Effwun's F1 Blog

1st - The John Watson Award for most places gained in the race: Sebastian Vettel (19th - 5th, 14 places)
2nd - The Olivier Grouillard Award for best roadblock: Jarno Trulli (was holding people up on extreme weather tyres)
3rd - The Philippe Alliot Award for most pointless crash: Kimi Raikkonen (not really what you expect from the world champion)

Constructors - The David Coulthard Award for outstanding achievement in the field of complaining: Mike Gascoyne (I might agree with his sentiment, but it was ultimately a racing incident).

Final classification of the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix

Pos.	Driver	Time	Pos.	Driver	Time
1.	Hamilton	2:00:42.742	11.	Button	+ 1 Lap
2.	Kubica	+ 3.0	12.	Glock	+ 1 Lap
3.	Massa	+ 4.8	13.	Trulli	+ 1 Lap
4.	Webber	+ 19.2	14.	Heidfeld	+ 4 Laps
5.	Vettel	+ 24.6	15.	Sutil	Lap 68
6.	Barrichello	+ 28.4	16.	Rosberg	Lap 60
7.	Nakajima	+ 30.1	17.	Piquet	Lap 48
8.	Kovalainen	+ 33.1	18.	Fisichella	Lap 37
9.	Raikkonen	+ 33.7	19.	Coulthard	Lap 8
10.	Alonso	+ 1 Lap	20.	Bourdais	Lap 8
Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen 1:16.689 (Lap 74)

Drivers' championship after 6 rounds

Position.	Driver	Points
1.	Hamilton	38
2.	Raikkonen	35
3.	Massa	34
4.	Kubica	32
5.	Heidfeld	20
6.	Kovalainen	15
7.	Webber	15
8.	Alonso	9
9.	Trulli	9
10.	Rosberg	8
11.	Nakajima	7
12.	Vettel	4
13.	Button	3
14.	Barrichello	3
15.	Bourdais	2

Constructors' championship after 6 rounds

Position	Team	Points
1	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	69
2	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	53
3	BMW Sauber F1 Team	52
4	AT&T Williams	15
5	Red Bull Racing	15
6	Panasonic Toyota Racing	9
7	ING Renault F1 Team	9
8	Scuderia Toro Rosso	6
9	Honda Racing F1 Team	6

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

Lewis Hamilton survived tricky conditions and a brush with the barriers to take an excellent and emotional victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, the jewel in the crown of Formula 1. He came home ahead of Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa, while championship leader Kimi Raikkonen finished outside the points in 9th place and consequently relinquished the lead of the drivers' championship.

Monaco always has the potential for drama, and the drama started some 15 minutes before the race began - rain began to fall. The rain was light at first, but got heavier as the start of the race approached. This naturally would have made for some complicated decisions for the team strategists, but the choice of wet tyres (as opposed to extreme weather tyres) seemed logical, at least for the start of the race. There were, however, some mad scrambles on the grid because it appeared that the rain could get worse, and some last minute decisions about tyre choice were being made.

As the formation lap got underway, it was clear that all the drivers were on the wet tyres and no one had gambled on the extreme weather tyres. Heikki Kovalainen failed to get going, however. His car had to be pushed to the pit lane, and he would start the race from there. The cars lined up and the lights went out - Kimi Raikkonen got a little bogged down at the start, and that allowed Lewis Hamilton to surge past into second place into Ste Devote. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso got a good start and vaulted into 5th place. As usual, there were some mid-pack scrambles, and both Rosberg and Button damaged the noses of their cars by running into the back of the cars ahead of the them (Alonso and Heidfeld respectively). Button pitted for a new nose, and that dropped him to the tail end of the field. Rosberg would follow suit, but not before completing another 2 laps with his front wing hanging off.

