Turkey GP 2006

[Catriel]

Staring Grid


1 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:27.306 1:27.059 1:26.907
2 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:27.385 1:25.850 1:27.284
3 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:27.861 1:26.917 1:27.321
4 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:28.175 1:27.346 1:27.564

6 16 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 1:28.200 1:27.251 1:27.785
7 12 Jenson Button Honda 1:28.222 1:26.872 1:27.790
8 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.236 1:27.202
1:27.866
9 17 Robert Kubica Sauber-BMW 1:28.212 1:27.405 1:28.167

10 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:28.307 1:27.608 1:29.436
11 15 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 1:28.271 1:27.852
12 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.403 1:27.897
13 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:28.549 1:27.973

14 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:28.411 1:28.257
15 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:28.889 1:28.386
5 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:27.668 1:27.062 1:27.569
17 14 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 1:29.136

18 21 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 1:29.158
19 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 1:29.250
20 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:29.901
21 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1:30.607

22 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:30.850
16 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:29.021 1:28.639



Ralf Schumacher and Cristijan Albers recive 10 places penalty for changing their engine.

[Catriel]

It was Felipe Massa`s maiden Pole Potition! Good for him!

My opinion is that Kimi has a lot of fuel for the beggining laps, that`s the reason he ended 8º between 10 drivers in the final qualy session. It is the same strategy that could give him the victory some weeks ago if he wasn`t so unlucky.


TV commentators said: Massa starts in the clean side of track, Schumacher in the dirty and Alonso in the clean, so if he can take Michael`s potition at the beggining he can win the race, or if he can`t chace Massa, it may be the brazilian`s first victory because there will not be team orders if Michael is not at his back.

[Bruce]

Congratulations Massa for his first victory.
I think Kimi had bad luck again, what you think?

[Catriel]

2006 Turkish Grand Prix

Pos	No	Driver                  	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid  
 1	6	Felipe Massa          	Ferrari        	58	1:28:51.081
 2      1	Fernando Alonso     	Renault      	58	+5.5 secs	3
 3	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari        	58	+5.6 secs	2
 4	12	Jenson Button        	Honda        	58	+12.3 secs	6
 5	4	Pedro de la Rosa    	McLaren      	58	+45.9 secs	11
 6	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault       	58	+46.5 secs	4
 7	7	Ralf Schumacher     	Toyota        	58	+59.3 secs	15
 8	11	Rubens Barrichello  	Honda     	58	+60.0 secs	13
 9	8	Jarno Trulli           	Toyota         	57	+1 Lap    	12
10	9	Mark Webber          	Williams	57	+1 Lap    	9
11	15	Christian Klien     	RBR-Ferrari	57	+1 Lap    	10
12	17	Robert Kubica          	Sauber-BMW	57	+1 Lap    	12
13	21	Scott Speed            	STR-Cosworth	57	+1 Lap    	17
14	16	Nick Heidfeld       	Sauber-BMW	56	+2 Laps    	5
15	14	David Coulthard       	RBR-Ferrari	55	+3 Laps    	16
Ret	19	Christijan Albers     	MF1-Toyota	46	Accident	22
NC	22	Takuma Sato          	Super Aguri	41	+17 Laps    	21
Ret	10	Nico Rosberg          	Williams	25	Water pressure	14
Ret	23	Sakon Yamamoto   	Super Aguri	23	Spin      	20
Ret	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi     	STR-Cosworth	12	Spin      	18
Ret	3	Kimi Räikkönen      	McLaren     	1	Accident	7
Ret	18	Tiago Monteiro        	MF1-Toyota	0	Accident	19

Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1:28.005
Official Result

[Catriel]

Schumacher would have won, all things being equal, but Michael lost out when the safety car was deployed on the 13th lap and he had to wait behind Massa while they were serviced in the pits. Then Michael blistered his second set of Bridgestones pushing overly hard to make up time while running with a heavier fuel load than his two rivals. His performance in the closing laps was mighty, but those two factors militated against the victory that would have decreased the gap to Alonso.

Instead, the Spaniard opened it out by two, and it is 12 going into the final four races. So it was good and bad news after all. From a sporting perspective, Massa’s victory was most welcome, making him the second first-time winner of the season after Jenson Button.

Renault expected to be more competitive in the race than they were in qualifying, with better tyre performance over a long run that they had enjoyed in short duration qualifying laps. Overall this proved to be the case. Alonso’s lap times were competitive with the Ferrari’s for much of the race, his fastest lap of 1m 28.245s comparing strongly with Schumacher’s overall fastest of 1m 28.005s and Massa’s 1m 28.123s. But the Spaniard lost sufficient ground in the opening stages to have no chance of catching Massa, and admitted afterwards that Renault have to improve the R26. “I think this afternoon also showed that we needed something more to fight with Ferrari for the win, but I am very optimistic for these last races. Monza will probably be the hardest one to win, looking at the characteristics of the Ferrari car. But everybody at Renault, and our partners at Michelin and Elf, is very focused on those four races - and I am confident we can find what we need to win again,” he said.

