Race Notes - Massa wins in Turkey

Felipe Massa took his maiden Grand Prix victory today in an action packed Turkish GP for Ferrari. World Championship contenders Fernando Alonso in the Renault and Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari finished finished nose-to-tail in second and third, after battling for the last fifteen laps of the race.

The result extends Alonso's lead in the Championship to 12 points over his German rival.

Jenson Button in his Honda was fourth, Pedro de la Rosa on a one-stop strategy was fifth, Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault was sixth, Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota was seventh and Rubens Barrichello in the Honda was in the final points position in eighth.

At the start Massa took the lead from Schumacher and Alonso, while Fisichella spun into the first corner taking off Heidfeld's front wing and causing chaos further back - Fisichella, Heidfeld, Speed, Ralf Schumacher and Raikkonen all pitting for repairs. Mark Webber jumps from ninth to fourth on the first lap.

On lap 3 Raikkonen is out after hitting the wall at turn 8.

At lap 10, the order was Massa leading Schumacher, followed by Alonso, Button, Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Klien, De la Rosa and Trulli in tenth.

On lap 13 Liuzzi spun in turn one, the car getting stranded on the racing line, bringing out the Safety car - Massa, Schumacher, Alonso, Button, Webber and Kubica pitting, Alonso getting ahead of Schumacher as the German had to wait for his teammate to get serviced ahead of him.

Under caution the order was Massa in front of Alonso, Schumacher, Button, Rosberg, Klien, De la Rosa, Trulli, Barrichello, Coulthard, Webber and Kubica in 12th - the race restarted on lap 16.

On lap 20 Kubica and Fisichella fight their way by Webber, then Kubica and Fisichella battled for position, Fisichella taking the place - while Trulli and Barrichello battled.

On lap 20 the order was Massa 2.8 seconds ahead of Alonso, Schumacher, Button, Rosberg, Klien, De la Rosa, Trulli, Barrichello and Coulthard in tenth.

On lap 25 Trulli, Coulthard made their first stops, while Rosberg retired with a mechanical problem, on the next lap Klien and Heidfeld pitted, followed by Barrichello and Speed on lap 27.

On lap 27, Schumacher had an off-track excursion, dropping into the sights of Button.

On lap 30, De la Rosa and Fisichella on one-stop strategies pitted from 6th and 7th.

At lap 31, Massa lead Alonso by 7.6 seconds, followed 8 seconds further back by Schumacher, Button, Ralf Schumacher, Kubica, De la Rosa, Webber, Barrichello and Fisichella in tenth.

On lap 33 Ralf Schumacher was the first to make his seconds stop from fifth place, followed by Kubica on the next lap.

On lap 39 Massa, Alonso, Button and Webber made their final pitstops, followed by Schumacher, Klien and Heidfeld on lap 43, Barrichello and Trulli on lap 44, Coulthard on lap 45.

At lap 45 the order was Massa 10 seconds ahead of Alonso who was less than a second ahead of Schumacher, followed by Button, De la Rosa, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello and Trulli in tenth.

Alonso and Schumacher continued to battle to the finish, but the Spaniard held on to the position.