Formula One Turkish Grand Prix - Istanbul

The Turkish Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that debuted on August 21, 2005 as part of the 2005 Formula One season. It is held at the newly built Istanbul Park Circuit, constructed by famous German civil engineer Hermann Tilke... [more]

The Turkish Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that debuted on August 21, 2005 as part of the 2005 Formula One season. It is held at the newly built Istanbul Park Circuit, constructed by famous German civil engineer Hermann Tilke. The circuit is only the third anti-clockwise circuit on the Formula One calendar after the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Brazil.

Tilke has stressed how the track follows the contours of the land, which dips and falls. This is in contrast to some of his other recent tracks, the topography of which did not allow such variation. It takes an influence from many of the worlds best race tracks. Corner 1 is very similar to corner one in Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Brazil and has also been compared to the "corkscrew" at Laguna Seca. There is a flat-out kink on a hill similar to Eau Rouge corner at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps; fans have jokingly referred to this as "Faux Rouge."

Turn 8 is probably the best corner on the track. It is a quadruple apex corner with a load of 5G (5 times the force of gravity) for 4 seconds. It is actually 4 corners joined together. Many drivers have found this a very tricky corner of the circuit.

Because of the nature of the circuit the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix weekend saw exciting on-track action, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend due to pushing too hard, particularly at Turn 8. Juan Pablo Montoya memorably lost it at Turn 8 with two laps to go, following a tangle whilst trying to lap Tiago Monteiro. This allowed Fernando Alonso to take second place behind Kimi Räikkönen, an event which had a significant bearing on their battle for the World Championship headed towards its culmination. -- source www.wikipedia.org