Turkey F1 GP: Watch out for the Red Bull Terriers! 1-2 Victory for Red Bull, Ferrari third, Vodafone-McLaren not on podium

Istanbul - Abu Dhabi /

Sebastian Vettel dominated the Turkish Grand Prix to seal a third win of 2011 as a fierce fight was taking place behind him.

While the battles behind the 2010 World Champion were both fierce and demanding for the drivers, while being entertaining for the spectators, the German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel made smooth progress, building a lead of almost six seconds before his first pit stop, which took place on lap 10.

The world champion made sure he was not caught out during the final fuss of stops and came in for a fresh set of hard tires to ensure there would be no recap of the China dilemma, when he was denied victory by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who sneaked into the lead with four laps to go.

This time Sebastian Vettel crossed the line eight seconds ahead of his Australian Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and just 10 seconds beyond double world champion and Spanish Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.
After a difficult start to the 2011 season, it seems that Ferrari left Turkey as Red Bull's closest rivals.
Formula 1's leading teams had arrived for the first European race with the intension of closing the gap on their rivals with a number of technical updates.

Ferrari were no exceptions and added several new components - including new front and rear wings - in a desperate attempt to close down on their arch rivals Red Bull and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
As a matter of fact, Fernando Alonso had spoken confidently before the race about seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel" and his prognosis was reinstated by his first podium place of the season.
The Spaniard got away cleanly to pass Hamilton off the line and was able to match the pace of his rivals throughout the race.

The proof of Ferrari's step forward came when Alonso, with the help the moveable rear wing, flew past Webber for second place before his third pit stop and final pitstop.
Mark Webber passed Fernando Alonso in the last five laps to secure a Red Bull one-two but Alonso hung on to the last podium spot showing that the 3 weeks break since the China GP were wisely invested to improve the performance of his Ferrari.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton retained second spot in the title hunt after a fourth place at Istanbul Park that the Englishman had to work hard for.

A difficult start saw Hamilton lose ground off the line to Alonso's rocket-starting Ferrari and the second Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Button, who had started sixth.

The two Vodafone McLaren Mercedes then staged a fascinating battle which saw the English team-mates trading positions on the track several times.

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes squabble only ended when Ferrari's Felipe Massa passed Hamilton and then triggered the first round of stops.

As Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had earned his victory in China with a clever
strategy and decisions on the pit wall (called Plan B by his racing engineer), it paid off again in Istanbul as he chose a four-stop strategy while Button stopped three times.

A fresher set of tires helped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver and 2008 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton zone in on his team-mate (as Jenson's tires were seven rounds older than the tires on Lewis Hamilton's car) in the closing stages of the race. 2009 Formula1 World Champion Jenson Button was also overtaken by Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg to occupy sixth place

Mercedes GP driver Nico Rosberg who started his race from P3 jumped the Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber at the start.

But the German did not have the pace over 58 laps due to heavy fuel, he found himself repeatedly overhauled and finished fifth, although he defended bravely.

His team-mate Michael Schumacher lost his front wing in a fight with Vitaly Petrov's Renault on the second lap when the Russian Rookie driver miscalculated the space between his car and the Mercedes GP, and from then on the seven-time world champion seemed to constantly find himself mired in defensive action. As a matter of fact, the Russian Renault driver almost sent his team-mate to the gravels, thus earning him a "polite" gesture from Nick Heidfeld's hand.

In addition to Vitaly Petrov, Force India driver Adrian Sutil tried to force his way and almost pressed Michael Schumacher off the race-track. But the even-time world champion showed today several finest killer-instinct moves, which reminded the spectators of who Michael Schumacher is and what he is capable of. Without all these skirmishes, Michael Schumacher would have easily made it to the top five.
Schumacher finished 12th while the Renaults of Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld, Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso and Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber rounded out the top 10.

Place number 11 went for the Brazilian Scuderia Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who won in Istanbul Park three times, but could not exploit the potential of his car today, albeit being told to put the Manettino button in position number 3 to use full power, as he was informed by his race engineer.
A difficult weekend for Paul di Resta ended when Force India told the Scot to retire after spotting a problem with his car.

German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel leads the driver world championship with 93 points from Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on 59, as Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber jumps ahead of the 2nd Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button with 55 to 46. Spanish Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso is fifth with 41.

In the constructors’ stakes, Red Bull has 148 to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 105 and Ferrari’s 65, with Renault on 42 and Mercedes GP on 26.

AE

08.05.2011