07/06/2009
NEWS STORY
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Today's race is likely to be all about those bits of rubber found at the four corners of the cars.
The two option available today are hard and soft, and, contrary to expectations, the softs are not really much of a match for the hards, certainly when it gets warmer. Therefore, it is likely that most drivers will start with the harder compound and use the softs for a short stint at the very end. That said, there are sure to be some drivers that do things a little differently, particularly those, like Jenson Button, who appear to be better at tyre management.
While Vettel took a superb pole yesterday, the German was the second lightest runner out there in terms of fuel loads. Indeed, looking at the fuel loads Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber would appear to be the ones to watch today.
Having won here for the last three years, Felipe Massa would dearly love to make it four on the trot, however, whether Ferrari has made that big a step forward remains to be seen.
While the smart money has to be on Brawn GP taking another win, we have this gut feeling that not only will Red Bull prove victorious today but that Mark Webber will take his maiden win. The Australian has looked good all weekend, indeed, for much of the season, and his fuel load, he's heavier than his teammate, suggests we could be in for a historic win.
So, assuming Webber proves us right and takes the win, we expect Button, Vettel and Raikkonen to take the majority of the points, with Glock and Kovalainen picking up the scraps. But what do we know.
While Bernie Ecclestone might have done a good job of selling the idea of a Turkish Grand Prix to the government, race fans have yet to be convinced to make the journey, hence the swathes of empty seats. That said, Istanbul Park is one of the better tracks and usually produces more than its fair share of moments.
As the field prepares to head off on the parade lap the air temperature is 32 degrees C, while the track temperature is 49 degrees, it is much warmer than expected.
As expected, the majority, if not all, of the drivers are running on the hard compound, some of them using brand new sets.
The grid lines up, Button's car almost pointing across the track.
They're away, Vettel defends his line perfectly, however a poor start from Barrichello while one of the Toyotas runs wide.
Unseen by the TV camera, Button passes Vettel, while Webber is up to third, ahead of Trulli, Rosberg and Massa. Barrichello is down in twelfth behind Kovalainen.
Replay shows Vettel getting it wrong at Turn 9 and running wide, allowing Button through to take the lead. The Brawn driver doesn't miss the opportunity.
Behind Massa, it's Alonso, Kubica, Raikkonen, Nakajima, Kovalainen and Barrichello. Hamilton has dropped down to seventeenth.
On lap 2, Button posts a new fastest lap, while Barrichello is all over Kovalainen, who is having none of it.
After 4 laps, Button is 2.2s clear of Vettel who is 2.6s ahead of his Red Bull teammate Webber. Trulli is holding fourth, ahead of Rosberg, Massa, Alonso and Kubica. Elsewhere, Fisichella makes an unscheduled pit stop. The Italian is pushed into his garage where the Force India crew continue to work on the car while he sits in it. If nothing else, the Silverstone-based team might opt to use the race as a glorified test session.
As Button extends his lead to 2.9s, Barrichello remains stuck behind Kovalainen. The other hot battle is for eighth with Raikkonen all over Kubica.
Barrichello makes a brave move on Kovalainen in the final corner and passes the McLaren, however, the Finn re-takes his place on the pit straight courtesy of his KERS. Later in the lap, in Turn 9, the Brazilian makes another move but this time gets it wrong and spins, giving the Finn the position and, more importantly, breathing space. The move was borne entirely out of frustration.
Button posts a string of fastest lap, as Barrichello makes short work of Hamilton as he attempts to fight his way back up the field after his spin. The Brazilian closes in on Piquet, who makes a mistake which allows the Brawn driver through to take fifteenth.
Out front, Button now leads Vettel by 4.2s, with Webber a further 5s behind. Trulli is 3.3s down on the Australian, ahead of Rosberg, Massa, Alonso and Kubica, who has Raikkonen hanging on his tail.
"Good pressure Rubens, good pressure," the Brawn driver is told, "keep it up". To which the Brazilian responds by revealing that he has lost seventh gear. Moments later, the Brazilian is involved in another incident, this time with Sutil, this time losing his right front wing end-plate.
At the end of lap 13, Barrichello pits for a new front wing and another set of hard tyres, Ross Brawn no doubt adapting the driver's strategy accordingly.
Next time around, Alonso is the first to make a regular pit stop, the Spaniard having been the lightest runner. Vettel should be stopping soon also.
"Try to brake less in the final sector," Massa is told, having been advised that he's doing well in the first two sectors.
Sure enough, Vettel pits at the end of lap 15, rejoining in sixth position. The German stays on the hard option.
Trulli pits at the end of lap 16, the Italian slightly over-shooting his pit. He rejoins in ninth.
Next time around it is the race leader who pits, thereby promoting Webber to first place. Massa stops also. Button rejoins in third, in front of Vettel but behind Webber and Rosberg.
Webber pits at the end of lap 17, as do Rosberg and Raikkonen. The Australian rejoins right behind Kubica in fourth. Rosberg leapfrogs Trulli during the first round of stops.
Kovalainen pits at the end of lap 19, leaving Kubica, Nakajima and Glock as the only Top Ten drivers still to make their first stops.
Kubica pits at the end of lap 20, as Vettel closes to within 3.2s of Button, the German appearing to have got his race back on track. Webber is back up to third, albeit 9.4s down on his teammate, with Nakajima fourth, ahead of Rosberg, Trulli, Glock, Massa, Heidfeld and Kubica. Elsewhere, Hamilton passes Raikkonen in Turn 1 to take thirteenth.
Lapping eight-tenths of a second quicker than the race leader, Vettel closes to within 1.1s of the Brawn. Webber is now over 10s behind his German teammate.
As Vettel closes to within 0.6s of Button, the German is told to "concentrate on braking". As the Red Bull closes right in on the Brawn, the crowd - such as it is - watches with anticipation. Elsewhere, Buemi pits.
