Formula One Turkish Grand Prix - Istanbul

Linked from http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=40447
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Turkish Grand Prix, 58 laps, result

1. MASSA Ferrari 1h26m42.161s
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 2.2s
3. ALONSO Mclaren 26.1s
4. HEIDFELD BMW 39.6s
5. HAMILTON McLaren 45.0s
6. KOVALAINEN Renault 46.1s
7. ROSBERG Williams 55.7s
8. KUBICA BMW 56.7s
9. FISICHELLA Renault 59.4s
10. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m11.0s
11. WURZ Williams 1m19.6s
12. R SCHUMACHER Toyota 1 lap
13. BUTTON Honda 1 laps
14. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1 laps
15. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1 laps
16. TRULLI Toyota 1 lap
17. BARRICHELLO Honda 1 lap
18. SATO Super Aguri 1 lap
19. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1 lap
20. YAMAMOTO Spyker 2 laps
21. SUTIL Spyker 5 laps
R. WEBBER Red Bull 49 laps

Linked from http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/8/6679.html
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1st Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1h26m42.161s; 2nd Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 1h26m44.436s; 3rd Fernando Alonso (McLaren), 1h27m08.342s.

Q: Felipe, from the pole you have won your second Turkish Grand Prix.
Felipe Massa: It’s amazing. The third time here in Istanbul but the second race in a row winning from pole. I love the track, I love the place and here is where my career made a switch and I started to win races and fight with the front runners. It is a very special place for me and to have a second consecutive win here, it’s difficult to find the right words…

Q: It looked like a dominating win from the outside. Talk about it from your perspective. We saw a little drama with your helmet at one point and of course a big surprise for everybody in the pit lane to see both Ferraris on the softer of the two Bridgestone tyres for the first two stints.
FM: The helmet had a crack on the cooling system and I had big turbulence. My head started to go up and I was losing a lot of concentration, so I just took it away and it made a bit of strange behaviour on the straight but then it was better. With the tyres, on Friday we made a long run on both tyres and it was pretty similar, with maybe just one or two tenths between them. We knew that Friday to Sunday the track changes a lot and the soft tyre should improve even more, so we took a bit of a gamble although it was a pretty safe risk. Especially for the start, we knew that the soft would be better and we had fantastic starts; Kimi overtook Lewis and we had a very good race on the soft.

Q: A great day for you to have your family at the race, your Dad had a lot of TV time!
FM: Yes! He is very emotional, like me, and on the podium for sure the TV likes to take this kind of experience from people. But I am really proud to win in front of him, and my mother as well.

Q: Kimi, it looked like a frustrating day for you. As Felipe said, you got into second place from the start but that’s where you stayed. You pushed Felipe pretty hard going into the second pit stop.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, we had a pretty good car but unfortunately these days in Formula One it’s pretty difficult to get past, so the race was really decided yesterday already. If nothing else I pushed hard and got as close as I could and tried to do something at the pit stops, but when two team-mates are fighting it is usually that whoever is first is going to stay there. The car was really good but there was nothing I could have done.

Q: Again you chose the softer of the two Bridgestone tyres. Was that a big decision going into the race, how it was going to perform?
KR: I think as Felipe said we were pretty confident that both tyres would work pretty well. It was not a big difference and we decided to take the soft one for the start for many reasons and it worked well. It was still difficult to say which one would have been better. They were very equal.

Q: Fernando, you were beaten off the line and into the first corner by the two BMWs so, I guess, to be here in P3 is a nice reward for you?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, for sure. The start did not go to plan and to be overtaken by two cars and find yourself sixth at the first corner was not great. My race was a little bit over from that time. I was following Nick for 17 laps and as Kimi said, these days in Formula One it is very, very difficult to overtake. You need to wait for a mistake from the car in front of you and Nick was very consistent and driving very well, so I waited for the pit stop and I was lucky to overtake him. Then my race started but I was half a minute behind everybody at that point and I just took my pace and concentrated on being consistent, not making a mistake and waiting for the miracle, which only happened with Hamilton. But third, for sure, is not the best result from the weekend.

