Massa claims third straight Istanbul pole -
05-10-2008, 03:27 PM
Massa claims third straight Istanbul pole
eurosport.yahoo.com wrote:
Ferrari's Felipe Massa set his sights on a Turkish Grand Prix hat-trick after taking pole position for the third year in a row.
The Brazilian, winner in 2006 and 2007 at the anti-clockwise Istanbul Park circuit, will have Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren alongside him on the front row on Sunday with the Finn coming back strongly from a heavy crash in Spain.
"I think I put together a very good lap," said Massa of his 12th pole in Formula One, second of the season and Ferrari's 198th since 1950.
"I'm just so happy to come here for the third time with Ferrari and be on pole for the third time. It would be fantastic to repeat that (win) tomorrow.
"I'm looking forward to try and have the best race possible. It won't be easy, we know our competitors are quite strong but close," added the Brazilian, whose team are chasing their fourth successive win.
Every Turkish Grand Prix so far has been won from pole position.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was third quickest with Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen joining the 23-year-old Briton on the second row.
Raikkonen, winner in Turkey with McLaren in 2005, leads Hamilton by nine points in the championship after four races.
Kovalainen, who was knocked unconscious and spent a night in hospital after crashing in the previous race in Barcelona, was delighted to have secured the first front-row start of his career.
Hamilton, who stayed on the harder tyres for the final session when others were on softer rubber, said he had made the wrong choice and was disappointed with the outcome.
Poland's Robert Kubica, who qualified on pole position for BMW-Sauber in Bahrain and is third in the championship and 10 points behind Raikkonen, was fifth fastest with Australian Mark Webber sixth for Red Bull.
Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso was seventh in a Renault and Italian Jarno Trulli eighth for Toyota.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello will start his record 257th grand prix in 12th place for Honda.
i think that Ferrari will own the place tomorrow in the race, Kimi didn't push to hard today into the quals, maybe he'll start with much more fuel tomorrow.
Will see, GO SCUDERIA!!!
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Felipe Massa has taken his third successive victory in the Turkish Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton in Istanbul.
Hamilton in turn brought his McLaren-Mercedes home ahead of World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica finished fourth ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld, with Fernando Alonso sixth for Renault.
Red Bull's Mark Webber finished seventh, with Williams driver Nico Rosberg taking the final championship point.
Massa certainly has an affinity with the Istanbul Otodrom, the Brazilian scoring his maiden grand prix win there in 2006 and then repeating the feat 12 months later.
Both races saw Massa disappear into the distance. On the face of it, things appeared different this time around, with Hamilton passing the Ferrari and leading for parts of the race.
However, McLaren had chosen to run the Englishman on a three-stop strategy - Hamilton's lighter car thus enabling him to fight for the lead with the two-stopping Massa before his final call for fuel and tyres.
Hamilton certainly played his role in F1's own version of 'The Tortoise and the Hare' fable to the hilt and, starting from third on the grid, was up a place at the lights past team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
Collision
With the cars funnelling into the tight Turn One it was perhaps inevitable that there would be a collision in the pack and so it proved, with Giancarlo Fisichella slamming into the back Kazuki Nakajimja, the Italian's Force India car vaulting over the top of the Japanese driver's Williams.
Both cars were out on the spot and the safety car was deployed for two laps. Upon resumption of racing, Hamilton resumed his chase of Massa.
Meanwhile, Kovalainen pitted for a left rear puncture - Raikkonen appearing to clip the back of his fellow Finn's car as they entered Turn One at the start - and dropped down to 18th and last place.
Raikkonen, who had dropped from fourth to sixth on lap one, retook Alonso for fourth on lap three while, out front, Massa increased his lead over Hamilton to 1.5 seconds by lap five. But the McLaren driver responded and started to match the Ferrari's pace.
The pair traded fastest laps as the gap between them varied by about a tenth each side of the 1.5-second mark. They were also pulling away from the field - Hamilton's lead over third-placed Kubica going out to 3.6 seconds by lap nine.
By lap 13, Hamilton had eked a further four tenths out of Massa's lead, with the McLaren setting another fastest lap on lap 15 as the gap came down to 0.7 seconds.
But the cause for the Englishman's pace was revealed when he pitted on lap 16 - one lap after Alonso but before both Ferraris and Kubica.
