Massa eases to Turkish GP hat-trick

[fasteddy]

By Matt Beer    Sunday, May 11th 2008, 13:32 GMT

Felipe Massa in TurkeyFerrari's Felipe Massa overcame a bold challenge from Lewis Hamilton and McLaren to clinch a third consecutive Turkish Grand Prix victory.

Hamilton's unique three-stop strategy helped him pass Massa for the lead before half-distance, but he couldn't pull out enough of an advantage to beat the Brazilian after his additional stop, so had to settle for second place, just ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.

After outqualifying teammate Hamilton and claiming his first front row start, Heikki Kovalainen was badly delayed by an early puncture and finished a lapped 12th.

Both Kovalainen and Raikkonen got away slowly at the beginning of the race, allowing Hamilton to leap through from third and challenge Massa for the lead.

The two Finns then came extremely close at the first corner, with Raikkonen losing momentum and being passed by Robert Kubica (BMW) and Fernando Alonso (Renault).

The safety car then appeared briefly to clear up the debris from Giancarlo Fisichella's spectacular first corner crash. The Force India driver ran over the back of Kazuki Nakajima's Williams, taking both cars out, while Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) and Adrian Sutil (Force India) also had to pit for repairs.

Kovalainen dropped out of contention with a rear puncture just as the safety car came in, leaving Massa and Hamilton to fight for the victory.

The McLaren driver stalked Massa closely throughout the first stint, then made a very rapid first pitstop on lap 16. The team had decided to pit three times, and Hamilton made the best of his light fuel load to charge back onto Massa's tail following the stops.

On lap 24, Hamilton dived past Massa into the final corner and took the lead, despite the Brazilian's best defensive efforts. He then pulled away at up to one second per lap, leading by eight seconds by the time he pitted again on lap 32.

That allowed Massa back ahead, and Hamilton did not have long enough between their respective final stops to pull out a winning advantage. But the Briton did manage to beat Raikkonen to second - the world champion having passed Alonso soon after the safety car and easily jumped Kubica at the first stops, but having not shown the pace to challenge Massa for the win once in clear air.

Nevertheless, Raikkonen kept the pressure on Hamilton for second in the last stint, as Massa eased away to secure his second win of the year and extend his unbeaten Istanbul run.

Kubica took a lonely fourth, with his BMW teammate Nick Heidfeld benefiting from a long first stint to rise to fifth, ahead of Alonso. The Renault eased away from Mark Webber's Red Bull after an early dice, with Nico Rosberg (Williams) rising from outside the top ten to snatch the final point, just ahead of David Coulthard (Red Bull) and Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

Kovalainen produced some spectacular overtaking moves as he fought his way back through the traffic, but was unable to get back into the points. He finished 12th, pushing Honda's Jenson Button to the flag.

Timo Glock finished 14th for Toyota, ahead of Rubens Barrichello, after a difficult record 257th race for Honda's veteran Brazilian. Nelson Piquet's poor qualifying performance left him 15th, with Sutil and Vettel completing the finishers.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais was the only other retirement - pitched into the gravel at the final turn by a mechanical problem at the rear of the car.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Turkish Grand Prix
Istanbul, Turkey;
58 laps; 309.396km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  1h26:49.451
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     3.779
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +     4.271
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    21.945
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    38.741
 6.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    53.724
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:04.229
 8.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:11.406
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:15.270
10.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +  1:16.344
11.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:26.506

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    25
Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    1
Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 5:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Raikkonen     35        1.  Ferrari                63
 2.  Hamilton      28        2.  BMW Sauber             44
 3.  Massa         28        3.  McLaren-Mercedes       42
 4.  Kubica        24        4.  Williams-Toyota        13
 5.  Heidfeld      20        5.  Red Bull-Renault       10
 6.  Kovalainen    14        6.  Renault                 9
 7.  Webber        10        7.  Toyota                  9
 8.  Alonso         9        8.  Honda                   3
 9.  Trulli         9        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari      2
10.  Rosberg        8       
11.  Nakajima       5       
12.  Button         3       
13.  Bourdais       2       
       
All timing unofficial

[fasteddy]

McLaren say Kovalainen could have won

By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde    Sunday, May 11th 2008, 17:00 GMT

Heikki Kovalainen during the Turkish GPMcLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh believes Heikki Kovalainen could have scored his maiden grand prix victory at today's Turkish Grand Prix.

