Fantasy Racers Turkey 2009 Update	Points Scored Team/Driver	Race Result Position	Overall Position Championship
BlogF1 Racing	636	1147th	1064th
Adrian Sutil	61
Jenson Button	228
Nico Rosberg	128
Rubens Barrichello	49
Sebastian Vettel	168
Budget Remaining	2
Team Finitalia	330	4533rd	4541st
Giancarlo Fisichella	5
Heikki Kovalainen	64
Jarno Trulli	138
Kimi Raikkonen	88
Budget Remaining	35
Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate	498	2991st	2584th
Adrian Sutil	61
Jenson Button	228
Mark Webber	158
Rubens Barrichello	49
Budget Remaining	2
Blogger’s Dog Racing	529	2576th	2410th
Adrian Sutil	61
Giancarlo Fisichella	5
Nico Rosberg	128
Robert Kubica	108
Sebastien Bourdais	60
Sebastien Buemi	63
Timo Glock	98
Budget Remaining	6
Inner Pickle Racing	576	1948th	1484th
Jenson Button	228
Nick Heidfeld	68
Nico Rosberg	128
Rubens Barrichello	49
Timo Glock	98
Budget Remaining	5

Looking at the table we can see the BF1R claimed another 636 points, keeping the consistency going. In fact, the average haul per race so far in 2009 has been 611. Jenson Button brought the lion’s share of points, and Rubens Barrichello disappointed with only receiving 49 following his retirement.

The Finns and the Italians didn’t do particularly well in Istanbul, Jarno Trulli picking up the most points but only adding to a total of 330. Also slipping are PETN, who only managed a measly 498 points. Blogger’s Dog Racing maintained their average as well, collecting 529 and sticking closely to their season average of 503.

Inner Pickle Racing had been steadily improving as the season progressed, but clearly the climax was Monaco and now the squad have slipped from 1438th overall to 1484th overall. They currently sit behind BF1R in the league who are 1064th themselves. In the Sidepodcast League, BF1R managed to get in to 151st and IPR have improved to 198th. BDR currently sit in 300th while PETN are 316th. Sidepodcast co-host Mr. C is languishing down in 325th with his Longitudinal Inertia team.

Fantasy Racers is a fantasy Formula One competition. It is free to sign up but if you wish to have more than team you will need to make a donation to the site. You can also join private leagues, and currently BlogF1’s set of squads race in the Sidepodcast League.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Fantasy Racers Update

Two drivers suffered unusual pitstops in Istanbul; Jarno Trulli overshot his garage of mechanics, forcing them all to shift up in order to change the tyres and engage the fuel nozzle. Kazuki Nakajima was also delayed during one of his pitstops, the front-right wheel cover not going on properly.

Turkey 2009 Pitstop Strategies	Stint 1 (Start Tyre)	Stint 2 (Lap)	Stint 3 (Lap)	Stint 4 (Lap)
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton	Hard	Soft (33)
Heikki Kovalainen	Soft	Hard (19)	Soft (43)
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen	Hard	Hard (18)	Soft (44)
Felipe Massa	Hard	Hard (17)	Soft (42)
BMW
Nick Heidfeld	Hard	Hard (28)	Soft (46)
Robert Kubica	Hard	Hard (21)	Soft (44)
Renault
Fernando Alonso	Soft	Hard (15)	Hard (47)
Nelson Piquet Jr.	Hard	Hard (31)	Soft (48)
Toyota
Jarno Trulli	Hard	Hard (17)	Soft (43)
Timo Glock	Hard	Hard (31)	Soft(47)
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi	Hard	Hard (25)	Soft (43)
Sebastien Bourdais	Hard	Soft (33)
Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel	Hard	Hard (16)	Hard (29)	Soft (48)
Mark Webber	Hard	Hard (18)	Soft (43)
Williams
Nico Rosberg	Hard	Hard (18)	Soft (40)
Kazuki Nakajima	Hard	Hard (26)	Soft (43)
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella	Hard	DNF (4)
Adrian Sutil	Hard	Hard (21)	Soft (37)
Brawn
Jenson Button	Hard	Hard (17)	Soft (43)
Rubens Barrichello	Hard	Hard (14)	Soft (39)	DNF (48)

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Pitstop & Tyre Strategies

The opening lap on a very hot Istanbul Park circuit was dramatic as Button moved away from the dirty side well and maintained P2 behind Vettel. However, behind the leading duo Jarno Trulli rocketed off the line and challenged Webber for P3, passing the Australian into T1. Experiencing a more troubled start was Barrichello though, whose clutch suffered a problem and he over-torqued the gearbox after the anti-stall kicked in. Rubens went backwards on the first lap to the point where Lewis Hamilton who started in P16 was challenging him.

Barrichello’s dramas weren’t over though, but before the Brazilian suffered further headaches, Vettel would cause one for himself that would ultimately decide the rest of race. Running over the kerb at T10 the RB5’s rear-right wheel dragged itself over the astro-turf and when Vettel was able to rejoin, he ran wide on the exit. Vettel’s moment gifted Button the opportunity to pass, which the Briton took.