Short-fuelled for his second stint, Hamilton rejoined in sixth place behind Heidfeld, leaving Massa with an eight-second lead over Kubica.
The top two then pitted at the end of lap 19, with Massa's Ferrari rejoining in third - just ahead of Hamilton - the Pole's BMW Sauber emerging fifth.
Raikkonen thus inherited the lead and, after upping his pace ahead his own first stop at the end of lap 21, he managed to leapfrog Kubica and take third place.
Making full use of his lighter car, Hamilton once more closed the gap on race leader Massa and was all over the back of the Ferrari by lap 23.
Strategy
And, on the approach to Turn 12, he made his move, passing the Ferrari up the inside and immediately started pulling away - Hamilton needing to place as much distance as possible between himself and his nearest pursuers to make his strategy work.
Kovalainen was up to 11th when he made his first stop on lap 26 but anticipation was building as to when precisely his team-mate would make his second.
Lapping one second per lap quicker than Massa, Hamilton built a 7.5-second lead by the time he pitted once more at the end of lap 32. He then rejoined in third place, behind the Ferraris.
With Kovalainen engaged in some fine midfield duelling with Toyota's Timo Glock and Honda's Jenson Button on his way up to 12th place by lap 36, Massa led Raikkonen by 10.8 seconds, Hamilton 2.4 seconds behind the second Ferrari.
Massa and the fourth-placed Kubica made their second and final stops on lap 40, handing the lead to Raikkonen who, in turn, stopped at the end of lap 43.
With 15 laps to go, Hamilton led Massa by 12.9 seconds - too small a lead to prevent the Brazilian from vaulting back ahead during the McLaren man's extra stop.
Nevertheless, Hamilton could still beat Raikkonen and, following his final stop on lap 45, he emerged from the pit lane ahead of the Finn's Ferrari.
With a five-second lead in the bank, Massa thus reeled off the remaining dozen or so laps to the chequered flag. However, less than one second ahead of Raikkonen, Hamilton had his hands full in the closing stages.
But he stood his ground, in the process taking two points out of Raikkonen's championship lead - Massa's victory in turn placing him joint second with Hamilton, seven points adrift.
Red Bull's David Coulthard finished ninth, two places ahead of Button while, having briefly reached a points-paying eighth place, a late stop for fuel relegated Kovalainen to 12th.
Meanwhile, making his 257th grand prix start - breaking the record set by Riccardo Patrese in 1993 - Honda's Rubens Barrichello came home 14th.
im so happy that massa won that, The guy has so much potential he just needs to focus more when he drives and make less mistakes. He did that today and he won.
I predict him to put up a decent fight for this season's title, unless ferrari tell him he is no.2.
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good race and well done to massa!
lewis fightin back and drove quite well yday!
mention to barrichello as well, his appearance yesturday makes him the most experienced racer ever i think as he now has teh most appearances for any F1 driver.
Magny-Cours venue to be removed from calendar after June event
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkySports.com
Formula One president Bernie Ecclestone has announced that there will be no French GP in 2009 after making it clear that June's event will be Magny-Cours' last F1 race.
In May 2007 Ecclestone announced that F1 would be leaving Magny-Cours due to dwindling spectator numbers and poor facilities. "We should not have gone there in the first place," he said at the time.
However, a month later Ecclestone had a change of heart and stated that F1 would remain at the track for one last season with a June date set for the 2008 event.
After yet another re-think the F1 chief has now said that this year's race will definitely be Magny-Cours' last, which means France will not be hosting a round of the F1 Championship in 2009 - or until such a time as a new venue is decided on.
Paris plea
"We agreed that there would be a French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in 2008 but not in 2009," the F1 boss told French daily L'Equipe.
"Prime Minister Francois Fillon told me we would then see if we could have a grand prix in Paris or just outside but that would not necessarily be for 2009, rather for 2010.
"In any case, 2008 will be the last time we continue like this."
He added: "I would really love a French Grand Prix in the streets of Paris."
well there def is a lot of history there and to axe it is a shame, but i guess their making space for all these propsed new racs like valencia and singapore i think?
its the singapore one that will be a night race rite?
Massa claims third straight Istanbul pole
Massa claims third straight Istanbul pole -
05-10-2008, 03:27 PM
05-10-2008, 03:51 PM
***spoilers*** -
05-11-2008, 08:11 PM
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