Felipe Flies in Turkey
August 27th 2007 14:48
Lights to flag victory for Felipe Massa (Getty Images)
The Brazilian was flawless all weekend at Istanbul, applying some newfound consistency to his naturally blistering pace. Others meanwhile, including his Ferrari stablemate, Kimi Raikkonen, struggled to piece together the lap that counts. The result: Felipe took his fifth pole of the season under the warm Turkish sun.
The victory came at a crucial time for Felipe and Ferrari, with the end of the season in sight; the need for consistency is urgent for Ferrari, and with Kimi’s impressive form of late, many pundits suggested that the flying Finn was the guy most likely to deliver title success for the prancing horse, and not the notoriously capricious Brazilian.
Last year, after a year spent in the great Michael Schumacher’s shadow, some began to question whether Felipe was capable of wining a race. He responded with a brilliant debut win, outclassing the field and proving to all that he is not only capable of winning races, he’s capable of winning them well.
Supporting the theory that history repeats, Felipe was out to prove himself again in Turkey, this time around though, after being on the receiving end of a Kimi Raikkonen resurgence, he decided to answer questions surrounding his ability to win championships. Convincingly.
Massa held off his Ferrari teammate all afternoon to claim a Ferrari one-two, and edged his name closer to top of the ladder…stoutly showing all that he is a fighter, and that the 2007 championship is worth fighting for.
It was a brilliant afternoon for the Scuderia. Kimi, starting from third, made full use of the clean line and surged past Hamilton off the line, to join Massa at the head of the queue.
The soft-tyre shod Ferraris then began to stretch out a lead from Lewis’ McLaren, with BMW’s Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld holding off a slow-starting Fernando Alonso.
Further down the grid, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was lucky not start a pile up after he his Toyota was turned endwise by fellow Italian, Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault. Trulli continued on, albeit down in 21st position.
On lap 10, Mark Webber’s Red Bull was wheeled into the garage suffering hydraulic failure; amazingly, the Australian was the only driver to make it onto the retirement list, despite the soaring temperatures.
On lap 12, Kubica revealed just how light he was on Saturday by pitting his BMW from fourth position. The Pole’s bold strategy backfired immensely when he was leapfrogged by teammate, Nick Heidfeld, Fernando Alonso and Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen when they pitted several laps later.
Raikkonen was the first to pit of the Ferraris, coming in for fuel and soft Bridgestone rubber one lap before Massa. Felipe was under pressure from the Finn right from the lights, but he put in a mesmerising in lap to rejoin in front.
It was up to Hamilton to spoil the scarlet parade, but with heavier fuel loads and harder tyres, the rookie was unable to trouble the leading Ferrari pair.
Alonso, however, did manage to gain from his pit stops, recovering places he lost from the start after jumping both BMWs in pitlane. The reigning champ was in clear air in fourth, but was a huge 15 seconds behind his teammate.
As the second round of stops loomed, a wobble from Felipe almost saw Raikkonen pounce on the lead, but Massa held his nerve and the back end his F2007 to stay in front.
But it wasn’t the battle between the Ferraris that captured the most attention during the second round of stops, but rather the sight of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren limping back to the pits with a shredded front right tyre.
The rookie’s chances of extending his title lead over Fernando Alonso on lap 42, when his punctured Bridgestone blew under heavy braking for turn nine.
Alonso seized the opportunity, and managed to get past and squeeze in his pitstop before Hamilton’s McLaren stumbled into pitlane with a damaged front wing and bargeboard.
Frantic work by the McLaren mechanics got Lewis out again in fifth place, behind Nick Heidfeld, and with a less aero-efficient car at his disposal, the championship leader came under pressure from fellow rookie, Heikki Kovalainen.
Again, McLaren was attempting to grab the headlines, but the day belonged to Felipe Massa, whose classy display proved his worth as a championship contender.
The Brazilian’s third win of the season moved him to third in the championship, with 69 points to Hamilton’s 84. Raikkonen, meanwhile dropped to fourth, one point behind his teammate.
Hamilton’s misfortune was no doubt welcomed warmly by both Ferrari drivers, but the man most satisfied was Fernando Alonso, who took the final podium place and six valuable points.
The Spaniard reduced his points deficit to Hamilton to just five points, with 79 points in total.
Germany’s Nick Heidfeld claimed yet another fourth, cementing BMW’s position as best of the rest, and reminding the top two that he is ready to capitalise on any mishap.
Heikki Kovalainen had closed right up behind Lewis Hamilton’s injured McLaren, but was unable to pass, taking an impressive sixth place.
For Hamilton, fifth place was a lucky escape, considering such tyre failures usually result in a rendezvous with the nearest barrier. With the title still in the balance, every point salvaged is vital.
Germany’s Nico Rosberg quietly took seventh place for Williams, ahead of Robert Kubica who finished a disappointing eighth, compromised by an over ambitious strategy.
With a maximum points haul from their Turkish mission, Ferrari can afford an air of confidence as the F1 circus prepares to land in Scuderia territory for the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Thanks to Massa’s proficient display in Turkey, the question as to which Ferrari driver will pose the greatest challenge to Hamilton and McLaren is now much harder to answer.
2007 Turkish Grand Prix Result:
1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:31:00.000
2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 2.002
3 F. Alonso McLaren 26.001
4 N. Heidfeld BMW 39.006
5 L. Hamilton McLaren 45.000
6 H. Kovalainen Renault 46.001
7 N. Rosberg Williams 55.007
8 R. Kubica BMW 56.007
9 G. Fisichella Renault 59.004
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:11.005
11 A. Wurz Williams 1:19.006
12 R. Schumacher Toyota 1 laps
13 J. Button Honda 1 laps
14 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1 laps
15 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1 laps
16 J. Trulli Toyota 1 laps
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1 laps
18 T. Sato Super Aguri 1 laps
19 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1 laps
20 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 2 laps
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 5 laps
Did not finish
22 M. Webber Red Bull 0.000
Fastest Laps
01 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 1:27.295
02 Felipe Massa Ferrari 18 1:27.922
03 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 17 1:27.963
04 Fernando Alonso McLaren 39 1:28.070
05 Nick Heidfeld BMW 39 1:28.319
06 Nico Rosberg Williams 37 1:28.536
07 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 20 1:28.603
08 Alex Wurz Williams 55 1:28.737
09 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 56 1:28.793
10 Jenson Button Honda 34 1:28.873
11 Robert Kubica BMW 11 1:28.918
12 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 55 1:28.924
13 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 54 1:29.068
14 Jarno Trulli Toyota 39 1:29.459
15 Rubens Barrichello Honda 35 1:29.513
16 Tonio Liuzzi STR 56 1:29.563
17 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 38 1:29.658
18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 56 1:29.916
19 Sebastian Vettel STR 39 1:29.983
20 Adrian Sutil Spyker 52 1:30.617
21 Mark Webber Red Bull 4 1:30.808
22 Sakon Yamamoto Spyker 21 1:30.951
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