MOTOR SPORT/TURKISH GP:IN ITS short presence on the Formula One calendar, Istanbul Park has developed a reputation among the elite squad of drivers that makes up the Formula One grid as one of the most challenging circuits, a mixture of long, high-speed corners and technically difficult sequences of corners that test the driver like few others.
There's only one small problem with that assessment: nobody seems to have told Felipe Massa.
The Ferrari driver scored his third consecutive win at the Turkish Grand Prix with relative ease, only briefly threatened by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, whose audacious, three-stop strategy just fell short on a day when Massa's annexing of pole position on Saturday ultimately determined the outcome.
"That was just fantastic," said Massa of the win. "It was a very difficult race, with Lewis pushing me hard, but I thought he was light (on fuel) at the start. Then when he pitted ahead of me, my team told me straight away he was on three stops. That was a help, because he was very strong and I couldn't hold him.
"I knew I had a chance because three stops is optimistic, so it was difficult, but we made it. Three wins is great, and I think I can get a passport here now!"
While others struggled to find any consistency around a circuit where the long turn eight puts massive stress on the tyres, Massa was untroubled throughout the weekend, running at the front throughout the practice sessions and taking his third pole in a row here.
It was that premier grid slot that set the race up for the Brazilian. Hamilton, running light, had hoped to control the race from the front in the early stages, but Massa's fastest time on Saturday left the Briton always chasing the race, needing to dismiss the Brazilian early on if he was to have any chance of victory.
That he couldn't do. Though his start was good, with the Englishman leap-frogging team-mate Heikki Kovalainen into the first turn, he could find no way past Massa. He got another chance after the safety car was immediately deployed following a first-corner collision involving Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella and Williams' Kazuki Nakajima, but when the racing resumed Massa pulled effortlessly away.
It wasn't over though, and, after a quick stop on lap 16, Hamilton began to close. He made his move on lap 24, aggressively slotting his car past the Ferrari on the inside at the final corner. It gave him the lead, but in the Ferrari garage there were no alarms: the McLaren driver's early first stop had immediately signalled the bold, three-stop strategy.
When Hamilton made his second stop on lap 32, Massa regained the lead and thereafter controlled the race, leaving the Briton to take second ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
The result, though, is a significant improvement for Hamilton, who has endured a downturn in form since he won the opening round of the championship in Melbourne in March. Since then he has been on the podium once, in Spain a fortnight ago, though even then his McLaren looked short of pace against the Ferraris.
"I'm thrilled to have come second from third," said Hamilton. "We knew it was going to be tough to challenge the Ferraris. We were hoping to get some points, and finishing in the top five was good. But the balance of the car was good and I kept pushing and pushing, so I'm happy."
Third was left for Raikkonen who finished well after a poor start. "I got alongside (Kovalainen) under braking and got inside and tried to slow down. He turned in a bit and we touched. I broke the front wing and he got a puncture. It is racing.
"We chose to use the front wing all race as it takes too long to change it. It was a difficult weekend, but at least we got some points."
BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica took a lonely fourth position, followed home by team-mate Nick Heidfeld, positions which keep their team in second place in the race for the constructors' title, though just two points ahead of McLaren. Ferrari sit atop that table with 63 points, a comfortable 19 points ahead of the BMW.
Sixth place went to Fernando Alonso, the double world champion wrestling all he could from a still underperforming Renault.
"Sixth is the best we can do at the moment, yes. It's been two races with the new aero package and this is what we are aspiring to," he admitted. "The three teams in front are way ahead of the rest, but let's hope the next step that we take can bring us closer to them."
The result saw him home ahead of the final two points finishers, Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and the Williams of Nico Rosberg.
HOW THEY FINISHED
Final Positions (58 Laps): 1 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1hr 26min 49.451secs, 2 L Hamilton (Brit) McLaren 1:26:53.151, 3 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:26:53.651, 4 R Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:27:11.351, 5 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:27:28.151, 6 F Alonso (Spn) Renault 1:27:43.151, 7 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:27:53.651, 8 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:28:00.851, 9 D Coulthard (Brit) Red Bull 1:28:04.651, 10 J Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:28:05.751, 11 J Button (Brit) Honda at 1 lap, 12 H Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren at 1 lap, 13 T Glock (Ger) Toyota at 1 lap, 14 R Barrichello (Bra) Honda at 1 lap, 15 N Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault at 1 lap, 16 A Sutil (Ger) Force India at 1 lap, 17 S Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap.
Not Classified: 18 S Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 24 laps, 19 K Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1 lap, 20 G Fisichella (Ita) Force India 0 laps.
Drivers: 1 Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 35pts, 2 Massa (Bra) Ferrari 28, 3 Hamilton (Brit) McLaren 28, 4 Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 24, 5 Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 20, 6 Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 14, 7 Webber (Aus) Red Bull 10, 8 Alonso (Spn) Renault 9, 9 Trulli (Ita) Toyota 9, 10 Rosberg (Ger) Williams 8, 11 Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 5, 12 Button (Brit) Honda 3, 13 Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2.
Manufacturers: 1 Ferrari 63pts, 2 BMW Sauber 44, 3 McLaren 42, 4 Williams 13, 5 Red Bull 10, 6 Renault 9, 7 Toyota 9, 8 Honda 3, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 2 .