Nakajima pits at the end of lap 26, promoting his teammate to fourth, as Glock passes Trulli to take fifth in what is surely a strategic move.
Button uses his experience to good effect, keeping Vettel at bay, and thereby wrecking the German's strategy. Despite the 'best efforts' of the Overtaking Working Group things clearly haven't improved much on 2008.
At the end of lap 29, Vettel pits, the German taking on another brand new set of hard tyres. He rejoins in third, 7.4s behind his Red Bull teammate.
At the end of lap 30, Glock makes his first pit stop of the afternoon, Piquet, Hamilton and Bourdais being the only other drivers yet to stop. That said, the Brazilian pits next time around.
At the end of lap 32, Hamilton pits, rejoining in sixteenth, knowing he faces another 26 laps on the dreaded soft compound. He is immediately involved in a battle with former GP2 nemesis, Nelson Piquet. The heavy fuel load, not to mention those soft tyres, mean that the McLaren is no match for the Renault, KERS or no KERS.
Out front, Button leads Webber by 17.9s with Vettel a further 8.6s behind. Rosberg is a further 5.6s behind, ahead of Trulli, Massa, Nakajima, Kubica, Alonso and Glock.
Alonso is told to get out of Kubica's slipstream in order to help cool his engine. The Spaniard is none too happy with the request, who replies, "I can't do that".
Buemi passes Hamilton to take seventeenth, the McLaren driver already struggling on those soft tyres. Moments later, to add to his frustration, the 2008 World Champion is lapped by 2009 championship leader, Jenson Button.
At the end of lap 39, Barrichello, currently fourteenth, makes his second stop of the afternoon. Alonso also pits.
On lap 40, Button posts a new fastest lap, crossing the line at 27.579, around 0.3s quicker than Webber, the second-fastest man out there.
Rosberg pits at the end of lap 40, the German rejoining in seventh right behind his Williams teammate.
At the end of lap 42, Massa pits, as Raikkonen goes quickest in the final sector.
Next time around, race leader Button dives into the pits, as do Webber, Trulli, Nakajima, Kovalainen and Buemi. The Englishman rejoins still leading, with Vettel second and Webber third, the two Red Bulls separated by 10.5s
It's a dreadful stop for Nakajima, the Grove team encountering a problem with the left-front wheel cover.
Raikkonen and Kubica pits at the end of lap 44, as Trulli leapfrogs Rosberg courtesy of the pit stops.
After 46 laps, Button leads Vettel by 6.7s with Webber a further 12.6s behind. Trulli is fourth, 18.6s behind the Australian, but ahead of Rosberg, Glock, Massa and Kubica. Raikkonen is ninth, ahead of Alonso, Piquet, Heidfeld, Nakajima, Hamilton, Barrichello, Kovalainen, Buemi, Sutil and Bourdais. Fisichella being the only retirement.
At the end of lap 47, Glock makes his second stop, as do Piquet and Barrichello.
Next time around, Vettel makes his third stop, rejoining in third, 3.7s behind his Red Bull teammate. Meanwhile, Barrichello's car is pushed into its garage, as the Brazilian climbs out, Brawn's first retirement of the season.
With 8 laps remaining, Webber is 20.5s down on Button, and only 3.4s ahead of his German teammate. Trulli is fourth, ahead of Rosberg, Massa, Kubica, Glock, Raikkonen and Alonso.
Kubica and Glock are having a great scrap for seventh, with Raikkonen keen to take advantage of any mistakes.
"Mark is faster, Mark is faster" Vettel is told, "save your car, save your car". With 5 laps remaining, and the gap down to 1.7s the message to the German racer doesn't appear to be overly cryptic… hold position.
As if to prove a point, Vettel goes quickest in the first sector, however, he is unable to post a new fastest lap. That said, he does close to within 1.2s of his Australian teammate.
Button takes a fine win, his sixth of the season and a win which gives him a twenty-six point lead in the championship over his Brawn teammate, Rubens Barrichello, who had a race to forget.
"You've built a monster of a car," Button tells his crew on the slow down lap, "you're legends," and so they are. But so is Jenson, who continues to produce performances worthy of the greats, a far cry when we all thought he was there merely for the money, the girls and the kudos that being an F1 driver brings.
A great performance also from Webber, who, while he didn't take the win we expected, did the best he could under the circumstances. However, his delight on the podium is in stark contrast to teammate Vettel, who is fully aware that this was his race to lose, and he lost it.
After the misery of Monaco, what a great return to form for Toyota, which had both drivers in the points, with Jarno Trulli, in particular, giving 100 percent.
A great performance also from Williams, which, but for that problem with Nakajima's wheel during the last stop, would surely have had both its cars in the points.
Ferrari has to be disappointed with today's performance, Raikkonen never really figuring in the race, other than occasionally posting the odd fastest sector time, while Massa, after three successive wins here has to be content with sixth, albeit forty points down on the winner.
Hard to believe but today's marks Robert Kubica's first points of the season, and while the Pole will be relatively disappointed, especially when he finished fourth here in 2008.
Not the most exciting of races - maybe that's why the crowds stayed away - but while Brawn has taken another win there is clear proof that the opposition is closing in, and while Button might be well on course for the title there are definitely going to be some great battle in the months ahead for the 'best of the rest' awards.
While we now look forward to Silverstone, a circuit, and climate, that never fails to surprise, attention must surely focus on Paris this Friday when the FIA is due to announce the teams that will contest the 2010 championship.
While the fighting on track might be thin on the ground, you can be guaranteed that the politics of F1 will produce plenty to talk about in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Ahead of the in-fighting, let's just relish another virtuoso performance from Jenson, Ross and the rest of the Brackley team.