At the front, Massa began to pull away from Hamilton in the damp conditions. The conditions steadily worsened and the conditions became trickier - Timo Glock managed to spin his Toyota at the exit of Noghes on lap 5, wiping off the front wing. He had to tour round an entire lap before pitting for a replacement. Then, on lap 6 in the worsening conditions, Hamilton made a mistake and ran wide at the exit of Tabac. He clipped the barrier with his right-rear tyre, damaging the tyre and forcing it off the rim. Fortunately for him, he didn't have far to go to get back to the pits, and he pitted for new tyres and a good dose of fuel. He rejoined the race in fourth place - the field had become quite spread out due to the poor and worsening conditions.

Two laps later and the conditions had worsened further - at Massenet at the top of the hill, Fernando Alonso aquaplaned off and hit the barrier, damaging his tyre. He limped back to the pits and was able to continue. Just seconds after Alonso's incident, David Coulthard lost control in the same place and slammed into the barriers. Moments later, Sebastien Bourdais did exactly the same thing and shunted into the back of Coulthard's car. The collisions precipitated the safety car.

It was a lucky break for Hamilton. Although he had dropped to fourth place, he was a long way behind Massa after his pit stop. The safety car period allowed the field to close up, and the Hamilton recovered what time he had lost. It was also a lucky break for Alonso, who took advantage of the fact that he was allowed to pit to repair accident damage to fit extreme wet tyres. It was an unlucky break for Raikkonen though - the stewards issued a drive-through penalty because the Ferrari team had not fully fitted his tyres by the 3-minute to go signal, and the bunching of the field under the safety car exacerbated the penalty.

The safety car peeled off on lap ten, and immediately Alonso was on the move - the extreme wets were working in the poorer conditions, and he forced his way ahead of Mark Webber. However a couple of laps later, Alonso made an ill-advised stab down the inside of Nick Heidfeld at the Leowes Hairpin, and punted the German into a spin, blocking the track. This caused a bit of a traffic jam down the hill, and Webber had nowhere to go but into the back of Alonso. They all got going again, and Alonso pitted for a new nosecone, dropping him all the way back to 17th place. It wasn't smooth sailing for Massa either. He overshot Ste Devote under braking, and had to turn around in the run-off area. This allowed Robert Kubica into the lead.

Someone who was thriving in the conditions was Adrian Sutil. By lap 20 he had worked his way up from 18th on the grid to 6th in the race - he was basically avoiding all the trouble, had benefitted from the misfortunes of those ahead of him but, more importantly, was driving very quickly - at times faster than the leaders. Force India technical director Mike Gascoyne indicated that Sutil was on a 1-stop strategy, with a lot of fuel on board for a late-race stop, thus that he was in a great position to finish in the top 6.

By lap 20 the rain had stopped, and the conditions started to improve, although the track was still extremely wet. Felipe Massa set fastest lap in the improving conditions, whilst Fernando Alonso was dropping back on his extreme wets. As the track started to dry out a little, the first round of scheduled pit stops took place - Kubica surrendered the lead and came out just as Raikkonen was approaching. It looked like it would be close between the two but incredibly the world champion made a mistake under braking for Ste. Devote and ran straight on, damaging his nose cone in the process. He was forced to pit for a replacement. A long stop ensued due to difficulty in doing up the retaining lugs on the wing, and he dropped to 6th place - behind Adrian Sutil! Force India probably couldn't believe that they were actually racing a Ferrari for position, although Mike Gascoyne was coy about it and said that they were really racing against Jarno Trulli in 7th (because Raikkonen had already made his stop; Sutil had yet to make his). Trulli was slow though - he was on the extreme wets in drying conditions, and was really holding up the people behind him.