Q: Ferrari was pulling away from you and Lewis pretty comprehensively in the closing stages of the race. How much of that was tyre choice perhaps, taking the race as a whole, and how much of it was the difference between the two cars on this circuit?
FA: I think that it was the car to be honest. I think with the tyres we found the prime very similar compared with the option but slightly better, more consistent and I still think the prime was the right choice for the race, to be sure. The last stint I did with the option I found the car to be a little bit worse, so that confirms that the prime tyre was better for our car. It was very windy today and we know when it is windy we have more difficulty and found that again today.

Q: Well Felipe, we now go to the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari having another 1-2 behind them, so what’s that race going to be like for you and the team?
FM: It is a very special race for us so hopefully we can repeat the result here. It would be fantastic for the team, for the people, for the tifosi, so I’m looking forward to the race.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: As I said yesterday, Felipe, you’re a bit of a Turkish specialist now.
FM: Maybe after three races and two wins here it can be a special track for me. It is fantastic to win for the second time in a row here in Turkey, starting from the pole, having a good car. A difficult race but I managed to keep my concentration.

Q: What was happening when Kimi was catching you at the end of the second stint?
FM: The gap was pretty similar throughout the stint but then Kimi started to run two tenths quicker and I started to push again. Then I just made a small mistake going into Turn 7 and Kimi was just able to close the gap completely. But the gap was okay to control, the balance was okay and the car was easy to drive, so it was not so difficult but the small mistake made my life a little bit more difficult.

Q: Just explain again what the problem was with your helmet, the visor?
FM: We have a cooling system just on the top and the plastic part cracked and started to go up and so I had huge turbulence and my head started to move a lot – going up and under braking going completely down. That was disturbing me a lot and so I just broke the cooling flap completely and managed to take it away.

Q: How many laps did you suffer that for?
FM: Five or six laps before I broke it. It was still a bit difficult in terms of turbulence but a lot better.

Q: Kimi, tell us about the start.
KR: I got a good start as we were hoping for but that’s about it – I was following Felipe all race long and there was nothing I could have done.

Q: How did you see the end of that first stint?
KR: It was good. I had a little bit too much understeer at the start and I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted. The car got better and better and in the end was very good and very easy to drive. But I had big difficulties with the handling at the start of the second stint. At the end I could go very fast but when you have two guys behind each other in the same team, usually the second guy has to pit first and there is nothing more I could have done.

Q: But a little bit of a statement two laps from the end?
KR: Yeah, but it’s so boring behind other cars. Unfortunately in Formula One these days the races are pretty much decided after qualifying, so it’s a shame.

Q: Fastest lap, two laps from the end, similar to Hungary…
KR: Yeah, it’s something to do.

Q: Fernando, close behind Heidfeld but you weren’t catching Lewis. That gap remained pretty much the same between the two of you, about 14 seconds in the second stint.
FA: Yes. The start was quite bad and after I found myself sixth on the first lap, I thought the race was over because if you overtake them quite quickly in the first five laps, you still have a possibility but if not, it becomes very difficult. It was exactly like that. Lap 18, when I pitted, I managed to get in front of Nick and start my race but I was 14 seconds behind the third guy and I pushed, as hard as I could, but the gap always remained the same. I was just cruising a little bit to the end, from lap 30.

Q: But as Peter said, to be on the rostrum having been sixth must be something of a relief.
FA: Yeah, for sure. If someone told me on lap two that I would be on the podium it would not have been easy to believe and I would be very happy and I would sign anywhere if someone told me that. At the end, the final result is the best thing of the weekend for sure, but there are some other moments that were not so good: like yesterday in qualifying, today the start, the pace of the Ferraris compared to us in the race, many things that we need to improve for the next Grand Prix.