Also on the opening lap, Kimi Raikkonen suffered a poor start and in the final complex, the Finn tagged Fernando Alonso and damaged his front wing. Rubens Barrichello found himself boxed up behind Heikki Kovalainen and in a much faster car, Barrichello was all over the McLaren’s gearbox. However, without KERS, Rubens was finding it impossible to pull alongside the MP4-24 as Heikki pressed the go faster button on the steering wheel.

Frustration soon set in for Barrichello though and heading into the final complex, the Brazilian charged forward as Kovalainen ran wide. Rubens edged through, but Heikki recovered and was able to repass thanks to his KERS-enabled car. The following lap, Barrichello tried his move again, this time at T9. The pair tangled and Rubens came off the worse, spinning his Brawn around while Kovalainen was able to continue. Shortly after his incident, Barrichello radioed his team to say he had no seventh gear as his race went from bad to worse.

Moving through the race the pack settled and it soon became about the strategy of the Red Bull and the leading Brawn. It was expected by many for Vettel to change to a two-stop race after he lost the advantage of the lead. Not being able to maximise his lighter car and pull out a gap, the obvious choice was to switch the pilot’s pitstops. However, Red Bull chose to continue with a three-stopper, even to Vettel’s surprise as he stated after the race.

In the second stint after both leaders had pitted, Vettel found himself in a very fast car in comparison to Button, with less fuel meaning a lighter car, Vettel cruised up behind the Brawn driver and wiped out the lead the Briton had built up prior to the first stops. Not being able to pass though as the RB5 does not perform well in the dirty turbulent air of another car, Vettel stayed on three stops and pitted again.

Elsewhere in the field, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock found themselves battling each other at times, but being on different strategies, Trulli released Glock so as to not hamper his race. By 58, everything had worked out as Trulli finished in the points ahead of this team mate.

Lewis Hamilton, who was only stopping the once, changed to the soft tyres on L33, but with a very heavy car and cold boots found himself having to defend to a charging Nelson Piquet Jr. The Renault pilot forced his way through in the end with some solid driving. The fact the pair didn’t make any serious contact in credit to them both.

On L48 Rubens Barrichello finally retired his Brawn, the car getting harder and harder to drive. It is Brawn’s first retirement in 2009 and the Brazilian driver has endured possibly his worse race of the season so far. Rubens joined the only other retiree of the event, Giancarlo Fisichella.

The only real other point of interest was the final battle between Vettel and Webber. The German pilot, on three-stops, ended up chasing his team mate in the final stint. However, Vettel was catching Webber very quickly and it looked to be a showdown finish between the pair.

Wanting to preserve the result of second and third though, Red Bull informed Vettel that Webber was faster (although clearly he wasn’t) and that Sebastian should save his car. The message was clearly an instruction from the team to tell the drivers to stop racing each other, and Vettel stated after the race that he wanted to respond to the team, but resisted. Of course, Vettel has crashed in to the back of Webber before, so perhaps the team were correct in wanting to avoid any potential incident, even if it did mean frustration for viewers.

By L58, Button had backed off and his 20s lead over Webber had been reduced by half. Jenson comfortably won in Turkey, made even more impressive by the fact it wasn’t from pole position but instead from the dirty side of the grid in P2. Barrichello’s retirement will cause concern for the team, but ultimately the result is still very good for the Brackley squad.

Red Bull Racing also leave Istanbul with a healthy dose of points and Webber edges closer towards Vettel and moves ahead of Trulli in the championship. Other drives of note go to Nico Rosberg who eventually finished in P5 and Robert Kubica who finally scored some points this year with a drive to P7.

• The race result can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Race Result.
• The live race notes can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Live Race Notes.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Jenson Button Takes Sixth Victory From Seven Attempts

