27/08/2006
NEWS STORY
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Massa takes his first ever pole, Button his first ever win. Robert Kubica becomes the first Polish driver to contest a round of the Formula One World Championship and Sebastian Vettel become the youngest driver to participate in a Grand Prix weekend.
However, here's another little bit of history one should consider. Last Friday, August 25, marked the fifteenth anniversary of the first ever F1 race contested by a certain F1 driver. In those fifteen years, Michael Schumacher, for it is he, has won the title seven times, finished runner-up twice, and third three times.
Whether he stay on for another season, whether he makes it eight titles, one should sit down and ponder those numbers for a little while.
Today, the German will have the opportunity to move a little closer to that eight title, however, first he has to tame a circuit at which, in 2005, he delivered one of his worst ever performance.
For much of the weekend, Michael has appeared to put the nightmare of Istanbul 2005 behind him, however, there were an umber of mistakes in qualifying, particularly at Turn 1.
However, with Felipe Massa starting from pole, therefore giving Ross Brawn the opportunity to weave some of his strategic magic, one can be sure that Schumacher is in with a real chance of delighting his Turkish fans.
Despite the absence of their controversial mass dampers, the Renaults appear to be running well, with Alonso and Fisichella starting from the second row. However, as ever, it all depends what sort of strategy everyone is running.
In addition to fuel its going to be worth watch the tyre situation, with Bridgestone and Michelin claiming to be "confident".
Unlike Hungary, and no disrespect to Jenson, it is unlikely that we're going to witness a freak result today, not unless Father Neil Horan is up to his old tricks. That said, don't be too quick in writing off McLaren, while BMW looks set to add to its points tally.
If Schumacher can repeat the form he showed for much of the weekend, this afternoon could be a stroll in the (Istanbul Speed) Park, and it's unlikely we're going to see anything like the action we witnessed in this morning's GP2 race. However, Renault and Alonso are still smarting from the mass damper ban, and will be keen to prove a point.
Herman Tilke has, for once, produced a great track, we can only hope the Formula One can do it justice. We know that the circuit has numerous spots where overtaking is possible - witness this morning's GP2 race - all that remains is for Formula One to rediscover how its done.
With just a couple of minutes before the cars head off on the warm-up lap, the air temperature is 36 degrees C, and the track temperature is 52 degrees. It is hot, extremely hot, and sunny.
Nobody is starting from the pitlane, however, following their engine change penalties, Ralf Schumacher and Christijan Albers are starting fifteenth and twenty-second.
They head off on the warm-up lap, Felipe Massa leading the pack for the first time in his F1 career. The Brazilian is told (twice) over the radio to warm up his tyres and brakes. He's going to need both at the first corner.
It takes forever for the grid to form.
Michael gets ahead at the start, as Massa shuts the door on a charging Alonso, however, behind them there's mayhem, with several cars involved in an incident at the first corner. Fisichella is one of the victims, as is Heidfeld.
At the end of the first lap Massa leads Michael by 0.8s with Alonso third ahead of Webber. Ralf, Fisichella and Speed all pit, while Raikkonen has a puncture. The Finn pits, as does Sato. The McLaren team check out the rear of Kimi's car, which appears to be damaged.
Button has got past Webber to take fourth, while Rosberg is up to sixth, ahead of Kubica, Klien, Liuzzi and de la Rosa.
Raikkonen has left the pits, the team clearly satisfied, however he goes off into the tyre wall, his race over. One wonder if there was a problem after all, indeed there is still a lot of debris on the track from that first corner incident.
Massa leads Michael by 3.2s, with Alonso a similar distance behind the German. Kubica passes Rosberg to take sixth, the Pole once again driving a great race.
De la Rosa passes Liuzzi as Trulli passes Coulthard, at the same time, at the same corner.
Alonso is losing ground to Michael and falling into the clutches of Button, who is 5.3s ahead of Webber.
