Reverend
August 26th, 2007, 20:33 PM
Lewis Hamilton's championship lead was cut to five points by McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso after the Englishman suffered a late puncture in Turkey.
Hamilton was on course for third place behind the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen when his right-front tyre fell apart with 15 laps to go.
The drama enabled Alonso to slip by into third place and left Hamilton in fifth behind BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
His car damaged by the puncture, Hamilton was not able to fight back.
The 22-year-old had been forced to trail back to the pits for the last third of the lap at Istanbul Park, and the flailing tyre damaged some of the aerodynamic parts at the front of his car.
That meant he was much slower than before the problem, and Heidfeld was able to pull away, leaving the McLaren driver to concentrate on staying ahead of Renault's Heikki Kovalainen.
Hamilton said: "It was just a little bit of a problem. You always have setbacks. I'm still leading by five points. It is not over."
Until the late puncture, Hamilton had had an uneventful race, with the Ferraris just too fast for him to challenge at the front.
The red cars were never more than a handful of seconds ahead of Hamilton, but they had enough pace to ensure he was never in the fight for the lead.
Massa led away from pole position at the start as Hamilton, lacking grip on the slippery side of the track, lost second place to Raikkonen.
Alonso, directly behind his team-mate in fourth place on the grid, fared even worse, and dropped down to sixth behind both BMW Saubers, which he had to follow until they made their first pit stops.
The Spaniard made a couple of abortive attempts to pass Heidfeld once the German's team-mate Robert Kubica made his first pit stop early on lap 12, but had to wait until Heidfeld's stop on lap 17 to assume fourth place.
The world champion stopped only a lap later than Heidfeld, but it was enough for the McLaren to leapfrog the BMW.
Once Hamilton made his stop two laps later, the Englishman was about 14 seconds ahead of his team-mate.
And while Alonso was able to hold the gap, and occasionally close it, he was not able to make a significant impression on Hamilton until the late-race drama.
Alonso said: "To be overtaken by two cars and find yourself sixth going into the first corner is not great.
"You just have to wait for the miracle and it only happened with Hamilton.
"If someone had told me on lap two that I would have been on the podium it would not have been easy to believe.
"The final result is the best thing of the weekend... I will not remember this Grand Prix all my life but, anyway, it has been quite good."
Turkish Grand Prix result:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
3. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes
4. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
5. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault
7. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
8. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber
Championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 84 pts
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes 79
3. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 69
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 68
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 47
6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 29
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 19
8. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 17
Constructors' championship:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 148 pts
2. Ferrari 137
3. BMW Sauber 77
4. Renault 36
5. Williams-Toyota 22
Full race report: BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6964650.stm)
Hamilton was on course for third place behind the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen when his right-front tyre fell apart with 15 laps to go.
The drama enabled Alonso to slip by into third place and left Hamilton in fifth behind BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
His car damaged by the puncture, Hamilton was not able to fight back.
The 22-year-old had been forced to trail back to the pits for the last third of the lap at Istanbul Park, and the flailing tyre damaged some of the aerodynamic parts at the front of his car.
That meant he was much slower than before the problem, and Heidfeld was able to pull away, leaving the McLaren driver to concentrate on staying ahead of Renault's Heikki Kovalainen.
Hamilton said: "It was just a little bit of a problem. You always have setbacks. I'm still leading by five points. It is not over."
Until the late puncture, Hamilton had had an uneventful race, with the Ferraris just too fast for him to challenge at the front.
The red cars were never more than a handful of seconds ahead of Hamilton, but they had enough pace to ensure he was never in the fight for the lead.
Massa led away from pole position at the start as Hamilton, lacking grip on the slippery side of the track, lost second place to Raikkonen.
Alonso, directly behind his team-mate in fourth place on the grid, fared even worse, and dropped down to sixth behind both BMW Saubers, which he had to follow until they made their first pit stops.
The Spaniard made a couple of abortive attempts to pass Heidfeld once the German's team-mate Robert Kubica made his first pit stop early on lap 12, but had to wait until Heidfeld's stop on lap 17 to assume fourth place.
The world champion stopped only a lap later than Heidfeld, but it was enough for the McLaren to leapfrog the BMW.
Once Hamilton made his stop two laps later, the Englishman was about 14 seconds ahead of his team-mate.
And while Alonso was able to hold the gap, and occasionally close it, he was not able to make a significant impression on Hamilton until the late-race drama.
Alonso said: "To be overtaken by two cars and find yourself sixth going into the first corner is not great.
"You just have to wait for the miracle and it only happened with Hamilton.
"If someone had told me on lap two that I would have been on the podium it would not have been easy to believe.
"The final result is the best thing of the weekend... I will not remember this Grand Prix all my life but, anyway, it has been quite good."
Turkish Grand Prix result:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
3. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes
4. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
5. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault
7. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
8. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber
Championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 84 pts
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes 79
3. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 69
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 68
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 47
6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 29
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 19
8. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 17
Constructors' championship:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 148 pts
2. Ferrari 137
3. BMW Sauber 77
4. Renault 36
5. Williams-Toyota 22
Full race report: BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6964650.stm)