Massa secures hat trick of victories in Turkey
Felipe Massa secured a hat trick in Istanbul on Sunday after wining the Turkish Grand Prix ahead of championship rivals McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen.
The race, which was held in cooler temperatures than its more traditional heat in August, was dominated by the Brazilian, who has now enjoyed three consecutive victories from pole position in Turkey.
Massa quipped afterwards: “Its fantastic to have got the hat trick here in Istanbul: it might really almost be worth asking for a Turkish passport!”
However, Ferrari were pushed all the way by Hamilton, who had been struggling with the softer tyre compound in the cooler weather and adopted a radical three-stop strategy.
The British sensation said it had been the best race of his short F1 career to date. “I am so thrilled and I think this is the best race ever for me,” he said. “It’s not about winning, it’s about feeling that you extract 100 percent from yourself and the car and I did that.”
The reigning world champion was almost anonymous by his standards, never really looking as though he was in for a shout at the chequered flag. “It was a difficult weekend for me but six points are definitely better than nothing,” he conceded.
In the end, the race was a strategist nirvana as teams pitted their wits against each other off the track.
McLaren’s decision to switch Hamilton to a three-stop as opposed to the more conventional two almost came off, but whilst the boffins concentrated on the Brit’s effort, team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, whose mere presence on the starting grid is testament to the improvements in safety following his horrifying crash in Spain a fortnight ago, struggled after a first lap tyre deflation.
The Finn managed to make up ground and was on the verge of a points finish but was eventually thwarted when he was forced to make a splash and dash just seven laps to the finish. It was a costly error on the team’s part, who had momentarily taken their eye off the ball.
Elsewhere, BMW-Sauber continued their consistent run with another double top five finish.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso finished sixth whilst Mark Webber crossed the line in seventh with Nico Rosberg securing the last point on offer in eighth.
However, whilst Massa celebrated his third Turkish delight, Giancarlo Fisichella was left ruing his third consecutive first corner exit in Turkey.
The Italian veteran, who has long passed his sell by date, mistimed his braking point and careered into the back and over Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams. The Force India driver denied he was at fault blaming Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Bourdais for changing direction.
But whilst Fisichella pondered his future, Rubens Barrichello made history on Sunday by becoming the most experienced driver in Formula One history after he competed in his 257th grand prix surpassing Ricardo Patrese’s record set in 1993.
Unfortunately for the Honda driver, the Brazilian failed to make much of an impression and has yet to score a point since the Brazilian GP back in 2006.