• Track temperature is 49°C. The tyre blankets are still on, but I suspect most will start on the harder compound tyre.
• All on hard tyres.
• VET, BUT TRU. Good starts from Ferrari.
• ROS had a good start as well.
• WEB attacking TRU.
• BUT is leading. Got past VET. VET ran wide over dirt on T10 corner exit.
• L1: RAI tagged ALO.
• L2: BAR and KOV fighting.
• L2: WEB past TRU.
• L3: HAM in P17.
• L3: BUT edging out lead over VET.
• RAI says he lost part of the front left wing while attacking ALO.
• L4: BUT about 1s faster than VET.
• L4: BAR desperate to pass KOV for P11.
• BAR was very slow off the start. Anti-stall kicked in.
• L4: KOV is consistently locking up front-left in the final complex.
• L4: FIS pits. Turned the engine off.
• L6: FIS had brake and hydraulic problems on the grid. Officially retired now.
• L7: BAR finally got past KOV in the final corner. KOV went wide. KOV repassed thanks to KERS down the straight. KOV still ahead.
• L8: BAR went up inside of KOV at T9. KOV moved over and they tagged. BAR spun. KOV continued. BAR recovered, now in P17.
• L10: BAR moving up to P15. Passed HAM and PIQ.
• L11: BUT told to turn engine revs down a little to ensure the car is kept as cool as possible in the searing Turkish heat.
• L12: BAR says he has no seventh gear.
• L13: BAR knocks SUT in final corner. Something is flapping on the front-right of the Brawn. Front wing endplate knocked off.
• L14: BUT lead up to 5.6s. VET ahead of WEB by 5.2s.
• L14: BAR pits. Hard tyres.
• L15: ALO pits.
• L16: Smedley tells MAS to brake less in final corner.
• L16: VET pits. Hard tyres.
• Kravitz reckons ALO started on soft tyres and changed to hard at first stop.
• L17: TRU pits. Ran past stop mark. Hard tyres.
• L17: BUT pits. Hard tyres.
• L17: MAS pits.
• L18: WEB pits. Hard tyres.
• L18: ROS pits. Hard tyres.
• BUT back in lead.
• L18: RAI pits.
• WEB exited pits behind KUB.
• L19: KOV pits. Hard tyres.
• F1.com reckon KOV started on soft tyres.
• L20: BUT is heavy to minimise time spent on soft tyre at the end. VET is catching BUT.
• L21: KUB pits. HArd tyres.
• L21: SUT pits.
• BUT lead down to 3.2s.
• L22: HAM passes RAI into T1. HAM is yet to stop.
• L23: BUT lead down to 1.6s
• L24: BUT lead down to 1.1s
• L24: NAK in P4, yet to stop.
• L25: BUT ran wide into final corner. VET just can’t get close enough into T1 though.
• L25: BUE pits.
• L26: NAK pits.
• L27: GLO passes TRU for P6.
• L28: HEI pits.
• L29: VET pits. He was boxed up behind BUT. Hard tyres.
• L30: BUT has upped pace.
• L31: GLO pits.
• L32: PIQ pits.
• L33: HAM pits. Soft tyres.
• L33: BOU pits.
• L34: PIQ challenging HAM. PIQ barges way around outside through final complex. HAM gets a squirt on, but PIQ maintains position.
• L35: ALO told that if he can’t pass KUB, he is to move out of slipstream to keep engine cool. ALO responds with “I can’t do that.”
• L37: SUT pits.
• L37: BUE passes HAM.
• L38: HAM’s soft tyres don’t appear to be holding up too well. HAM in P17.
• L39: BAR pits. Soft tyres.
• L40: ALO pits.
• L40: ROS pits. Soft tyres.
• L41: Cameraman in Williams garage likes the blonde who stands under the picture of ROS. Saw the same shot yesterday in qualifying.
• L42: MAS pits. Soft tyres.
• L43: BUT pits. Soft tyres.
• L43: WEB (soft) and KOV pit.
• L43: TRU pits. BUE pits as well.
• L43: NAK pits. Had problem with front-left wheel bin not going on properly.
• L44: KUB and RAI pit.
• L45: VET is 11s ahead of WEB but has another stop to make.
• L46: TRU got ahead of ROS in the pitstops.
• L46: VET is now racing WEB for P2.
• L46: HEI pits.
• L47: ALO pits.
• L47: GLO challenging ROS for P5.
• L47: GLO pits.
• L48: VET pits. Soft tyres.
• L48: BAR and PIQ pit.
• L48: BAR retires. Brawn’s first retirement.
• L49: BOU pits.
• L50: VET 3s behind WEB and catching.
• L51: PIQ given blue flags early. He is sitting between WEB and VET.
• L51: PIQ moves well out of the way of VET. Gap down to 2.5s to WEB.
• L53: Red Bull engineer tells VET to save his car and that WEB is faster. Code for the race is over.
• L54: BUT is saving his engine by easing off – he has a 17s lead. Short shifting as well.
• L55: BUT took fastest lap on L40 with a 1m27.579s
• L58: BUT wins his sixth race from seven attempts this year. WEB finishes second, VET third.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Live Race Notes

The grid (inclusive of penalties) can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: The Grid.
The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights.

Turkey 2009 Race Results		Laps Completed	Time Race Length	Points Earned
1.	Jenson Button Brawn	58		10pts
2.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	58		8pts
3.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	58		6pts
4.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	58		5pts
5.	Nico Rosberg Williams	58		4pts
6.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	58		3pts
7.	Robert Kubica BMW	58		2pts
8.	Timo Glock Toyota	58		1pt
9.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	58
10.	Fernando Alonso Renault	58
11.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	58
12.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	58
13.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	58
14.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	57	+1 Lap
15.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	57	+1 Lap
16.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	57	+1 Lap
17.	Adrian Sutil Force India	57	+1 Lap
18.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	57	+1 Lap
19.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	48	+10 Laps	Gearbox
20.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	5	+53 Laps	Brakes

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Race Result

Turkey 2009 Post-Qualifying Car Weights		Car Weight Kilograms	Fuel Weight Kilograms	First Stop Estimated Lap
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	649.5	39.2	15
2.	Jenson Button Brawn	655.5	45.2	17
3.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	652.5	42.2	16
4.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	656	45.7	17
5.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	652	41.7	16
6.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	658	47.7	18
7.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	654	43.7	16
8.	Fernando Alonso Renault	644.5	34.2	13
9.	Nico Rosberg Williams	660	49.7	19
10.	Robert Kubica BMW	664	53.7	20
11.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	681.5	71.2	27
12.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	680.4	70.1	26
13.	Timo Glock Toyota	689	78.7	30
14.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	665	54.7	21
15.	Adrian Sutil Force India	668.5	58.2	22
16.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	696.5	86.2	32
17.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	689.6	79.3	30
18.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	686.5	76.2	29
19.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	688.5	78.2	29
20.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	701	90.7	34

Sebastian Vettel is a little lighter than both the Brawn pilots, but there is only one lap in it to Rubens Barrichello and two to Jenson Button. Interestingly, Jenson Button managed to out-qualify his team mate with a heavier car, indicating that Barrichello wasn’t entirely happy with the handling of his BGP 001. The rest of the top-ten is fairly standard, with Kimi Raikkonen Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica being the heaviest. Although Fernando Alonso sticks out a little as being light in comparison to those around him – I’d expect Alonso to make up a place or two at the start.

