"Massa" wins for first time in Istanbul F1 GrandPrix

suziwong

Administrator
Staff member
Just came from F1 GrandPrix of Istanbul-Turkey.. It was very very exciting and fantastic as always.. !!!

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1- Felipe Massa - Ferrari (Brazil)
2- Fernando Alonso - Renault (Spain)
3- Michael Schumacher - Ferrari (Germany)



Istanbul, Turkey (Sports Network) - Brazilian Felipe Massa captured Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix Formula One race at the Istanbul Autodrom. The No.6 Ferrari crossed the finish line 5.575 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso.

The victory was the first of Massa's F1 career.

Massa brought the 22-car field to the green flag for 58 laps of racing beneath the hot Turkish sun.

The action started in the very first corner when Giancarlo Fisichella spun his wheels and in the melee lost his front nose as did Nick Heidfeld. Kimi Raikkonen ran through the shards of debris and blew the left-rear tire and Tiago Monteiro retired. On the next lap the Finn had more problems slamming a tire barrier in Turn 8, ending his day.

Up front, Massa, Michael Schumacher and Alonso got away cleanly and along with Jenson Button began to pull away from the remainder of the field.

Massa was clearly running his best, setting fastest lap of the day on lap seven and built a 3.6-second margin over his Ferrari teammate. Schumacher in turn, held 5.5 seconds over Alonso, his championship rival.

Schumacher matched his teammate's speed, resetting fastest laps on laps 10 through 12 to pull within 2.2 seconds of Massa.

When Vitantonio Liuzzi stalled his car in a dangerous position just past Turn 1, the safety car was deployed, setting up the first round of pit stops. The Ferrari drivers stacked up one behind the other waiting for service while Alonso's crew got him out quickly to take over second place from Schumacher.

The field went back to green on lap 16, but the damage was done.

On the restart, Massa and Alonso ran similar lap times, but Schumacher was slowed by a backmarker and lost two seconds to the Spaniard and his teammate. By lap 21, Massa had pulled out a gap from Alonso and was gaining almost half- a-second per lap.

Massa set another fastest lap of the day to expand his lead to 5.6 seconds over Alonso.

Meanwhile, Schumacher went too wide at Turn 8 on lap 30 and returned to the track about four seconds later, but now nine seconds behind Alonso.

With 25 laps to go, Massa led Alonso by 7.8 seconds and Schumacher by 16.4 seconds. The seven-time World Champion has not shown any spark since the first pit stop.

Then from nowhere, Schumacher set fastest lap of the day on lap 34 and repeated the feat on lap 35 as he tried to close on the two leaders. But Massa wasn't about to give up on his first F1 win. He fought back with a quick lap of his own.

Massa made his final stop on lap 39, a 7.8-second refueling, that would take him to the end of the race. Alonso also stopped, but couldn't gain on the leader.

Schumacher, who still needed to stop one more time, had his first lead of the race.

Could the clean air help him gain on Alonso?

The German was 14 seconds ahead of Alonso, not enough yet. But he put up a time 1.3 seconds faster than Alonso who was full of fuel. He needed to be about 20 seconds ahead of Alonso to come out ahead of him.

Another half second, but surely Schumacher would have to pit soon?

He did pit on lap 43. Schumacher re-entered the track, just one second behind Alonso. The battle for second place and vital championship points was about to take place.

Schumacher was gaining on Alonso and he closed in on the Spaniard. The margin was 0.406 seconds with 12 laps remaining.

Up front, Massa was cruising along with a 10.8 second lead, but all eyes were watching the race for runner-up.

With 10 laps to go, Schumacher was right on Alonso's rear bumper.

But could he make the pass?

Schumacher tried a move in turn seven, but Alonso turned him back and pulled away to a half-second lead. But again Schumacher closed to try again. The German looked for an opening but could never find one and he lost two important championship points to Alonso.

Massa, meanwhile, cruised to his first Formula One victory.

Schumacher, Button, Pedro de la Rosa, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed the points-scoring positions.

Alonso's runner-up position expands his championship lead to 108-96 over Schumacher with four races left on the schedule.

The next race is scheduled for Sunday, September 10th at the Italian Grand Prix.


08/27 09:48:35 ET

Photos:
1- Fernando Alonso; Felipe Massa; Michael Schumacher
2- Felipe Massa; Michael Schumacher
3- Fernando Alonso
4- Fernando Alonso; Michael Schumacher
5- Felipe Massa; Michael Schumacher; Fernando Alonso
6- Michael Schumacher; Jenson Button
7- Michael Schumacher
8- Felipe Massa
9- Felipe Massa
10- F1 Turkish GrandPrix in Istanbul
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suzi
 

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Malerick

New Member
Yeah it was a great race!
And again a first time winner wich is always great to see.

Luckely Schumacher didn`t win....



Greetz,
Malerick
 

ORANGATUANG

Wildfire
Thanks Suzi i saw it too..Our aussie came 10th iam wrapped that he finished ..got that monkey off his back hopefully at last...next year when he goes to another team i hope he will start bringing home the bacon...
 

Malerick

New Member
That`s true and on this moment he`s better than Schumacher....he won this weekend because of the safety car by the way otherwise Schumacher definitily had won the race....

Alonso will win the championship this year....i think....


Next year Champcar is coming to the Netherlands in Assen!!!



Greetz,
Malerick
 
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