Sport

Massa wins, but Hamilton steals show
by Niamh O'Mahony, 11 May 2008

Felipe Massa picked up his third Turkish Grand Prix title in a row on Sunday, but it was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who was the star of the show at Istanbul Park.

A decent start for the Briton saw him jump to second and challenge pole sitter Massa for victory, eventually blasting past the Brazilian on lap 23.

However, the 23-year-old’s race pace was explained ten laps later when he pitted unexpectedly, revealing his three-stop strategy to the rest of the field.

That effectively ruled him out of contention for race victory, but Hamilton still piled in the quick laps and moved ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to claimed second on the day.

The defending World Champion never really seemed to get into gear until the final laps – when he chased Hamilton home to the chequered flag – but it was at least another points haul for the championship leader, who is now seven points ahead of Hamilton.

For Massa, it was a straightforward day – in spite of Hamilton’s speed – and he has now moved himself back into third in the standings, level on 28 points with his McLaren rival.

Fourth was secured by BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, a squad that will be pleased to be moving on from Turkey after a rather subdued weekend, with team-mate Nick Heidfeld fifth.

Fernando Alonso was sixth for Renault, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber seventh, Nico Rosberg eighth, David Coulthard ninth and Jarno Trulli tenth.

Massa and Hamilton both made good starts, with Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen suffering on the dirty side of the track. Both Finns dropped several slots with Kovalainen also picking up a rear tyre puncture.

A Safety Car was immediately needed because of a spectacular clash between Giancarlo Fisichella and Kazuki Nakajima at the end of the main straight, but once the action got underway properly, it was clear that Massa would have a battle on his hands.

Not only could he not lose the attention of Hamilton, but his rival was actually lapping quicker. Hamilton was sticking within a second but made his first stop on lap 16 and managed a wonderful move on Massa during both drivers’ second stint.

Hamilton stalked the Ferrari through Turn 8 and kept in his tow only to blast past down the back straight. It was the first overtaking manoeuvre for the lead this season, but it quickly became apparent once Hamilton stopped again that he was on a different strategy.

At that realisation, calm must have spread through the Scuderia’s garage, though Raikkonen was still in danger of losing second with Hamilton’s form, and he duly did when he failed to match the Briton’s speed towards the end of his second stint.

After all the pit stops, Hamilton emerged five seconds behind Massa and several seconds ahead of Raikkonen and though the latter closed the gap right down in the final laps, there was no passing Hamilton.

Elsewhere, Kovalainen recovered from his early pit stop to claim 12th. It was a tough day for the McLaren racer who was impressive at times as he weaved his way through the field. However, the extra stop ruled him out of contention for points and he eventually finished behind Toyota’s Jarno Trulli.

Fourth and fifth were BMW Sauber’s rewards, while Alonso’s strategy allowed him to jump ahead of Mark Webber, who had qualified sixth on the grid.

Besides Fisichella and Nakajima, the only non-finisher was Sebastien Bourdais, whose day was ended by a mechanical failure on lap 26, while his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastian Vettel picked up his first classification of the year, coming home 17th and a lap down on the leaders.

It was also not such a memorable day for record breaker Rubens Barrichello though, who could only bring his Honda home in 14th place over six seconds behind Toyota’s Timo Glock.

Turkish Grand Prix - Provisional Race results

Pos Driver Team Time