Heikki Kovalainen and Adrian Sutil in P14 and P15 respectively have very similar fuel loads. This should make for some interesting viewing tomorrow, as Lewis Hamilton lost out to Sutil in qualifying, the Force India pilot making his Mercedes-powered car go faster than the similarly powered McLaren. If Kovalainen cannot get away from Sutil, then I fear there may be trouble on the horizon for the Finn.

Nick Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima and Timo Glock could be attempting a two-stopper, each having enough fuel to get to around the halfway mark. Also going for the mid-race point before stopping are Lewis Hamilton and Sebastien Bourdais (the two heaviest on the grid) and possibly Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastien Buemi and Nelson Piquet Jr.

The starting tyre choice for the two-stoppers will depend on what the track temperature does tomorrow afternoon. As we saw in qualifying today, the track could easily pass the 45°C mark, which is the recommended limit Bridgestone have imposed on the soft compound. Interestingly though, the track cooled slightly as qualifying progressed, indicating that the two-stoppers may want to start on the hard and move to the soft.

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The live qualifying notes can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Live Qualifying Notes.
• The grid (inclusive of penalties) can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: The Grid.
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole Position Ahead Of Brawns.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

But who do you think will have what it takes to claim victory after the 58 laps of Istanbul Park tomorrow afternoon? Who has the car, the strategy and the strength to endure the massive quadruple-apexed T8 and beat the rest to the start/finish line on the final lap?

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The live qualifying notes can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Live Qualifying Notes.
• The grid (inclusive of penalties) can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: The Grid.
• The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights.
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole Position Ahead Of Brawns.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Who Is Your Favourite For The Turkish Victory?

This grid post is dedicated to Alex Andronov from SofaF1, who when not contributing to his own group-run site, hosts the pre-race Parade Lap show at Sidepodcast on Sunday mornings prior to the grands prix. During my absence from posting during the Monaco event last time around, my grid post was apparently missed. So this one goes out to Alex and all who listen at Sidepodcast.

Turkey 2009: The Grid Inclusive of penalties given.
1		Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m28.316s
			Jenson Button Brawn 1m28.421s		2
3		Rubens Barrichello Brawn 1m28.579s
			Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m28.613s		4
5		Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m28.666s
			Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m28.815s		6
7		Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m28.858s
			Fernando Alonso Renault 1m29.075s		8
9		Nico Rosberg Williams 1m29.191s
			Robert Kubica BMW 1m29.357s		10
11		Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m27.521s
			Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m27.629s		12
13		Timo Glock Toyota 1m27.795s
			Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m28.207s		14
15		Adrian Sutil Force India 1m28.319s
			Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m28.318s		16
17		Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault 1m28.582s
			Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m28.708s		18
19		Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m28.717s
			Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m28.918s		20

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The live qualifying notes can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Live Qualifying Notes.
• The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights.
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole Position Ahead Of Brawns.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: The Grid

The seventh round of the championship has been billed as important, as once again many teams introduced new parts to the cars, Istanbul Park proving to be a better circuit to pass judgment on updated components than Monaco. However, while some teams have shown improvement, the general order remained with Red Bull and Brawn fighting it out at the top.

With track temperature exceeding Bridgestone’s limit between the two compounds – the soft falling off over the course of the lap that is run at 45°C or over – many drivers chose to set laps on the harder compound, thus managing to get two flyers in per run. However, the track temperature did fall towards the end of the sessions, and although this bucks the usual trend, it did allow some teams to capitalise on the soft compound in the first session.

The first stint saw Lewis Hamilton really struggle with his McLaren MP4-24, the rear of the car looking particularly hard to control. On his final two lap run, the reigning world champion fumbled the first attempt and heading into the first corner for his second, slipped away from the apex and lost time. The Briton could only manage P16 on the grid.

Looking good though was Sebastian Vettel, whose early time of 1m27.330s remained unbeaten for the remainder of the session. Team mate Mark Webber also enjoyed a good run, completing a lap just 0.1s shy of the pace setting sister car. Williams also looked very handy, with both drivers setting good pace early on in Q1. Kazuki Nakajima did run wide a couple of times, but ultimately his speed was pretty much up there for much of the 20 minutes.

Giancarlo Fisichella rather embarrassingly failed to match the pace of his team mate Adrian Sutil and qualified in P19, while Sutil carried himself through to Q2. Both Scuderia Toro Rosso pilots stayed in Q1, Sebastien Bourdais ending his day in P20 and Sebastien Buemi in P18. Nelson Piquet Jr. was the fifth driver out of qualifying in the first session, the Brazilian slipping off the track twice, the second excursion being put down to brake failure on the Renault R29.

