After a three-week break following what was a breathless Chinese Grand Prix, the Formula One paddock finally gets on the European roads this weekend with a trip to Turkey.
Lewis Hamilton put a stop to Sebastian Vettel’s winning run in Shanghai, but Vettel’s second place means he still leads the standings by 21 points. It’s the McLaren pair giving chase, but will they be able to get the beating of Red Bull in Istanbul?
And after Mark Webber’s drive through the field from 18th to third in China, will anyone forsake qualifying in order to have plenty of fresh tyres for the race?
While second place in China certainly doesn’t mean Sebastian Vettel is out of form, Lewis Hamilton will be full of confidence after becoming the first man to beat the 2010 world champion this year.
After a winter of worry over the lack of pace in the MP4-26, and a poor race in Malaysia where his tyre usage was questioned, he showed tactical nous in Shanghai which earned him the win as all those in front of him struggled with their tyres late in the race. Back-to-back wins in Turkey and Canada kick-started his season last year and Hamilton will be looking to make it two out of two in Istanbul. ESPN F1
Victory on Sunday will likely be decided again between the two top teams.
“I think we’ve had a good start to the season but we can’t afford to sit back now as a result of that, but have to continue putting pressure on the competition and giving our best in every race,” Vettel said in an interview.
Vettel tops the championship with 68 points from Hamilton (47), Button (38) and Webber (37), but also has his eyes on Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes at the this early stage of the season.
Additionally, many teams will be readying significant upgrade packages for the Turkish Grand Prix; nobody can afford to sit still.
Whitmarsh also expressed his hope that the one-two finish 12 months ago in Turkey “will doubtless spur on the whole team.” Ferrari, meanwhile, are admitting to a below-par start into the season in which they want to claim the title they lost in the last 2010 race when a poor pit-stop strategy in the final race allowed Vettel to steal first place from Fernando Alonso.
The Italian team is yet to make the podium with Alonso currently a distant fifth on 26 points. Team-mate Felipe Massa is the last Ferrari man to win in Istanbul, three straight years 2006-2008.
The action in Istanbul starts on Friday with two practice sessions, qualifying is on Saturday and the 58-lap race on the 5.338-kilometres course on Sunday. The Hindu
Pos Driver Team Points 1 Sebastian VettelRBR-Renault 68 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 47 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 38 4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 37 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 26 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 24 7 Vitaly Petrov Renault 17 8 Nick Heidfeld Renault 15 9 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 10 10 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 7 11 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 6 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 4 13 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2 14 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2 15 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 0 16 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 0 17 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 0 18 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 0 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 0 20 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 0 21 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 0 22 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 0 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 0 24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0
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