Q: Is the pace of the Ferraris quite worrying?
FA: Well, we more or less knew that, because we are coming from some races where we saw their potential: in Magny-Cours they were very very quick, in Silverstone they were very quick again. The only race where we were back on the pace was maybe Hungary and that was not a surprise because it’s a very slow circuit and something like Monaco. We know that that type of circuit is quite good for us, but coming to a normal circuit like Turkey, they are on top again. We know that we need to improve but next race will be better.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Kimi, you already said that this is your second race in a row where you are following the leading car and you said it’s a little bit boring being there, but having said that, you did the fastest lap in both races. Is that just to keep you awake or is it more to try and see how much you can get out of the car?
KR: I think we can get more out of the car if we really push but there’s no point in really wasting your second position to push like crazy and maybe go off so… It was just that I wanted to try and see how good the car was and maybe we can learn something. As I said, it’s a bit boring because you quite often know, especially after the pit stop, where the other cars will stop and that’s it. You know that you cannot really do anything if you don’t get past the guys and it’s very difficult to get past.

Q: (Sal Zanca – Associated Press) Fernando, do miracles happen and what did you say to yourself when Hamilton’s tyre shredded?
FA: Nothing, to be honest, because the race was still going on, and I had 20 or 18 laps to go or whatever. The team told me on the radio ‘be careful because it seems that you may have the same problem that happened on Lewis’s car because at the pit stop we are seeing that your tyres are not in perfect shape either, so take care of the car in these last 15 or 18 laps, in order not to have the same problem.’ So I wasn’t thinking anything special, I was just taking care of my car.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) For all three of you: how much has Lewis’s puncture helped your title chances?
FA: Nothing changes, to be honest. The gap for me is only two points difference, so at the end of the day it’s just a second and third place, or a first and second. I’m still losing points from the last two races. If you take Hungary and here, I recovered two points here, I lost five in Hungary, so I’m three worse than what I was in Nürburgring so it’s still the same. As long as all four top cars finish all the races, the gaps don’t increase or decrease too much, so it’s still very open for the last final three races that will probably be the last chance for everybody.
FM: It helped me six points.
KR: Yeah, it was definitely better for us. We know that anything can happen in a race, we gained more than if we had finished third, so it’s helping but there are still many races to go, so we just need to keep pushing and try to win and see what happens.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) A question for the two Ferrari drivers: did the positions on the grid decide who will stop earlier than the other in the two different stints?
FM: It was decided yesterday in qualifying. I had one lap more fuel than him (Kimi).

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, your Grand Prix was not very good from the beginning; is it because you don’t like this circuit or was there something else that disturbed you during this weekend?
FA: No, no, nothing special. It’s true that from Friday it was not an easy weekend, but we found the pace yesterday in qualifying - especially in Q1 and Q2 the car felt good again. Q3 was looking good until the last new tyre run, so we found the pace there. Today, starting fourth, if I was fourth in turn one I would probably follow everybody, overtaking would maybe be impossible but maybe I was fourth following everybody with no problems. It’s true that it hasn’t been an easy weekend but nothing was disturbing me.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, is starting from pole the only way to win at Monza also?
KR: Not really. It depends how much fuel you have against the others but racing with teammates, you know exactly much fuel the other guy has, so when you are in that situation, you pretty much know what will happen in the race. If it’s someone else it’s a different story but for sure, pole position makes your life easier, you have better chances but it doesn’t really decide the race completely.

Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia Efe) Fernando, how are your feelings after this one hundredth GP? Are you happy, could you be happier? And of the last five races, which ones do you think will be best for you and how confident do you feel in winning your third title?
FA: I can’t remember the first question any more! The hundredth Grand Prix. I felt good and I’m feeling good now. I feel happy, as I said before, especially because of the result; that was the best news of the weekend. To be on the podium is always a nice feeling and given the start of the race, it was a nice finish to the weekend, to be on the podium. I won’t remember this Grand Prix for the rest of my life but it has been quite good at the end. And the chances for the title? They are still there for everybody, still all four drivers – two McLaren and two Ferrari drivers – with possibilities to win the title. You see ups and downs for everybody. It depends on how the weekend goes, how lucky you are in that particular weekend, so five races to go and the better one and the lucky one will win in the end.