After his earlier dramas, Hamilton had been steadily plugging away in third place, and then second after Kubica's stop. Shortly before half distance he began to up the tempo, setting a fastest lap in the process. On lap 33 Felipe Massa pitted from the lead, and took on more wet tyres. Hamilton inherited the lead, and began to put the hammer down. He and Massa traded fastest laps (although Adrian Sutil then beat the pair of them!). McLaren and Hamilton seemed to think that Massa had made his one and only stop of the day - if he was going to win, Hamilton would need a gap of around 26 seconds before making his one and only stop. Thus what followed was an absolute demonstration drive from Hamilton - on a clear track he was over a second quicker than Massa. Through traffic Hamilton was slowed only marginally, whereas Massa seemed to lose more time- on occasions Hamilton was three seconds per lap faster!

The track continued to dry and it was looking like it would be worth gambling on a switch to dry tyres. On lap 46, Fernando Alonso (who was mired down in 15th) pitted and took on Primes - a bold move. However, it was still a little premature - he struggled for the first three or four laps out of the pits, as did Webber who also changed to Primes. However, as the track dried more, the dry tyres came good - Alonso was able to match Hamilton's sector times, then on lap 56 set fastest lap. It was time to switch. This was the cue for the McLaren crew - to bring in Kovalainen. He was running well out of the points in 11th, and they used him as a guinea pig for Hamilton. It was clear that dry tyres was the way to go though.

So on lap 55, Hamilton pitted from the lead. He had built up a lead of over 30 seconds in the changeable conditions - an incredible drive - and his pit stop came at the perfect time for dry tyres. It was quite fortuitous - that was only possible after his earlier collision with the barrier and subsequent strategy change. Hamilton emerged from his stop and retained the lead. On the same lap, Adrian Sutil pitted from fourth place, dropping to 5th. It was one place better than Mike Gascoyne had anticipated, and it would only get better because both Ferraris were still running on the wet tyres and had to pit. Sutil's stop came at the perfect moment and unlike Hamilton, it was by design (although the timing was still lucky).

Both Ferraris had to pit for the dry tyres - Massa took on Option tyres, and got very squirrelly coming out of the pit lane. This allowed Robert Kubica to rocket past the Brazilian into 2nd place. The strategy hadn't worked in Massa's favour. A lap later, Raikkonen pitted from fourth place, dropping him to fifth place - behind Adrian Sutil! Force India probably couldn't believe that they were in a Prancing Horse sandwich and racing the world champion for position. It looked like it could be a great result for the tail end team. The race was not over yet, though.

On lap 62, Nico Rosberg lost control of his car under braking for Piscine - he slammed into the right hand side barrier, then pinballed into the left hand barrier. The remains of his car came to rest in the middle of the track, with a huge debris field around it. Rosberg hopped out apparently uninjured, and the safety car came out for the second time. This bunched the field up, and negated Lewis Hamilton's advantage, which was over 40 seconds by the time the safety car came out. With the field under control, the signal for lapped cars to pass was issued by race control, but bizarrely Kovalainen and Heidfeld didn't seem to get the message and toured around in the pack for two laps when they could have assumed position. The confusion seemed to delay the restart, and by the time it came, there was only 11 scheduled laps of the race to go (but due to the slow pace, the race would hit the 2 hour mark before then - about 7 laps worth of racing).

The drama was far from over. Adrian Sutil was driving the race of his life and had not made a single mistake all day. He looked set for an excellent fourth place finish if he could just bring the car home. However, it just wasn't to be. Under braking for the chicane, Kimi Raikkonen (who was behind Sutil) dramatically lost control, and fought with his writhing car before slamming into the back of the young German. It was a silly and avoidable mistake from the world champion - he was just pushing too hard. Although he was able to crawl back to the pits for his second nose change of the afternoon, he dropped out of the points. It was even more costly for Sutil though - his car was too damaged to continue. He had done absolutely nothing wrong the entire race, a race which had seen world champions and previous Monaco winners fling it off the road and into the barriers. Sutil was heartbroken and inconsolable. Mike Gascoyne did his best to temper his anger, but you could hear the frustration in his voice: "If a Force India driver hit the world champion, we'd expect a one or two race ban".

The retirement of Sutil promoted Sebastian Vettel into 5th place - he was another driver who had done nothing wrong all day, but had driven a more anonymous race than Sutil. In the end, anonymity - that is staying out of trouble - was an advantage.

In the closing stages of the race, Hamilton rocketed away from Robert Kubica, setting fastest lap in the process. Cheekily, Kimi Raikkonen snatched that glory away from Hamilton in a vain effort to catch and pass Heikki Kovalainen, who had endured a difficult race and was running in the last points paying position in 8th. But it was Hamilton who took the ultimate glory - victory in Monaco. The race hit the two hour mark, and on lap 76 he cruised across the line to take a stunning and emotional victory, emulating his hero Ayrton Senna. Robert Kubica came home an excellent 2nd - his star is surely rising - and Massa held on for third place, ahead of Webber, Vettel, Barrichello, Nakajima, and Kovalainen. Each one of the drives from the top 8 drivers is a story in itself, but suffice it to say that those who avoided trouble did the best on the day, and experience also counts! Rubens Barrichello will be especially pleased at his first points of the season.

Hamilton's unbridled joy as he leapt from the car then embraced his father and brother was a wonderful sight, and it shows how much victory in Monaco means - to all the drivers. It was a hard earned victory as well, although there was a healthy dose of luck involved. The plaudits should also be shared by the McLaren team as well - an excellent strategy call got them a superb race victory, and they have now moved ahead of BMW in the constructors' championship. Furthermore, Hamilton now assumes the lead of the drivers' world championship as he heads for Canada - the scene of his first F1 victory.

It's all too easy to invoke the name and legacy of Ayrton Senna when talking about victories in Monaco. Indeed, Hamilton did it himself after the race. It seems fashionable to call Hamilton's victory "Sennaesque". But it wasn't. It was "Hamiltonian" - a style all of its own. It's time for Hamilton to stop comparing himself to legends and become one himself. Besides, Senna would never have made victory in Monaco look that difficult.

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

Felipe Massa took a somewhat unexpected pole position for the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix, after having publicly professed his dislike for the Monaco circuit earlier in the week. In a double blow to McLaren's hopes for kick starting their sagging title fortunes, Ferrari locked out the front row with Kimi Raikkonen taking second on the grid ahead of the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.

Qualifying started after rain earlier in the day, and the track was a little "green", although dry. Consequently the track was still a little slippery because some of the rubber that had been laid down had been washed away. As a consequence, several of the "usual suspects" went out in Q1 and did more laps than normal in an effort to set competitive times. One driver who put in a lot of laps was David Coulthard, who had struggled in the morning practice session, and had lost track time on Thursday with a technical issue. It was a tactic that paid off for Coulthard, who used the extra time to assess the balance of his car, and he comfortably moved through to Q2. Those who did not were Bourdais, Piquet (who continued to struggle this weekend), Vettel, Sutil, and Fisichella. The performance of the Force India cars was a little disappointing, and more probably could have been expected from Fisichella, who has usually gone well in Monaco.

There were a couple of surprises in Q2 - Timo Glock and Nick Heidfeld struggled and would end up 11th and 13th respectively. Both drivers seemed to be struggling for grip. There were no surprises that the Hondas were elminated in Q2, but Kazuki Nakajima must be disappointed with 14th place, especially given the pace of his team mate. One driver who pulled out the stops to get into Q3 was Fernando Alonso, whose Q2 time was good enough for 9th, ahead of Coulthard. Coulthard, however, would end the session slowest by virtue of the fact that he lost control of his Red Bull machine under braking for the chicane on a hot lap, slamming into the barrier and wrecking his car at the end of the session, sending his right-rear wheel and tyre trundling down the road towards Tabac.

So it came down to Q3, and there was high expectation that Hamilton would take pole position. He was blisteringly quick in the first sector, but was losing time in the second sector. As it was, both Raikkonen and Massa had tidy laps and pipped him to the front row, but it was Massa who was the man of the moment. He seemed genuinely surprised by his own form, laughing in shock during the press conference, but really it's no surprise. Massa is on form at the moment, and he stands a very good chance of taking victory. The one thing that remains to be seen is what the race strategies will be.

Q1				Q2				Q3
Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Massa	1:15.190		1.	Massa	1:15.110		1.	Massa	1:15.787
2.	Kovalainen	1:15.295	+ 0.105	2.	Rosberg	1:15.287	+ 0.097	2.	Raikkonen	1:15.815	+ 0.625
3.	Hamilton	1:15.582	+ 0.392	3.	Hamilton	1:15.322	+ 0.132	3.	Hamilton	1:15.839	+ 0.649
4.	Raikkonen	1:15.717	+ 0.527	4.	Kovalainen	1:15.389	+ 0.199	4.	Kovalainen	1:16.165	+ 0.975
5.	Rosberg	1:15.935	+ 0.745	5.	Raikkonen	1:15.404	+ 0.214	5.	Kubica	1:16.171	+ 0.981
6.	Kubica	1:15.977	+ 0.787	6.	Kubica	1:15.483	+ 0.293	6.	Rosberg	1:16.548	+ 1.358
7.	Webber	1:16.074	+ 0.884	7.	Trulli	1:15.598	+ 0.408	7.	Alonso	1:16.852	+ 1.662
8.	Coulthard	1:16.086	+ 0.896	8.	Webber	1:15.745	+ 0.555	8.	Trulli	1:17.203	+ 2.013
9.	Barrichello	1:16.208	+ 1.018	9.	Alonso	1:15.827	+ 0.637	9.	Webber	1:17.343	+ 2.153
10.	Button	1:16.259	+ 1.069	10.	Coulthard	1:15.839	+ 0.649	10.	Coulthard	no time
11.	Glock	1:16.285	+ 1.095	11.	Glock	1:15.907	+ 0.717
12.	Trulli	1:16.306	+ 1.116	12.	Button	1:16.101	+ 0.911
13.	Alonso	1:16.646	+ 1.456	13.	Heidfeld	1:16.455	+ 1.265
14.	Heidfeld	1:16.650	+ 1.460	14.	Nakajima	1:16.479	+ 1.289
15.	Nakajima	1:16.756	+ 1.566	15.	Barrichello	1:16.537	+ 1.347
16.	Bourdais	1:16.806	+ 1.616
17.	Piquet	1:16.933	+ 1.743
18.	Vettel	1:16.955	+ 1.765
19.	Sutil	1:17.225	+ 2.035
20.	Fisichella	1:17.823	+ 2.633

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest man on track in the final session before qualifying, with a time of 1:16.567, over half a second quicker than team mate Hamilton, and 6 tenths quicker than third placed Raikkonen. Rosberg continued his excellent form and was fourth fastest, ahead of Kubica and Massa.

The times set in this session were a lot slower than on Thursday due to rain that fell before the session started. As a consequence, the session was declared wet, and the track was slick and "green". As a result, several of the drivers were struggling for grip. Even Kovalainen, who was ultimately the fastest man on track, swiped the barriers exiting Piscine - a move that precipitated a red flag to clear the resultant debris.

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Kovalainen	1:16.567		11.	Bourdais	1:18.367	+ 1.800
2.	Hamilton	1:17.084	+ 0.517	12.	Glock	1:18.424	+ 1.857
3.	Räikkönen	1:17.177	+ 0.610	13.	Barrichello	1:18.455	+ 1.888
4.	Rosberg	1:17.503	+ 0.936	14.	Piquet	1:18.615	+ 2.048
5.	Kubica	1:17.687	+ 1.120	15.	Vettel	1:18.651	+ 2.084
6.	Massa	1:17.691	+ 1.124	16.	Alonso	1:18.795	+ 2.228
7.	Webber	1:17.856	+ 1.289	17.	Trulli	1:18.858	+ 2.291
8.	Sutil	1:17.883	+ 1.316	18.	Heidfeld	1:19.024	+ 2.457
9.	Nakajima	1:18.147	+ 1.580	19.	Fisichella	1:19.131	+ 2.564
10.	Button	1:18.225	+ 1.658	20.	Coulthard	1:20.805	+ 4.238

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

Lewis Hamilton stamped his authority on Monaco, topping the time sheet in P2 with a time of 1:15.140 - some 4 tenths faster than the second placed man Nico Rosberg, who continued his excellent form so far this weekend. The Ferraris of Raikkonen and Massa were third and fourht fastest respectively, whilst Kovalainen was fifth fastest. Hamilton's time was set on the softer of the two Bridgestone compound tyres, and clearly he is getting those tyres to work better than his rivals - a portent of things to come?

Lewis Hamilton has been out to assert his dominance after feeling that he could have won last year's Monaco Grand Prix were it not for team orders. The young Brit is certainly quick around the streets of the principality, but the Ferraris have already demonstrated that they might put up a fight this weekend.

The Renaults continued to struggle in this session - Piquet got Ste Devote all wrong at one stage and spun backwards into the tyre barrier. He would finish the session 15th fastest. Meanwhile, team mate Alonso slid the rear of his car into the barrier on the exit of the same corner, breaking his rear wing. The wing would eventually work its way loose at Mirabeau, and the session was briefly red-flagged to clear up the debris.

The good form of the Williams cars continued, and Nakajima managed to improve to 9th place from his position of 15th in the morning session. Meanwhile the Toyotas and Red Bull (and Toro Rosso) cars all seemed to struggle, while the Hondas would perform slightly better, ending the session in 8th and 10th places.

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Hamilton	1:15.140	+	11.	Heidfeld	1:16.426	+ 1.286
2.	Rosberg	1:15.533	+ 0.393	12.	Glock	1:16.688	+ 1.548
3.	Räikkönen	1:15.572	+ 0.432	13.	Webber	1:17.094	+ 1.954
4.	Massa	1:15.869	+ 0.729	14.	Coulthard	1:17.131	+ 1.991
5.	Kovalainen	1:15.881	+ 0.741	15.	Piquet	1:17.246	+ 2.106
6.	Kubica	1:16.296	+ 1.156	16.	Fisichella	1:17.251	+ 2.111
7.	Alonso	1:16.310	+ 1.17	17.	Trulli	1:17.379	+ 2.239
8.	Button	1:16.351	+ 1.211	18.	Bourdais	1:17.581	+ 2.441
9.	Nakajima	1:16.372	+ 1.232	19.	Sutil	1:18.176	+ 3.036
10.	Barrichello	1:16.418	+ 1.278	20.	Vettel	1:18.225	+ 3.085

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

As is customary, P1 and P2 are held on the Thursday rather than the Friday. The change of routine didn't upset Kimi Raikkonen - he topped the time sheet with a time of 1:15.948, besting the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen by three tenths of a second. Felipe Massa was fourth fastest, ahead of Nico Rosberg, who looked at home driving around the Monaco circuit. Hamilton was initially the quickest driver, but the session was red-flagged 15 minutes in due to a loose drain cover on the run up the hill to Massanet. After the session resumed, Raikkonen subsequently set the fastest time.

The pace of the Ferraris was a little unexpected - the traditional wisdom was that they went to Monaco with a slight disadvantage to the McLarens. However, this was only the first practice session, and there is a long way to go in the weekend yet. There were fewer surprises for the Renaults though - Alonso was 7th fastest, which is probably about all he can hope for in the race this weekend, while Nelsinho Piquet was mired down in 18th place. The young Brazilian was clearly struggling, and was having several wayward moments. Another man who struggles was Jarno Trulli - a former Monaco Grand PRix winner - who clouted the barrier and broke his suspension. It was also not a good session for Nick Heidfeld, who had to park his car at Casino Square with an engine failure. Worse befell David Coulthard however - he suffered technical difficulties and failed to even set a time.

Lap TImes

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Raikkonen	1:15.948		11.	Glock	1:17.942	+ 1.994
2.	Hamilton	1:16.216	+ 0.268	12.	Button	1:18.153	+ 2.205
3.	Kovalainen	1:16.248	+ 0.3	13.	Bourdais	1:18.245	+ 2.297
4.	Massa	1:16.292	+ 0.344	14.	Heidfeld	1:18.263	+ 2.315
5.	Rosberg	1:16.653	+ 0.705	15.	Nakajima	1:18.274	+ 2.326
6.	Kubica	1:16.834	+ 0.886	16.	Trulli	1:18.360	+ 2.412
7.	Alonso	1:17.498	+ 1.55	17.	Sutil	1:18.360	+ 2.412
8.	Barrichello	1:17.511	+ 1.563	18.	Piquet	1:18.955	+ 3.007
9.	Webber	1:17.798	+ 1.85	19.	Vettel	1:19.176	+ 3.228
10.	Fisichella	1:17.835	+ 1.887	20.	Coulthard

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

The Formula One championship returns to the jewel in the crown - the Monaco Grand Prix. It is the most glamorous event on the calendar, with numerous high profile celebrities and the rich and the powerful in attendance. It is the place to be seen if you are a big shot. It is also perhaps the single toughest test of a driver of all the races in modern Formula 1. The confines of the street circuit are narrow and bumpy. The course is lined with armco barriers - stray but an inch and you can find yourself with a broken car. Precision, consistency, and patience are the keys to winning at Monaco.

But perhaps more important is strategy - Monaco is notoriously hard to pass at, and the pole sitter usually has an advantage of being at the front of the pack and therefore being able to control the race. However, Monaco also sees a lot of safety car periods, and these can play havoc with the strategies. Another factor is also the weather - rain has been predicted for this weekend. Rain in the race would certainly throw a spanner in the works.

McLaren will be looking to score big in Monaco this year. So far this season, they are on the back foot and are being outpaced by the Ferraris. However, due to the relative designs of the cars, the McLaren tends to be stronger in Monaco, and consequently McLaren will be hoping to capitalise. However, Ferrari were quick in recent testing at Paul Ricard in conditions that simulated the tight and twisty Monaco circuit. They will also be looking to put up a fight. And what of the other teams? Well, aerodynamic efficiency is less critical at Monaco and mechanical grip is more important. Those teams that have been struggling a little with their aero packages, such as Honda, might find some respite this weekend. Also, don't forget Toro Rosso - their new car is making its debut at Monaco this weekend, and they will be expecting big improvements.

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Monaco

1st - The John Watson Award for most places gained in the race: Nick Heidfeld (9th - 5th, 4 places)
2nd - The Olivier Grouillard Award for best roadblock: Jenson Button (was a hard man to pass all afternoon)
3rd - The Philippe Alliot Award for most pointless crash: Giancarlo Fisichella (1st corner smash)

Constructors - The David Coulthard Award for outstanding achievement in the field of complaining: Giancarlo Fisichella (claimed the first corner incident was Nakajima's fault because he moved across in the braking zone).