Q2 was relatively straight forward, with fewer surprises than the first round. Adrian Sutil couldn’t better his position of P15, but the fact the Force India pilot managed to haul himself up into Q2 is an achievement all to itself. The second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen also failed to do much better, the Finn exiting qualifying in P14. Timo Glock, Kazuki Nakajima and Nick Heidfeld all failed to improve, while team mates Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica each went on to Q3. Sebastian Vettel again took the fastest lap.

The final 10 minute session was clearly going to be all about the Brawn drivers and Sebastian Vettel. Eddie Jordan pipped Jarno Trulli – one of his former drivers – for the pole, and although the Toyota pilot did well, eventually had to settle for P5. Robert Kubica showed promise in the BMW, and along with Nick Heidfeld finishing in P11 in Q2, Kubica ended his day in P10. However, it is clear the F1.09 is working better and hopefully both drivers can improve during tomorrow’s race.

Nico Rosberg eventually had to succumb to the mighty pace of the front runners, and his Williams FW31 had to settle for P9. Fernando Alonso also had a fairly anonymous qualifying session, finishing in P8 after sliding off the track at the infamous T8 in a similar fashion to his team mate. The Ferraris line up in P6 and P7, Kimi Raikkonen getting the upper hand on his team mate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian driver has always raced well around Turkey since he’s been with the Scuderia, and although the team are making inroads into their performance deficit, there is clearly a long way to go still.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello appeared to be off pace in earlier sessions, but you simply can not rule them out. Button came on strong in Q3 from early on and on his final run managed to clinch the provisional pole position. Unfortunately for the Briton, it was stolen by Sebastian Vettel moments later, but the lap was good and clean and team owner Ross Brawn is confident they have the race-pace and correct fuel load for a decent strategy.

Barrichello had a slightly unusual Q3, seemingly lapping the Istanbul Park circuit way off the pace. The experienced Brazilian racer was no where on his first run and aborted the lap by blending out of the throttle towards the final complex. Being on the harder compound enabled Rubens to go again, but even the second lap was poor, 0.7s shy of the then-fastest lap by the end of the second sector alone.

However, unsighted by the cameras, Barrichello’s final run posted him into P2, only to be demoted to P3 by Vettel who took the pole. Fuel loads may tell the story better once they are published, but either Barrichello messed up his first runs (assuming he is on a lower fuel load than the times indicated) or absolutely blitzed his final lap (on a heavier fuel load than the time indicated).

Sebastian Vettel’s pole is his career third, and first on a dry circuit. In Italy last season, the German claimed the top spot at a saturated Monza, and he repeated this feat in China earlier this season. However, to claim pole on a dry circuit that is also a real challenge for the drivers will no doubt be remembered for a long time.

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The live qualifying notes can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Live Qualifying Notes.
• The grid (inclusive of penalties) can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: The Grid.
• The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole Position Ahead Of The Brawns

Q1

• Eddie Jordan is pipping Trulli for pole.
• FIS first out.
• With high track temperatures, Brundle thinks the harder compound may work better later on as the soft tyre will fall off very quickly.
• FIS: 30.004s
• SUT: 29.393s
• FIS: Did two laps, 29.565s
• TRU: 28.267s
• MAS: Got tow from BAR, slightly baulked though, maybe. 28.144s
• Williams are looking pretty good so far. NAK and ROS running well.
• VET: 27.330.
• TRU and RAI running well.
• BUT: P3, hard tyre.
• HAM: P13.
• ROS: P2, 27.517s
• BAR: P2, 27.371s
• BMW and Force India in bottom 5.
• KUB improves but still in danger.
• HEI improved in S2.
• HEI: P12.
• PIQ slid off the track at T8, but recovered.
• SUT (Force India-Mercedes) is currently faster than HAM (McLaren-Mercedes).
• HAM: Fumbled first attempt to improve. Made error at T1 on second run.
• HAM: Back end of MP4-24 trying to step away from him.
• HAM out in Q1. He does not go through.
• PIQ: Off track, again.
• BOU, FIS, BUE, PIQ, HAM – Out.

Q2

• NAK first out in Q2.
• MAS goes out as well, right behind KOV.
• Harder tyre on two lap run is better than soft at the moment. However, the drivers will need to save some hards for the race.
• NAK: 29.220s
• MAS: 27.462s
• Apparently PIQ had brake failure for his second off. Brundle reckons he just caught the white line and lost it.
• NAK: Ran wide.
• BAR: 27.418s
• BUT: P1, 27.322s
• VET: P2, 27.333s
• SUT in P12 at the moment.
• VET was 0.25s up, but backed right off and pitted. He has pace, watch him when he returns for the final run.
• HEI: P6, 27.521s on softs.
• KUB: P4, 27.455s on softs.
• WEB just goes out on softs to set first quick lap.
• NAK on hard and not improving. In P11.
• A lot of drivers on hard compound are backing off from first flyer to ensure a great final second flyer.
• WEB: P3, 27.416s
• KOV locks in final complex.
• RAI: P3, 27.387s on softs.
• GLO out.
• TRU: P1, 27.195s
• VET: P1, 27.016s
• ALO improves slightly to P9.
• SUT, KOV, GLO, NAK, HEI – Out.
• Looking at the replay again, PIQ wasn’t anywhere the white line as Brundle reckoned. Could have been brake failure, or he simply could have lost it under braking.