Q: (Peter Hesseler – Auto Bild) Fernando and the Ferrari drivers as well. Is it the wrong impression that you have generally started worse this year or has it changed since the beginning of the year when Ferrari lost some places?
FA: It’s true that our start is probably not the best. We know that the BMWs start really really well, every weekend. For us, it’s true that at the beginning of the championship we were having good starts, sometimes overtaking the Ferraris. I remember Malaysia, I remember Australia or I don’t know where. Obviously we haven’t made our starts worse, we keep improving but for sure the Ferraris did a bigger step forward than us. 

Linked from http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=40462
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MCLAREN

Fernando Alonso – Finished 3rd/Q4

“It was not the plan to lose two places at the start, and so my race was pretty much over when I came into the first corner in sixth place. I was following Nick Heidfeld for 17 laps at the start, and it was very difficult to overtake him.

“Fortunately we were able to do this in the first round of pit stops and that was when my race could really start. Unfortunately I was 30 seconds down at that point, so third was a good result considering.”

Lewis Hamilton – Finished 5th/Q2

“A little bit unfortunate but still we did a good job, and the team was fantastic all weekend. We had the pace of the Ferraris, but when you are behind you lose a little bit of downforce; we were just matching them for most of the race. I saw some bits fly off the tyre and then it just blew on braking into turn nine.

“It was lucky that I didn't put the car in the gravel and managed to control it back to the pits, as this meant that in the end I only lost two places. We still got some good points and I remain in the lead of the championship by five points, so it is not all bad.”


RENAULT

Giancarlo Fisichella – Finished 9th/Q10

“My race was compromised by what happened at the first corner. Jarno braked very suddenly in front of me, I had nowhere to go and ended up hitting him, which cost me positions and made him spin.

“That ruined his race, and I am sorry, but it also cost me the chance of finishing in the points. After that, it was tough: I just had to drive flat-out, and hope for retirements. Unfortunately that didn't happen, but the pace of the car was not too bad.”

Heikki Kovalainen – Finished 6th/Q7

“This was a really good race for me. The start was quite exciting, as Heidfeld pushed me very wide on the run to the first corner, and I had to back off quite a lot. But I defended my position aggressively and once the tyres started working properly after a few laps, the car balance was stable and the pace was consistent.

“Ever since Nurburgring when we introduced some new developments, we have been looking for the chance to prove they were a step forward, and I think this race has done that. Now we need to get our heads down and try to make another step at Monza.”


FERRARI

Felipe Massa – Finished 1st/Q1

“This is becoming a special place for me! It is a really great win. I maintained my concentration for the whole race, trying to control the situation. Only towards the end of the second stint did I make a small mistake at turn seven which cost me the gap I had over Kimi, who closed right up to me.

“I made a very good start and the car behaved perfectly even though it has to be said it was a difficult race. Today's result is a great encouragement when looking to the final part of the season. We must continue to work in this same way and give it our best shot.”

Kimi Raikkonen – Finished 2nd/Q3

“Of course I would like to have won but probably the race was decided in yesterday afternoon's qualifying session. When your main rival is your team-mate, there are less unknown factors and even less room to come up with something. However, the important thing is to have put two Ferraris in front of everyone else and, in any case, we have made up ground on the championship leader.

“The quick lap at the end? I was a bit bored with spending the whole race behind another car and so I tried to see how quick I could have been. In Monza I will have to try and do a good qualifying to be in the best possible situation for the race.”


HONDA RACING

Jenson Button – Finished 13th/Q22

“It was a lot of fun passing 10 cars! If you put to one side where we finished – because 13th position is still far from a good result – I think we had a reasonable race compared to the last one. I had a good time and was able to pass quite a few of the midfield competitors that we've been struggling to keep pace with in recent races.

“Obviously starting from the back of the grid is not something I want to have to repeat but we did a good job to fight for something better and I think the team can be pleased with our performance today.”

