +1:11.406
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault +1:15.270
10. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +1:16.344
11. Jenson Button (GB) Honda one lap behind
12. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes one lap
13. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota one lap
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap
15. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault one lap
16. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari one lap
17. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari one lap
R Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 33 laps completed
R Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota one lap