Q3

• VET for pole, me thinks.
• Eddie Jordan still pipping TRU.
• RAI first out.
• Brundle’s with me, VET’s the man to beat.
• Brawn say their cars are still very good and they shouldn’t be discounted. No complaints from drivers.
• RAI: 29.405s
• TRU: 28.858s
• BUT: P2
• WEB: P3 on softs.
• VET: P1, 28.801 on softs.
• BAR: Slow on first flyer, but is on hards so will go again.
• ALO slides off at T8, recovers.
• BAR: 0.7s down at S2.
• WEB: P1, 28.613s on softs.
• RAI: P2
• BUT: P1, 28.421s
• BAR: P2
• VET: P1, 28.316
• VET, BUT, BAR, WEB, TRU, RAI, MAS, ALO, ROS, KUB.

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The grid (inclusive of penalties) can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: The Grid.
• The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights.
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole Position Ahead Of Brawns.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Live Qualifying Notes

Turkey 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m27.330s	1m27.016s	1m28.316
2.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m27.355s	1m27.230s	1m28.421s
3.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m27.371s	1m27.418s	1m28.579s
4.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m27.466s	1m27.416s	1m28.613s
5.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m27.529s	1m27.195s	1m28.666s
6.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m27.556s	1m27.387s	1m28.815s
7.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	1m27.508s	1m27.349s	1m28.858s
8.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m27.988s	1m27.473s	1m29.075s
9.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m27.517s	1m27.418s	1m29.191s
10.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m27.788s	1m27.455s	1m29.357s
11.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m27.795s	1m27.521s
12.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m27.691s	1m27.629s
13.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m28.160s	1m27.795s
14.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m28.199s	1m28.207s
15.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m28.278s	1m28.319s
16.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m28.318s
17.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m28.582s
18.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m28.708s
19.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m28.717s
20.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m28.918s

• The live qualifying notes can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Live Qualifying Notes.
• The grid (inclusive of penalties) can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: The Grid.
• The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here once published: Turkey 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights.
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Turkey 2009: Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole Position Ahead Of Brawns.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Qualifying Result

Kazuki Nakajima also improved, this time getting ahead of team mate Nico Roberg who ended his morning run in P1. Nakajima managed to set a P4 time, 0.2s faster than Rosberg who himself finished in P7. Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber also improved over their morning form, the Brawn pilot going 0.2s faster than his pre-lunch time, and Webber shedding 0.7s from his earlier pace.

Sebastian Vettel in the sister Red Bull car managed to sustain his previous position, going from P4 in the morning run to P5 in the afternoon. However, his post-lunch appearance was cut short after just 4 laps, the German race winner stopping at T2 with a driveshaft problem. Vettel still managed to set a time 0.1s faster than he did in the morning.

Of the spinners, Lewis Hamilton made the most impression having pirouetted his McLaren around twice during the second 90 minute session. Also not performing as they should were Giancarlo Fisichella and Kazuki Nakajima, who made contact at T12/T13 complex, neither driver apparently offering the other enough room.

Turkey 2009 Friday Free Practice Two		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m28.841s	37 Laps
2.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m28.847s	35 Laps
3.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m29.056s	35 Laps
4.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m29.091s	37 Laps
5.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m29.202s	4 Laps
6.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m29.207s	40 Laps
7.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m29.257s	40 Laps
8.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m29.305s	34 Laps
9.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m29.383s	39 Laps
10.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m29.401s	38 Laps
11.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	1m29.416s	37 Laps
12.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m29.430s	32 Laps
13.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m29.435s	31 Laps
14.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m29.518s	40 Laps
15.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m29.520s	33 Laps
16.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m29.550s	40 Laps
17.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m30.081s	32 Laps
18.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m30.091s	37 Laps
19.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m30.295s	39 Laps
20.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m30.629s	36 Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Free Practice Two

The Istanbul Park circuit started off in a very dusty condition, meaning that few drivers ventured out in the first 30 minutes, and when they did plumes of dust were sent into the air as the cars cleaned the surface with each tour. By the mid-point, most drivers had set a time and Jarno Trulli showed promise in the TF109, improving on his and the car’s form from the previous Monaco Grand Prix.

A few drivers left the track at the first corner, and when Felipe Massa ventured off into the scenery, his Ferrari dislodged the astro-turf lining the track, causing the session to be briefly stopped while repairs were made. Turn 8 also saw a few drivers run wide, the corner notorious with its quadruple apex. Sebastian Vettel, Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso also span and one point or another during the practice run.

The times set were relatively close, with only a second separating Lewis Hamilton in P2 and Mark Webber in P15. Other notable performances came from the Force Indias, with Adrian Sutil ending his morning in P12, and Giancarlo Fisichella keeping himself ahead of the two Scuderia Toro Rosso pilots.

