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Felipe Massa has underlined his ability to compete well at the Istanbul Park circuit, winning his third race at the track and pulling himself back into contention for the 2008 world championship. And with team mate Kimi Raikkonen finishing in third, Ferrari are looking imperious at the top of the constructors leader board. Lewis Hamilton did well to finish in second, splitting the red cars and controlling a tyre problem from Bridgestone. Continue Reading

Felipe Massa has won his third Turkish Grand Prix in succession, proving that he really loves the Istanbul Park circuit. Being one of Tilke’s better designs, the track saw fair few overtaking moves, most notable around the McLaren’s. Lewis Hamilton made a great pass into turn one, and Heikki Kovalainen was involved in a prolonged battle during the race in the midfield. A full report will be up shortly. Continue Reading

Having won the fight for pole position and race victory in the 2006 and 2007 Turkish Grands Prix, Felipe has made it a hat-trick for qualifying, and is looking strong for a third race win at Istanbul Park. However, it won’t be easy for the Brazilian driver to run and hide as McLaren are looking much faster than before, slotting into second and third and demoting 2005 Turkish race winner Kimi Raikkonen to fourth. Interestingly, it was Heikki Kovalainen who out-qualified Lewis Hamilton, showing no signs of hesitation as the Finn returns to the monocoque after his big accident a fortnight ago. Continue Reading

The Turkish Grand Prix grid was decided earlier, with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa hoping to make three wins from three races at Istanbul. His chances are looking good with the Brazilian on pole position. However, the McLaren’s have pulled something out of the bag and aren’t too far behind, Heikki Kovalainen getting the better of Lewis Hamilton in second. The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen will start in fourth. A full report will be posted later today, although I’m currently having connectivity issues, so it may be a little late. Continue Reading

To celebrate Rubens Barrichello’s 257th race start at the Turkish Grand Prix, Honda have modified the livery that would usually adorn the skin of his RA108. Barrichello also has a one-off helmet design that fits with the logos and colours on the car. 257 races means that the previous record of 256 falls, much to the disappointment of Riccardo Patrese. Patrese set the record immediately prior to retiring in 1993 after the Australian Grand Prix, and has been helping Barrichello celebrate the new record in the past week. Continue Reading

The fifth round of the 2008 Formula One World Championship got underway earlier this morning, with Felipe Massa going fastest in the pre-lunch practice around the Istanbul Circuit. Having won the previous two Turkish Grands Prix, Massa is quite handy at this track and his lap time was 0.133s faster than second-placed driver Heikki Kovalainen. Showing no signs from his accident a fortnight ago, Kovalainen pipped his team mate into second, while both McLarens looked much more comfortable than they have done in the previous two or three races. Continue Reading

Following his sizable shunt at Circuit de Catalunya a couple of weeks back, Heikki Kovalainen has been given the all-clear to participate in this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix. Kovalainen’s McLaren suffered some kind of wheel failure and his car failed to turn in to T8 correctly. The ensuing ~145mph accident saw Heikki buried quite deep in the tyre barrier, the gravel trap failing to shed much speed off. Although Kovalainen was briefly knocked unconscious, by the the time the medics had freed him from the wreckage he was giving the thumbs to his supporters. Continue Reading

Scuderia Toro Rosso were due to debut their 2008 challenger in Turkey this weekend, the team having spent the first four races in a modified 2007 car. However, when the car hit the tarmac at its official first test with one of the current drivers, things didn’t go quite as well as they had been planned. The car, which comes from the pen of Red Bull’s Adrian Newey and is essentially a version of the parent team’s 2008 chassis, was running quite well. Until, that is, Sebastien Bourdais stuffed into the wall. Continue Reading

Both Istanbul Park in Turkey and Sepang in Malaysia have agreed terms to extend their rights to host Formula One Grands Prix into the future. After it was announced that F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone had brought the Istanbul circuit, Sepang also signed a contract that will see the Malaysian Grand Prix on the calendar until 2015. This is obviously good news for both tracks, which have only recently joined the calendar, but it does put the rumour of a Singapore race on hold for a while. Continue Reading