Rubens Barrichello – Finished 17th/Q21

“Obviously today was always going to be difficult starting from the back of the field.

“The car was moving around quite a bit from corner to corner and there wasn't much I could do from where we started.”


BMW SAUBER

Nick Heidfeld – Finished 4th/Q6

“I am very happy about this result, as the team did a fantastic job. The race strategy, the tyre choice and the pit stops – everything worked perfectly. We made the most out of everything.

“The start especially was great fun. I was braking very late for turn one and, once again, I came very close to Fernando Alonso. Of course I dreamt I could keep him behind me over the distance, but we knew he would refuel later than me. After the stop he was in front of me and he was also faster.”

Robert Kubica – Finished 8th/Q5

“It was a very hard race and I just hadn't got enough speed. Also when I was lighter in the first stint I could not build up a big enough gap. Every time I pitted someone was overtaking me.

“I did not have enough speed throughout the whole race, and this also meant I was not able to overtake. I suppose my problems were a bit of everything and I just found the car difficult to drive.”


TOYOTA

Ralf Schumacher – Finished 12th/Q16

“I am not really happy with the result. I think we had the speed, but I couldn't really push early in the race and the car was not ideal with the hard tyres, so I lost a bit of time. Also, because I was on a one-stop strategy my car was very heavy and that made it hard to push earlier in the race.

“As we have seen on Friday, we have decent race speed and when I was in clear air my pace was not so bad in the end. My lap times got better towards the end of the race and they were actually quite good. If our result in qualifying had been better we would have been able to score points.”

Jarno Trulli – Finished 16th/Q9

“We had the opportunity to get a better result but that is racing. It was a shame because the car was well balanced throughout the race and this is thanks to the hard work back at the factory. There was no clear lap for me to show my potential but the feeling of the car was good.

"The start went well but unfortunately at the first corner Fisichella hit me at the back and I lost a lot of positions. These things can happen. After that I overtook many cars and I had a lot of battles but when you end up at the back it is so difficult to catch up.”


RED BULL RACING

David Coulthard – Finished 13th/Q13

“I made a good start and made up a few places – I think four – and thereafter I found the car to be a bit inconsistent which did not help me maintain a good pace throughout the race, especially when I had a bit of fuel on board.

“Now we will just have to see what we can find for the next race in Monza.”

Mark Webber – DNF/Q12

“It looks like it was a hydraulics problem. It's a shame because I was fuelled to go for a long stint, longer than those directly ahead of us and I was just sitting in there, ready to go for it for the rest of the race.

“On the lap before I stopped I started to have problems with downshifting and then the team called me in to retire.”


WILLIAMS

Nico Rosberg – Finished 7th/Q8

“Before this weekend started, I didn't expect that we would finish the race in seventh, so I am very pleased – it was a great race. I am also very happy to have beaten Kubica in the BMW – I didn't expect him to pit before us and we beat him fair and square.

“Towards the end of the race it became more difficult, but the car handled pretty well and the tyre graining was there for a shorter time than I anticipated, so I could continue to push hard. It was great to win two points for both championships.”

Alex Wurz – Finished 11th/Q14

“My start was good and I felt comfortable on my first set of tyres which allowed me to attack. After the first stop, however, it was really close because a lot of people who were on a one-stop strategy went past me and that obviously cost me a bit of time.

“Ninth may have been possible and so I was pushing from the first to last lap. Heat is never an issue for me, even if mentally it was a bit tough today. But my nature is always to push! Congratulations to Nico who really had a fantastic drive.”


SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO

Vitantonio Liuzzi – Finished 15th/Q15

“Overall, this was actually quite a good race from my point of view and the most important thing is that I finished. I had some problems with a harsh upshift in the first stint and towards the end I eased off a bit to look after the engine. It was good to see the chequered flag.

“I had a strong race but unfortunately the finishing position is not so good as hardly anyone stopped ahead of us. I am happy to have driven without making any mistakes. I had some good fights with Fisichella at the beginning and then with others at least for a few corners.”