Turkey 2009 Friday Free Practice One		Lap Time Fastest Time Set	Laps Set Number Laps Set
1.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m28.952s	24 Laps
2.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m29.263s	23 Laps
3.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m29.271s	26 Laps
4.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m29.337s	17 Laps
5.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	1m29.342s	22 Laps
6.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m29.371s	21 Laps
7.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m29.398s	24 Laps
8.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m29.422s	24 Laps
9.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m29.525s	24 Laps
10.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m29.590s	19 Laps
11.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m29.747s	20 Laps
12.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m29.864s	21 Laps
13.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m29.934s	25 Laps
14.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	1m30.132s	18 Laps
15.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m30.176s	21 Laps
16.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m30.645s	22 Laps
17.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m30.689s	19 Laps
18.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m30.729s	22 Laps
19.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m30.838s	24 Laps
20.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m30.944s	25 Laps

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2009: Friday Practice One

Lewis Hamilton endured a tougher weekend, qualifying going less well due to his choice of tyres, and in the post-race press conference the Briton admitted to being forced to use certain compounds for certain lengths of time due to Bridgestone fearing a tyre failure could be the result of only stopping twice. Comparing the F2008 to the MP4-23, you have to say Maranello are doing a lot better than Woking at the moment! Certainly on the tyres at any rate.

BMW improved their qualifying form to finish in fourth and fifth, Robert Kubica once again getting the better of Nick Heidfeld. However, considering the Swiss-German squad started the season with podiums and pole, fourth and fifth suddenly doesn’t look so good. Robert Kubica drove reasonably well from fifth on the grid, but if the team really want to be fighting for victories, they need to find a little more pace in their F1.08. Heidfeld drove a very quiet race, and about halfway through (after pitstops) he managed to find himself in fifth. Considering the German started his afternoon in ninth, a points-paying position at the chequered flag is a good result for himself and BMW.

Heikki Kovalainen didn’t do quite so well, despite lighting the track up in qualifying. From the front row, Kovalainen had a poor start in comparison to those around him and lost out to Kubica and Hamilton. He also picked up a puncture from Kimi Raikkonen as the pair made light contact going through T1, for which the Finn needed to pit for a new tyre. This effectively ruined Kovalainen’s race, and by the end of lap 58 he had climbed up to twelfth place, one lap down.

During the race however, Kovalainen had some fun with Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock. The German Toyota driver showed his credentials when attacked by Kovalainen, the pair having a great battle in the final complex of corners. Raw power won in the end, but the moves each driver pulled were both respectful and fun. Later on in the race, Kovalainen was to repeat his efforts in the final set of turns, this time with Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton also made a few fans stand up and take notice as the young McLaren driver charged his way past Felipe Massa on lap 24. Going into T9, Lewis dived up the inside and took control of the racing line. Massa did begin to move in but relinquished the line and the position when he realised just how far into the apex Hamilton was. While the move was textbook stuff, it gained applause perhaps because we we haven’t seen any real passing moves in a while.

Unfortunately for Lewis, is race was effectively ruined by the tyres and therefore the strategy he had to go with. The team changed him to a three-stopper, and stint of fastest lap-sharing with Felipe Massa allowed him to maintain second place as the race drew to a close. However, Ferrari clearly had the pace at today’s grand prix, and McLaren will have to work hard during the next few events to reclaim the margin Ferrari have over them.

Further down the finishing order, Fernando Alonso drove well to sixth, and Mark Webber gained yet more points for Red Bull by finishing in seventh. Whatever the Australian is doing for luck right now, he’d do well to continue it! Jarno Trulli also did an okay job to collect the remaining point of the day, also having a relatively quiet afternoon and keeping himself to himself.

Sebastian Vettel should be celebrating this evening, the German finally finishing a race, albeit in last position. The young STR driver has gained a bit of a reputation in recent races for not being able to get past lap one, but today he completed all 58. Unfortunately for the team, Sebastien Bourdais had a silly moment and retired his car on lap 26. We are still awaiting official reason for the retirement, but suffice to say it looks like a mechanical failure led to Bourdais’s STR being beached in the gravel and unable to continue. If it was a driver error, then it was a very embarrassing one for Bourdais.

Adrian Sutil also completed the full race distance, finishing ahead of Vettel as well. Although Force India once again lost their star driver early on, Giancarlo Fisichella being involved in the only lap-one-turn-one incident. From the footage shown, it looks as though Fisichella simply forgot to brake and drive straight into the back of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams. However, from what I saw, I would suggest it isn’t entirely Fisichella’s fault, as I could clearly see another car to Nakajima’s left being forced to swerve around the Williams, implying Nakajima braked early (possibly for good reason) and Giancarlo had nowhere to go. I’ll go out on a limb and say it was a racing incident, but it did mean both Fisichella and Nakajima retired on the spot.

Only three retirees at Istanbul Park means 2008 is becoming another reliable season. Spain only saw one driver not finish, although there were two less cars running in Turkey; Super Aguri no longer competing in the sport. Rubens Barrichello completed the race and now holds the record of the driver with the most Grand Prix starts: 257. And Nelson Piquet Jr. continues to disappoint, finishing in fourteenth in the same Renault that Alonso took sixth place with.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2008: Massa Roars To Victory

Turkey 2008: Race Results

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2008: Race Result

BMW & Red Bull

It seems that BMW are dropping slightly from their fine season-starting form. Podiums and a pole raised spirits in the Swiss-German pit box, but recently they have under-whelmed in qualifying. Robert Kubica will start tomorrow’s race from fifth, while Nick Heidfeld could only manage ninth. However, quickly climbing the grid-ladder are Red Bull, who managed to get both drivers into Q3 this time around. Mark Webber and David Coulthard each competed for the grid positions for the entire session, and despite almost destroying one chassis yesterday, Mark Webber got the better of his team mate. Sixth for the Australian, tenth for the Scot.

