Turkish GP 2008

MAY 11, 2008

Race Notes - Massa wins Turkish GP for third straight year

Felipe Massa, Turkish GP 2008
© The Cahier Archive

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix, at Istanbul, in his Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton finished in second in his McLaren-Mercedes, 3.7 seconds behind. Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari finished third, 4.2 seconds behind.

Massa has now won the Turkish GP for three years in a row, his second win of the season - Ferrari taking four of the first five races.

Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber finished fourth, followed by his team mate Nick Heidfeld in fifth place. Fernando Alonso in the Renault finished sixth, followed by Mark Webber in the Red Bull-Renault in seventh and Nico Rosberg in the Williams-Toyota in the final points paying position.

For the third year in a row Felipe Massa starts the Turkish GP on pole, while fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello starts a record breaking 257th start. Giancarlo Fisichella falls to the back of the grid after a penalty for running a red light in Friday practice.

At the start Massa takes the lead from pole, Hamilton jumping up to second, Kubica third, while further back in the first corner Fisichella crashes into Kazuki Nakajima, launching over the Williams, the Force India out on the spot, and Nakajima retiring to the pits, and the Safety Car being deployed.

The Safety Car pulls in at the end of lap 2 and the race resumes, but Kovalainen pits, perhaps with a punctured tyre, while Raikkonen passes Alonso for fourth.

At lap 3 Massa led Hamilton, Kubica, Raikkonen, Alonso, Webber, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Coulthard and Trulli in tenth - Kovalainen, after a front row start, running in 18th.

Over the next laps Hamilton chases Massa, a second behind the Brazilian, the two trading fast laps.

On lap 12 Kovalainen struggles to come from the back of the field, and passes Sutil for 17th place. Nelson Piquet passing Sebastian Vettel

On lap 15 Fernando Alonso is the first to pit from fifth place, Hamilton pitting on the next lap from second place, running very light, for a quick stop.

On lap 17 Kovalainen passes Vettel for 16th place.

On lap 18 Webber pits from fourth place, rejoining behind Alonso, while race leader Massa and Kubica pit the next lap, handing the lead to Raikkonen. Trulli pitting on lap 20, Raikkonen and Heidfeld on lap 21 - the Finn jumping ahead of Kubica on the stop.

At lap 22 Massa leads Hamilton by less than a second, followed 8 seconds back by Raikkonen, Kubica, Rosberg and Coulthard (yet to pit), Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber and Button in 10th.

On lap 23 Coulthard makes his first stop, Rosberg the next lap.

On lap 24 Hamilton dives down the inside of Massa and takes the lead, and stree

On lap 25 Kovalainen passes Piquet when the Brazilian overbrakes, while Bourdais spins off and is stuck in the gravel trap.

On lap 26 Kovalainen makes his second pit stop, Barrichello pitting the next lap for the first time, Piquet pitting on lap 29.

Hamilton continues to run away from Massa, at lap 30 leading by 6.3 seconds, followed 10 seconds further back by Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber, Button, Glock and Rosberg in 10th place.

On lap 31 Button and Glock (on one-stop strategies) make their pit stops.

On lap 32 Hamilton pits from an 8 second lead (on a three stop strategy).

On lap 34 Glock and Kovalainen battle back and forth, the Finn taking over 13th place, Piquet passing Button for 11th and then Kovalainen gets by the British driver.

At lap 39 Massa leads his team mate Raikkonen by 9.7 seconds, followed by Hamilton 2 seconds further back, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg, Coulthard and Trulli in 10th place.

On lap 40 Massa and Kubica make their final stops, followed by Alonso the next lap, Heidfeld on lap 42, leader Raikkonen and Rosberg on lap 43, handling the lead over to Hamilton.

On lap 44 Webber makes his final pitstop, followed by Hamilton from the lead on the next lap, rejoining ahead of Raikkonen for second place.

At lap 46 the order was Massa leading Hamilton by 5.2 seconds, followed by Raikkonen (1.4s), Kubica (14.7s), Heidfeld (15.2s), Alonso (9.5s), Trulli (1.2s), Webber (3.6s), Rosberg (10.4s) and Coulthard in 10th place (0.5s).

On lap 48 Trulli makes his final pitstop, while Kovalainen passes Coulthard for 9th place, and then passes Rosberg for 8th.

On lap 51 Kovalainen makes his final stop, and falls back to 13th place.

In the final laps Raikkonen continues to chase Hamilton (the gap less than a second) in the battle for second place.

On lap 54 Kovalainen passes Glock for 12th.