One cannot help but feel that these guys were watching this morning's race and have been inspired by it, the action is frantic.
Trulli is driving a strong race, he's currently up to tenth and closing in on de la Rosa. Meanwhile, Massa posts a new fastest lap (29.663), as Kubica is climbing all over Webber.
Coulthard is leading a Trulli-like train, which includes Liuzzi, Barrichello and Albers.
On lap 9, Michael posts a new fastest lap (29.356), as he closes to within 3.2s of his teammate. Kubica makes a mistake, which give Webber a breather. Barrichello gets past Liuzzi and takes up the pursuit of Coulthard.
Trulli is closing in on de la Rosa, the Italian really has the bit between his teeth. Meanwhile, Barrichello is told that he's the fifth fastest man on track, just 0.6s behind David Coulthard.
Michael sets another fastest lap (28.791), as he closes to within 2.2s of Massa. Meanwhile, Liuzzi spins, his car beached on the kerb on the outside of Turn 1, he climbs out.
The safety car is deployed as Liuzzi's car is removed, a signal for both Ferraris to pit. Alonso also pits, as do Button, Webber, Kubica, Yamamoto and Albers.
Alonso gets out of the heads ahead of Michael, much to the frustration of Ross Brawn.
At the end of lap 15, with the safety car still on track, it's Massa, Alonso, Michael, Button, Rosberg, Klien, de la Rosa, Trulli, Barrichello and Coulthard.
At the end of lap 16, the safety car pulls off… everyone gets away cleanly, though Alonso loses time behind Heidfeld, who is ahead of him on track, albeit a lap down. Indeed, the German is last, eighteenth of eighteen.
As Michael attempts to deal with Heidfeld, Trulli and Barrichello are having a great scrap. Meanwhile, Sato, who appeared to have retired on lap one, after being involved in that incident, is back on track, 15 laps down!
Massa leads Alonso by 1.8s, with Michael a further 2.2s down the road, just 1.3s ahead of Button. The next group of drivers - Rosberg, Klien, de la Rosa, Trulli, Barrichello and Coulthard - have yet to stop.
Behind this pack, 1.9s down the road, is Kubica, who heads Fisichella, Webber and Ralf, all of whom have stopped.
Fisi makes a great move on Kubica, and though the Pole tries to fight back, holds off and sets off after Coulthard. Elsewhere, the Trulli/Barrichello battle continues, and great fun it is.
de la Rosa passes Klien to take sixth, the Spaniard now setting his sights on fifth placed Rosberg.
Massa is now running in the high 28s, the sort of pace wee had before the safety car. Meanwhile, Ralf gets past Kubica with (seemingly) little effort, as Yamamoto pulls off to the side of the track, his race over.
Rosberg clearly has a problem - loss of water pressure according to his crew - and slows, which allows de la Rosa to make up another position. Meanwhile, Massa sets a new fastest lap (28.687), as Trulli and Coulthard both pit.
Therefore, after 25 laps, Massa leads Alonso by 5.6s, with Michael a further 3.5s down the road, 5.7s ahead of Button. de la Rosa is fifth, but has yet to stop, ahead of Barrichello and Fisichella.
At the end of lap 27, Barrichello pits, as does Speed, who was running eleventh. Only de la Rosa has yet to stop.
As Michael goes very wide at Turn 8, losing a couple of seconds, teammate Massa posts a new fastest lap (28.459).
Over the radio, Alonso is told: "Michael has quite a big tyre problem.. he went off a while ago and lost three or four seconds". One can easily imagine the Spaniard smiling inside his helmet.
At the end of lap 30, de la Rosa pits, as does Fisichella, the Italian making his second stop of the race.
Despite the comments from the Renault crew, Michael is matching Alonso's times, both lapping in the high 1:28s.
Best fight right now is for seventh, with de la Rosa under pressure from Webber and Barrichello. Elsewhere, Ralf Schumacher pits… he was running fifth.
