First point to make about this race is - the race had flying start (see the picture above). Second - we actually had a race. There were cars that raced each other ! Third point to make about this race is a question - would Lewis Hamilton even start the race under 2005 rules that prevented tyre changes ?

Felipe Massa is becoming the King of Istanbul track. Three pole postitions in a row, three wins in a row. He is the first driver since Michael Schumacher to win three consecutive races at the same Formula 1 track … He had a perfect start and created nice gap between himself and Hamilton before even reaching Turn 1. He lost his lead later on in the race when Hamilton overtook him, but at that time Massa was already aware of Hamilton’s 3 stop strategy and did exactly defend hard. He reclaimed his lead after another round of pitstops and held it rather comfortably. Massa wnet on to win his 7th F1 race, 3th consecutive Turkish GP and second race this year. After 2 DNFs early on Massa made it to the podium 3 times in a row. He is now officially back in the hunt for the title.

It was not the best weekend for Massa’s team mate and the championship leader Kimi Raikkonen. His troubles started on Friday already and stuck with him for the rest of the weekend. He collided with Heikki Kovalainen at the start and damaged his front wing. He still however managed to record the fastest lap of the race and finish on podium. Nothing spectacular from the defending champion, pretty much a damage limitation weekend …

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F1Wolf

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A bit of refreshment before the Turkish GP Formula 1 race. Vijay Mallya has been known for his lavish parties and his Kingfisher party last year in Monaco was said to be The party to attend. There are still 2 weeks to go before Monaco but the European Party season has already began for Force India boss. Here are few photos from the party on board Mallya’s yacht in Istanbul, on Friday before Turkish GP. He looks to have stolen Sakon Yamamoto from Renault and turned him into a DJ (All photos courtesy of Force India F1):

(more photos inside the article)

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F1Wolf

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I managed to see bits and pieces of the first practice. It started with wet track between turns 3 and 9 due to late cleaning . It continued with cars sliding all over the place (and not because of the late cleaning). Felipe Massa was the fastest driver of the session but he also managed to get off the track more than once (I saw twice). He needs to make friends with Turn 8 . Not sure what happened to Kimi, he did one timed lap and ended up at the tail of the order. But if the weekend continues the way it has begun, we may see some interesting action on th track. Not the best show from the Red Bull family …

Kimi Raikkonen recovered from the gearbox problems and recorded the fastest time in second practice just ahead of Hamilton and Massa. Rain affected early stages of the session only but the track seemed quite damp till the end. Cars however spent the whole session on dry tyres, at least as far as I could tell. There was not much grip and the off-track trips continued in second session too. Mark Webber crashed his car, few drivers lost the rears of their cars. How I wish there is about this much for qualifying and the race .

To follow the practice, qualifying and race live, check this link for info.

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F1Wolf

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The 2008 Formula 1 season continues this weekend with the Turkish Grand Prix. Here is what we know:

- there will be no Super Aguri, no Takuma Sato , no Anthony Davidson
- there will be no shark fin on Toro Rosso yet
- there will be no hole in the nose of Ferrari car for this race
- Rubens Barrichello will celebrate his 257th F1 GP
- there will be no changes to the safety car rules
- the weather forecasts do not expect rain on Saturday and Sunday
- the weather is rather cool

We can’t be sure but we can expect another strong weekend from Ferrari. Out of the last 6 Formula One races 5 were won by Ferrari driver. It gets even more scary if we talk about Turkish Grand Prix. The inaugural race in 2005 was won by Kimi Raikkonen (in McLaren that time), the last 2 races had one winner - Felipe Massa… But as it is with the investments - the past performances do not guarantee future returns. Ferraris were hot favourites for Australian Grand Prix too and we all know how that race ended up.

It is getting tigher behind Ferrari. It will be interesting to see who will come out on top this time - BMW Sauber or McLaren. The other unknown is Fernando Alonso. Was his new found pace in Barcelona just an one race wonder is he ready to fight with Kubica, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Hamilton for the rest of the season ?

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F1Wolf

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