Encouragingly for Michelin, Giancarlo Fisichella’s tyres stood up well in his one-stop recovery drive after his first corner spin.

Honda were also encouraged as Jenson Button took a strong fourth place finish and Rubens Barrichello took the final point for eighth. “We just didn't have the pace of the Ferraris or Alonso in the Renault but we know where we're weaker and where we're losing out to them, so when we get on top of that we're going to be very competitive,” Button enthused. “The last stint was very strong for us. We had a lot less tyre graining and I was getting quicker and quicker. Not quite as good as my result in the last race but a good weekend nonetheless.”

His fastest lap, 1m 28.474s, wasn’t far off the Ferraris and Alonso.

Yet another disastrous opening lap for McLaren saw Kimi Raikkonen attacked in the first corner by Scott Speed, who also swiped Pedro de la Rosa. The Spaniard survived unscathed, but the Finn pitted with a damaged left rear Michelin and then crashed after running wide in Turn Four as his slow lap had damaged the undertray. The resultant loss of downforce put him off the road. De la Rosa drove a strong race to fifth, preserving his rear tyres while exploiting a single-stop strategy.

Toyota took home two points after Ralf Schumacher’s recovery from a first lap pit stop to seventh at the finish. Even though he whacked his team mate in the melee in the first corner, this was not a bad performance after he started down in 15th place on the grid. Jarno Trulli also looked strong at times, but steadily lost grip as the race progressed and could not summon the speed to challenge Barrichello for the final point.

Williams had another disappointing day, especially as Mark Webber ended the first lap in fourth and Nico Rosberg sixth. Gradually both were overtaken by faster cars, but Webber fought valiantly before slipping back to 10th in Trulli’s wake, while Rosberg’s FW28 suffered water pressure loss in its Cosworth V8 and retired after 25 laps.

Red Bull had a similarly unhappy day. David Coulthard was on schedule for 11th place ahead of team mate Christian Klien, having improved his RB2 with subtle front wing adjustment during the first stop, but succumbed to a gearbox problem three laps from the finish. Klien, who had run well and occupied a top-eight position for a long time before gradually slipping back to finish 11th after a damaged barge board resulted in increasing understeer.

BMW Sauber’s hopes took a bashing with Nick Heidfeld’s tangle with Fisichella in the first corner. The German lost his front wing, which also damaged the floor as it folded back under the car initially. A rear tyre was also damaged, in turn damaging the rear wing, so he was consigned to an afternoon of struggling with limited grip. Team mate Robert Kubica lost out by stopping from sixth place when the safety car came out on lap 13, had a few off-track adventures along the way, and suffered serious tyre graining in his final stint on the way to 12th.

Speed’s involvement in the first corner accident obliged him to pit at the end of the lap, and to fight back thereafter. He was helped by the intervention of the safety car, but couldn’t better a 13th place finish.

Toro Rosso eam mate Tonio Liuzzi finished the opening lap in seventh place but didn’t have the pace to stay there. Subsequently he spun on lap 13 and triggered the safety car deployment. The Italian suspected a seized differential.

Midland lost Tiago Monteiro right from the start after he was presented with a sideways Takuma Sato, whom he could not avoid. Christijan Albers, however, put in a spirited performance to run as high as ninth at one stage, a few seconds behind the sixth place runner, but crashed into the barrier in Turn 6 with 11 laps to go.

Neither Super Aguri finished. Takuma Sato’s car was seriously damaged in the first corner accident, and he rejoined the race 16 laps down and was unclassified. Team mate Sakon Yamamoto spun off in Turn 1 on lap 23 and was unable to continue.

The second Turkish Grand Prix was a great race, and the relative performances of Ferrari and Renault, Bridgestone and Michelin, bode well for further excitement over the course of the four remaining races which will decide the outcome of the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships.

[Catriel]

I am happy because Schumacher couldn´t win. I don´t like her (hate is a very bad and big word) and his "first team driver" tricks gave him victories in all the circuits exept Turkey and China. And I don´t want he to retire after winnin in all the circuits he have raced, so I enjoyed this race very much.

[Bruce]

It´s good when a driver acts like Sato, he spent about 15 laps in pits but he decided to keep running. That is good.

[Bruce]

Politics



Turkey organisers summoned by FIA

31 August 2006

The National Sporting Authority of Turkey (TOSFED) and the organisers of the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix (MSO) have been called to appear before a specially convened meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council next month.



They will hear charges that they have acted in breach of the FIA Statutes, the International Sporting Code and the 2006 Formula One Sporting Regulations. The charges relate to last Sunday's podium ceremony, in which Mr Mehmet Ali Talat was invited to present the winner’s trophy and introduced as president of the Turkish Cypriot ‘state’, which is only recognised by Turkey.

“Political neutrality is fundamental to the FIA’s role as the governing body of international motor sport,” the FIA said in a statement preceding their investigation into the matter. “No compromise or violation of this neutrality is acceptable.”

The World Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 19.