Sebastian Vettel – Finished 19th/Q18

“I had a good start and got away well, but as I upshifted through the gears I lost a bit of momentum. Especially in the first stint I was unable to match the pace of those ahead, particularly down the straight.

“Apart from that, my biggest problem was at the pit stop when the engine stalled, so we had to restart it and I was then in neutral instead of first, so it cost me a few seconds. Overall, it was a tough race, and we have to see now why we were not able to run at the pace we had expected.”


SPYKER

Adrian Sutil – Finished 21st/Q19

“I stalled in the pits and got stuck in gear, and as Sakon was coming in soon after me they had to put the car in the garage to restart. It is a shame as I had hoped to have a good race, but you know it happens.

“We did do some really strong lap times though and the stint with the harder tyres got better and better, especially the last laps. It was just on the last lap that we had some problems with fuel pressure and I had to stop before the chequered flag.”

Sakon Yamamoto – Finished 20th/Q20

“First of all I would like to thank the team as my aim was to finish the race and I've achieved my target, so I am really happy. It was not that easy as I stalled in the pit stop as the fuel pressure was low, but I did not lose too much time with this thankfully.

“For Monza we should have the B-spec so I am looking forward to this next race. I will go through the data and then prepare for this race and the next test in just a couple of days.”


SUPER AGURI

Takuma Sato – Finished 18th/Q17

“It was a tough race. I did not have a very good start off the line, but I held my position. I was optimistic that I would be able to gain some positions in the back of the queue into turn one, but just in front of me one of the Toyota cars spun and completely blocked my line.

“I had to brake really hard and to avoid him I had to go round the outside and I lost many places. From then on I had a very tough race and nothing else really happening. It is a shame to finish the race weekend like this, but we just struggled with grip all weekend and continue to lack the pace.”

Anthony Davidson – Finished 14th/Q11

“It was a good start, but then I got sandwiched going into turn one between Coulthard and Fisichella. Fisichella and Trulli touched, Trulli spun and I had to go on the outside of him off the track, and when I rejoined I touched another car and damaged my front end, which definitely affected the balance of my car.

“It was a tough race from there on really. We had a good strategy. We got ahead of the Toro Rosso, which was who I was fighting with all race, so it is a shame to have had a bit of contact at the start. After that, it was a good clean race and it felt good to finish another grand prix.” 

	1) Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne
	2) Bahrain Grand Prix - Manama
	3) Belgian Grand Prix - Spa Francorchamps
	4) Brazilian Grand Prix - Sao Paulo
	5) British Grand Prix - Silverstone
	6) Canadian Grand Prix - Montreal
	7) Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai
	8) European Grand Prix - Nurburgring
	9) French Grand Prix - Magny Cours
	10) Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring
	11) Italian Grand Prix - Monza
	12) Japanese Grand Prix - Shizuoka Prefecture
	13) Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang
	14) Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo
	15) Spanish Grand Prix - Barcelona
	16) Turkish Grand Prix - Istanbul
	17) United States Grand Prix - Indianapolis

Linked from http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitdetail/781.html
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Turkey made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track is designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights - with the cars reaching speeds of up to 330 km/h.

An unusual feature of the venue is that the lap runs anti-clockwise, making the Turkish Grand Prix only the third race on the calendar to do so (San Marino and Brazil are the other two). It possesses a wide variety of corners, and while perhaps not as technical as, say, Shanghai, it definitely provides the drivers with real challenge, especially given the reduced downforce available from 2005.

The character of the circuit is further enhanced by plenty of gradients - the track is built on four different ground levels. There may be fewer obvious overtaking opportunities than at some other Tilke circuits - it doesn't feature the long straights followed by tight hairpins that characterise the likes of Sepang and Shanghai - but the potential for a driver under pressure to make a mistake here means no shortage of passing.

As you'd expect from a new venue, spectator facilities are impressive - organisers knew they had to rival the very high standards set by Bahrain and China in 2004. Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking is available for 12,000 cars. Dominating the circuit's skyline are two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock.