20/08/2007
NEWS STORY
Formula One returns to the race track this week for round 12 of the Championship, the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday 26th August. This year's race will be only the third hosted by Turkey since its debut on the calendar in 2005. Istanbul Park, a purpose-built facility designed by Hermann Tilke, is located on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, and is quickly becoming one of the most popular destinations on the calendar where Eastern tradition meets Western modernism. After a brief respite for the teams, the Grand Prix in Turkey marks the first of the final third of the Championship. With 234 points still up for grabs, the remaining races will undoubtedly be contested as intensely as those that have preceded them and the AT&T Williams team will continue to battle for points.
Alex Wurz: I always look forward to the Turkish Grand Prix because it's such a fantastic race track. It is very demanding physically, mainly because of turn eight; a super fast, high G corner which really strains the neck muscles as well as the tyres and the car. I had a great holiday over the three week summer break with my family. I managed to train every day, and I covered lots of kilometres on the bike and while running. I also made sure I did some extra work to strengthen my neck, back and shoulders in preparation for Turkey.
Nico Rosberg: Istanbul is a great track so I'm looking forward to driving it again. I'm hoping we will have found some more performance over the three week gap which will allow us to stay close to the others and to keep our momentum going into the last races. It's going to be very hot again so it'll be a tough race but it will still be easier than Hungary. I have some good memories from last year's race in Turkey, I was running in fifth at one point. To have a good race this year and score some more points for the team is what I'll be aiming for.
Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams F1: Turkey's Istanbul circuit has a great layout. It's a challenging track for the drivers and there are a couple of overtaking opportunities around each lap which make for good racing. During the three week break following the last race in Hungary, we've been working hard to deliver some more performance for the FW29 as we enter the final leg of the 2007 season.
Downforce levels have to be fairly high in Turkey, not because the straights are long, but due to the many corners. The set-up will be geared towards medium speed cornering, while still allowing for the very long left hand corner that really loads up the Bridgestone Potenza tyres during the lap. We are expecting high ambient temperatures again this year, perhaps around 35ºC, which, with no cloud cover, will raise track temperatures to around 50ºC. Most teams will probably opt for a two stop strategy this weekend.