Renault & Toyota

Renault have clearly improved the pace of the R28, which we all witnessed in Barcelona two weeks ago. However, the proof of the pudding is how the car wold behave around a different track, and seventh and seventeenth is a far cry from second and tenth. Toyota are another team who are experiencing mixed-fortunes at the moment. Like Renault, the Japanese team have one very experienced driver and one (in essence) rookie. Jarno Trulli managed to get his TF108 into eighth, even staying ahead of Heidfeld in the BMW. However, Timo Glock couldn’t get past Q2 and finished in fifteenth.

I just couldn’t get the set-up right so I had some trouble with understeer and oversteer. That meant the car was difficult to drive and I could not repeat the same lap times that I did at the beginning of the session. Maybe there was something strange happening with the wind on the track but that’s the same for everyone. Jarno Trulli.

Williams & Honda

Eleventh and sixteenth is not where Williams really want to be at the moment, the team having had a great first race of the season have managed to slide backwards ever since. The drivers look much more comfortable in the race, but qualifying is proving to be a real hindrance at the moment. Honda also appear to be holding station, and the experience of both drivers meaning they have again qualified quite close to one another. Jenson Button will start the race in thirteenth, just behind his record-breaking team mate Rubens Barrichello.

Scuderia Toro Rosso & Force India

Still awaiting their new STR3 car, Scuderia Toro Rosso continue to charge around in their modified 2007 motor. However both drivers have, in the past, shown what can be done with the old car and occasionally surprise in testing and practice. Come race day though, and the team need to find some reliability. And not just from the car either, but also the drivers. Qualifying in fourteenth and eighteenth (Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais respectively) will not help matters, especially as Vettel appears to be getting tangled up with other mid-fielders with some regularity at the moment. And according to Bourdais, this has spilled over to qualifying as well.

Bad traffic, basically the Force India guys, ruined my afternoon: on my first run I was held up by Sutil as early as Turn 3 and on the second, I came up behind Fisichella in Turn 8.

Everyone seems to behave quite well in qualifying, but I don’t know what those guys were doing on their out laps. It was a bit surprising. Sebastien Bourdais.

Force India came to Turkey with the continuation of the their goal: to get out of Q1. And again, both drivers struggled, made to look even worse with the demise of Super Aguri; Force India now occupy the last row of the grid. Despite being at the back, both drivers are relatively upbeat about their prospects for the race tomorrow.

I did a clean lap and the team did a good job with the car. The balance is not bad, but we just need more grip and more downforce to move forward with the grid position. I am looking forward to a better race tomorrow. Giancarlo Fisichella.

On the last set of tyres I couldn’t improve my time and didn’t get the grip I expected and locked up into turn 12, but it was not so bad overall. From a performance perspective, to better the practice pace and to get close to the rest of the field is positive. Adrian Sutil.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2008: Qualifying Report

Turkey 2008: Qualifying Results

*Giancaro Fisichella was penalised during the morning Free Practice session for running a red light in the pitlane. His penalty was a three grid slot demotion. Therefore, for tomorrow’s race the Italian will start behind his German team mate, Adrian Sutil.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey 2008: Qualifying Result

Ecclestone, who is regularly quoted as being among the richest entrepreneurs in the UK, decided to buy the Istanbul Park circuit seeing the venue as long term investment. His board of advisor’s branded the diminutive Briton as stupid as he negotiated the 80 page contract, claiming that the price was just too high. While Bernie is keeping shtum about the exact figure, reports are quoting the sale price as between $140m and $190m to take over the Turkish Grand Prix.

My board of directors thought I am a stupid businessman after checking the agreement. So if you ask why we are still in, I would say that Istanbul Park is the best race course in the world; that I believe in Istanbul and that it will bring advantages in the long term. Bernie Ecclestone.

This isn’t the first circuit Bernie has bought, as he currently owns the Paul Ricard Test Track in France. But this purchase will surely see the Turkish Grand Prix on the calendar well into the future as Bernie continues to develop relationships with the Middle and Far East.

Not too far away from Turkey is another venue that will feature a Grand Prix for many years to come – Sepang. At the recent Malaysian Grand Prix, Bernie had criticised the track saying it had become a little shabby and needed some re-decoration. However, the race has steadily grown in popularity since its inception in 1999, and while the current agreement was due to expire in 2010, an extension has been granted until 2015.

Formula One is breaking in to new territory with these Asian circuits, and Bernie is keen to continue Formula One’s involvement in the East. He was recently seen in Singapore, sparking rumours that a Singapore Grand Prix could be on the cards on a street circuit. Abu Dhabi will host a race in 2009 on Yas Island, and South Korea will be adding Formula One to their sporting calendar in 2010.

You can view other Asian Circuits, both old and new, on the BlogF1 Asian Circuits Page.

Original article by BlogF1.

Turkey & Malaysia Gain Contract Extensions