Lap 34 and Michael posts a new fastest lap, crossing the line at 1:28.458, however he remains 8.2s shy of Alonso.
Next time around, Massa, Alonso and Michael bang in a string of fastest lap, the German ultimately being the quickest with a 28.193.
A mistake (unseen) by Alonso costs the Renault driver almost a second, as Massa opens the gap to almost nine seconds.
Other than the strategic battle out front, the main interest is the battle between de la Rosa, Webber and Barrichello for fourth.
As Barrichello is urged to pass Webber, Massa posts another fastest lap (28.123). The Brazilian duly responds, slipstreaming the WilliamsF1 and passing in Turn 1. Job done.
At the end of lap 39, Massa pits, as does Albers, who is having a great race, running ninth. Alonso also pits, as do Button and Webber.
Therefore Michael is leading, but he has to stop… the question is when?
Kubica goes very wide, and Webber does likewise, almost in sympathy. A couple of bits of 'debris' appeared to fly off the BMW.
Michael posts a new fastest lap (28.106), as he 'enjoys' a 6.2s lead over his teammate. Meanwhile, Alonso is 9.1s behind the second Ferrari, as Webber passes Kubica to take thirteenth.
Button goes wide at Turn 8, where Webber and Kubica both had problems, prompting the question, is their oil or something on the track?
At the end of lap 43, Michael pits, 7.1s later he's heading back into the fray. He exits behind Alonso in third, who makes a mistake at Turn 4. Klien, Speed and Heidfeld also pitted.
Next time around, Massa leads Alonso by 10.8s, with Michael just 0.9s behind the Spaniard. Elsewhere, Barrichello pits, as does Trulli.
Alonso closes in on Albers, as Michael prepares to take advantage, should anything go wrong. The gap is now down to 0.4s.
Massa appears to be heading towards his first win, however all attention is on the battle that is raging behind him, Alonso versus Michael.
Button is running fourth, ahead of de la Rosa Fisichella, Ralf, Barrichello, Trulli and Webber. Coulthard is running eleventh, ahead of Klien, Kubica, Speed, Albers, Heidfeld and Sato, who is still hanging in there.
Albers' race is over, the Midland parked on the grass verge. A rotten end to a great drive.
Michael continues his pursuit of his title rival, the gap never more than half-a-second.
Michael makes a couple of determined moves, getting right alongside the Renault after Alonso makes a mistake, but to no avail. For half a lap he holds off, prompting fears, especially in the Ferrari garage, that he has a problem. But he doesn't. However, the scrap is playing into the hands of Massa, who now leads by 12.6s.
They close in on Klien and Kubica, who are enjoying their own little scrap for twelfth. The Austrian is quick to make way, knowing fool well what is at stake.
No disrespect to any of the other combatants, but this is the fight of the race, this is the fight for the championship. Michael loses time in Turn 8, as he and his foe clearly struggle.
The mistake cost the German dear, he is now 1.2 down on Alonso, but hits back with a new fastest lap (28.005). Out front, Massa has eased right off, he's now running in the mid 1:30s. Elsewhere, Coulthard pits.
The pressure is remorseless, the gap between the two combatants yo-yoing at every turn.
Massa takes his first F1 win, but sadly, all eyes are focussed not on the finish line but on the last corner, as Michael makes a final stab. The race up the main straight, as the Renault falls tantalisingly within the German's grasp, but to no avail.
We said elsewhere that this morning's GP2 race will have left viewers breathless, asking F1 to take notice. Well, the truth is that the closing laps of this race were equally thrilling, even if we got to see the main shortcoming of Formula One, that the aerodynamics make overtaking so bloody difficult.
Ferrari closes the gap to Renault to just two points in the Constructors' Championship, while Fernando now enjoys a twelve point advantage over Michael, with four races remaining.
A strong performance from Jenson Button, while de la Rosa, Fisichella, Ralf, Trulli and Webber all gave determined performances.
All in all, not a bad race, if only they could all be like that.
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