Turkish GP Race Report

Lewis Hamilton drove what he described as his “best ever race” to finish second behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa at the Istanbul Park circuit on Sunday, despite fears over the safety of his tyres forcing him into a difficult three-stop strategy.

For Hamilton this second place was crucial as it saw the young Briton finish ahead of reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen, and kick-started his title challenge which had faltered up until now with his last three finishes prior to this race yielding just ten points. Throughout the race Hamilton remained unfazed despite having to contend with both long spells of pressure from the Finnish Ferrari driver and a far from ideal race strategy, his McLaren-Mercedes splitting the two Ferrari’s in the final standings.

The unusual strategy deployed by the McLaren team was forced upon them by concerns over the safety of the Bridgestone tyres used by the team. At the Turkish Grand Prix last season one of Hamilton’s tyres had failed and a similar structural fault had been discovered on the driver’s car during Saturday practice. Team boss Ron Dennis was not prepared to see the same thing happen again and so ordered the three-stop strategy as a precaution. The teams problems were compounded when Heikki Kovalainen was clipped by Raikkonen at the first corner, his car suffering a left-rear puncture. Kovalainen was forced to pit and from then on was never in contention for points, despite a brave fight back through the field which saw the Finn finish in twelfth place.

Despite Hamilton’s heroics, it was Massa who was left to celebrate his third victory from pole position in as many years at this circuit which he has come to master during his time with Ferrari. The Brazilian didn’t put a foot wrong over the 58 laps of the race to score the first hat-trick of race wins since Michael Schumacher’s dominance of Indianapolis from 2003-2006.
It was clear from the outset that Massa would take all ten points as he got a clean start in his Ferrari, driving unchallenged into the first corner. It was a very different story behind him however, as Hamilton managed to get himself up from third on the grid to second by the exit of turn one, Kovalainen going in the opposite direction and Raikkonen falling from fourth to sixth place. At the back of the grid, Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella recorded a very different hat-trick all of his own, his collision with the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima his third first-lap retirement in the last three races at this circuit.

In the early stages of the race Hamilton, with probably the lightest fuel tank in the field, was able to match and occasionally exceed the lap times of Massa as the Briton pushed his car to the limit knowing full well that he would have to give 100% to be in with any chance of a top six finish. Unsurprisingly it was Hamilton who pitted first on lap sixteen, Massa following suit three laps later. At this stage it was hard to tell exactly what strategy the McLaren team were running, as in the build up to the race they had kept their cards very close to their chest.

Fortunately for Hamilton, Raikkonen was not driving to his usual astronomically high standards and had been struggling to keep pace with the front two in the run-up to the first set of pit stops. He had not been helped by the minor damage sustained to his front wing after the early clash with Kovalainen, but his scruffy entry into the pit lane for his first stop suggested that the Ferrari man wasn’t quite his usual focussed self.

It was Massa who emerged from the first set of stops with the advantage, pulling out of the pits just 0.5s ahead of Hamilton. However it was the McLaren driver who seemed to be driving the perfect line around the track, continuing to take time out of the Brazilian until he took the lead on lap 24 with a breathtaking piece of overtaking. Hamilton’s lead did not last long, his second stop on lap 32 dropping him down into third place and finally confirming the three-stop strategy that most in the paddock had been expecting. When Massa and Raikkonen pitted on laps 40 and 43 respectively Hamilton gained a temporary lead of the race once again and drove to the very limit of his abilities to ensure he could emerge from his third stop on lap 45 ahead of Raikkonen.

The McLaren mechanics did a brilliantly fast job of refuelling Hamilton’s car for the remaining thirteen laps of the race, getting their man out just in front of Raikkonen. This was a race for McLaren that was very much dictated by the precision and skill of their mechanics and Hamilton would almost certainly not have made it to the second step of the podium had they been just fractions of seconds slower. In the post-race press conference Hamilton claimed it had been the best performance of his career, I would not only agree with this but would also suggest it was the best all-round team performance seen in a Formula One race for some time. Hamilton’s race for the title is back on, and he will go to Monte Carlo in a fortnights time with high hopes.