Kovalainen, returning to action this weekend following his heavy crash at the Spanish Grand Prix, had qualified on the front row for the first time, outpacing teammate Lewis Hamilton despite carrying a heavier fuel load.

The Finn's race, however, was spoiled right at the start when he made contact with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner.

The contact punctured one of Kovalainen's tyres. The McLaren driver pitted and dropped down to the bottom of the field before a strong charge to 12th place.

Without the first corner crash, Whitmarsh reckons Kovalainen could have beaten Felipe Massa for victory.

"If Heikki had not made that stop, he would have run longer than Felipe at the first stop and if he could have been close to Massa, which I think he could have been, he would have been able to take him at the first stop," Whitmarsh told reporters after the race.

"And thereafter, the race would have played out differently.

"It's easy to say that in hindsight, but I think Heikki did a fantastic job in qualifying with a reasonable fuel load onboard and had he been able to deploy and exploit that in the race, I've never known him as disappointed as this.

"He really felt he could win this race and as the race panned out, I think he knows he could have won it - and it eluded him. And that's disappointing.

"And I said to Heikki, he's absolutely right to be disappointed but on the other hand he wouldn't be so disappointed if he hadn't done such a great job to put himself in that position.

"He put himself in a position to win a race and he will win races this year and in the future and he really deserves to. He's an extraordinary chap."

Whitmarsh also praised teammate Lewis Hamilton's drive to second place, saying today's was the Briton's best drive of the year.

"It was the finest this year," he said. "My memory's so short that I don't want to draw comparisons.

"It was his finest race this year and with the odds against him he was just flat out and his in- and out-laps were great and the team did a superb job in the pitstops. And he took the race to Ferrari throughout."

Hamilton finished less than four seconds behind Massa after having to run a three-stop strategy for safety reasons following concerns about his tyres.

[fasteddy]

Turkey Sunday quotes: McLaren

   Sunday, May 11th 2008, 15:43 GMT

Lewis Hamilton - 2nd: "I am so thrilled with today's result, and I think this is the best race ever for me. It's not about winning, it's about feeling that you extract 100% from yourself and the car and I did that today. Before the race our prediction was that all being well I would finish fifth, so second is such a bonus. I was not happy with my performance yesterday and perhaps if I had managed to get the car on pole I could have won.

"However, we knew that we would have to use a three stop strategy as a precaution as we had some issues with our tyres. The team did a fantastic job, the pitstops were great, and the balance of the car was superb, and we all kept our spirit up. There were no problems with the tyres in the race. I managed to overtake Felipe at one point, and I really think we have closed the gap to Ferrari. I am so excited about the next race in Monaco and just can't wait."

Heikki Kovalainen - 12th: "Not a lucky race for me as I made a bad start from the dirty line on the grid. After the start Kimi and I touched slightly which caused a slow puncture to my left-rear tyre. Initially I was not sure whether the tyre was damaged or not, but during the Safety Car period I realised that I had to come into the pits for a new tyre.

"That was almost it for me, because with my heavy fuel load and the traffic it is extremely difficult to gain any places during the race. However, I did my best but no points. These things happen, and I have had a good weekend and really enjoyed being back in the car. It's a shame that we were not able to get points today as I have been fast throughout, but I am really optimistic for Monaco."

Ron Dennis: "Today we saw a truly phenomenal drive from Lewis, in which he optimised a three-stop strategy that we were forced to adopt as a consequence of concerns we had with his tyres. As a result of the eight points that his second-placed finish netted him, he closed the gap on Kimi in the World Drivers' Championship to just seven points. Heikki's race was spoiled by a punctured left-rear tyre, the result of contact with Kimi at the first corner.

"As soon as the pit lane had reopened, we called him in for tyres and fuel. Thereafter he drove forcefully and well all afternoon. But for that puncture, he would have scored heavily today. I believe we have closed the gap to our main competition which gives the team a great boost before heading for Monte Carlo."

Norbert Haug: "A really exciting Grand Prix and, as I think, quite entertaining for the spectators. We had an aggressive strategy for Lewis which almost paid off as our aims were first places in both qualifying and race. Lewis drove a great race with a good speed. His overtaking manoeuvre when he passed Massa was surely enjoyed by lots of television spectators as it does not happen too often in Formula 1 that the leading car is passed.

"Kimi touched Heikki at the first corner, and Heikki had to make an extra pit stop due to a damaged tyre. This ruined his race and prevented him from taking a possible podium finish. We all will continue to work very hard and are looking forward to the season's highlight in Monte Carlo in two weeks' time."