The Turkish Grand Prix is the seventh round of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championsip. Brawn GP's Jenson Button enjoys a healthy lead in the points standings, having won five of the opening six races. His team-mate Rubens Barrichello lies second in the title chase and Brawn GP are dominating the constructor's championship.
Turkish Grand Prix History
The Hermann Tilke designed Istanbul Park circuit made its first appearance on the Formula 1 calendar in 2005. The track was immediatley welcomed by the drivers. It features significant elevation changes and turn eight, a daunting high speed corner with four apexes.
Although Kimi Raikkonen won the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix for McLaren the race has since belonged to Felipe Massa and Ferrari. Between 2006 and 2008 the Brazilian has claimed pole on each occasion and gone on to win the Grand Prix.
The 2006 Turkish Grand Prix ended in controversy when a dignitary presenting trophies on the podium was introduced as the president of a state only recognised by Turkey. This political faux pas earned the organisers a $5 million from the FIA.
Turkish GP Statistics and Weather Forecast
Race date: Sunday June 7th, 2009
Race distance: 58 laps
Circuit length: 3.317 miles (5.338 km)
Lap record: 1 minute, 24.770 seconds (Juan-Pablo Montoya, 2005 - McLaren)
2009 Turkish GP weather forecast: sunny on all three days
2009 Turkish GP Form Guide
As the Formula 1 circus makes its way to Turkey Brawn GP are in danger of running away with both championships. Button enjoys a healthy lead over his team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the driver's standings and the team has more than double the points of nearest rivals Red Bull in the battle for constructor's honours.
Ferrari showed imrpoved form last time out in Monaco, where Raikkonen finished third and Massa fourth. The latter will head to Istanbul full of confidence, with a hat-trick of Turkish Grand Prix victories to his credit.
Red Bull had a disappointing Monaco weekend. Although Mark Webber finished in the points his team-mate Sebastian Vettel crashed out. Nico Rosberg was once again quick in his Williams but could not challenge the Brawn pair. McLaren had a dismal time, with Lewis Hamilton finishing a lap down in 12th and Heikki Kovalainen's day ending against the barriers.
Sebastien Bourdais should have regained some confidence after scoring his first point of the season in Monaco, but his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Buemi made a mistake which ended his race and Nelson Piquet's. Fernando Alonso, in the other Renault, extracted all the speed he could from his car to finish seventh. Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella came agonisingly close to scoring a point for the team, something his team-mate Adrian Sutil never looked in danger of doing.
Meanwhile, BMW Sauber and Toyota trailed around near the back. 2009 is turning into a nightmare for BMW drivers Robert Kubica and Nicke Heidfeld, while the Toyota pair are struggling to find consistent pace.