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

Final Classification of the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix

Pos.	Driver	Time	Pos.	Driver	Time
1.	Massa	1:26:49.451	11.	Button	+1 Lap
2.	Hamilton	+ 3.7	12.	Kovalainen	+1 Lap
3.	Raikkonen	+ 4.2	13.	Glock	+1 Lap
4.	Kubica	+ 21.9	14.	Barrichello	+1 Lap
5.	Heidfeld	+ 38.7	15.	Piquet	+1 Lap
6.	Alonso	+ 53.7	16.	Sutil	+1 Lap
7.	Webber	+ 64.2	17.	Vettel	+1 Lap
8.	Rosberg	+ 71.4	18.	Bourdais	Lap 25
9.	Coulthard	+ 75.2	19.	Nakajima	Lap 2
10.	Trulli	+ 76.3	20.	Fisichella	Lap 1

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen 1:26.506 (Lap 20)

Drivers' championship after 5 rounds

Position	Driver	Points
1.	Raikkonen	35
2.	Massa	28
3.	Hamilton	28
4.	Kubica	24
5.	Heidfeld	20
6.	Kovalainen	14
7.	Webber	10
8.	Trulli	9
9.	Alonso	9
10.	Rosberg	8
11.	Nakajima	5
12.	Button	3
13.	Bourdais	2

Constructors' championship after 5 rounds

Position	Team	Points
1	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	63
2	BMW Sauber F1 Team	44
3	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	42
4	AT&T Williams	13
5	Red Bull Racing	10
6	Panasonic Toyota Racing	9
7	ING Renault F1 Team	9
8	Honda Racing F1 Team	3
9	Scuderia Toro Rosso	2

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

Felipe Massa took a well deserved victory in Istanbul, after battling with and sustaining pressure from Lewis Hamilton throughout the race. A bold 3-stop strategy saw Lewis Hamilton finish second, ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

Before the race, the talk in the paddock was the somewhat odd decision of Lewis Hamilton to complete two runs in Q3 on the harder Prime tyres, rather than doing one stint on the softer Option tyres. Overnight it would transpire that Bridgestone had warned McLaren, and specifically Lewis Hamilton, that they were marginal on tyres - Hamilton's tyre wear rate was too high and they wanted to try and avoid a repeat of last year's tyre failure. The question, therefore, was what strategy would Hamilton be on for the race. One factor affecting the strategy was the fact that the temperatures were a lot cooler than expected, even considering the date change (the event was moved up from late August to mid-May).

As the parade lap got underway, it was evident that the McLarens and the Ferraris were on slightly different strategies - the Ferraris started on the Option tyres, the McLarens started on the Prime tyres. The cars lined up on the grid, and after an extremely long wait, the lights sequence started. When the lights went out, Hamilton managed to jump ahead of team mate Kovalainen, who dropped to fourth behind Kubica. As they rounded turn 1, the front wing of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari grazed the left-rear tyre of Kovalainen's McLaren. That would have repercussions for Kovalainen's race, but more on that later. There was drama at the back of the field though. Giancarlo Fisichella - who had been dropped to the back of the grid because of a pit-lane red light infraction on Friday morning - steamed into the first corner but misjudged his braking and slammed into the back of Kazuki Nakajima's car. Fisichella's car was launched into a spin and came to rest at the edge of the track. Nakajima continued around to the pits (but subsequently retired due to too much damage), but Fisichella stopped out on track, precipitating the safety car.

So the field formed up behind the safety car as the wreckage of Fisichella's car and the associated debris was cleared. During this time, Vettel and Sutil pitted to repair accident damage. When the safety car peeled off after two laps, Kovalainen was forced to pit because of a puncture - to his left rear tyre. The slight contact between he and Raikkonen had been enough to cause a slow puncture, and because of this he would drop to the tail end of the field.

In the opening few laps after the race resumed, Massa pulled out a small gap to Hamilton, but within a few laps, Hamilton was matching Massa's pace. The two soon started trading fastest laps. Meanwhile Raikkonen, who had dropped back after the start, found his way past Alonso and up into 4th place. The battle between Hamilton and Massa continued for several laps, with Hamilton eventually closing to within a second before pitting on lap 16. This was earlier than expected, and when his stop was only 6 seconds long, it signified that Hamilton was in fact on a three stop strategy (which was possibly a change in strategy). Hamilton's stop dropped him to 6th pace, but as the pit stops cycled through, he would retain 2nd place.

Massa pitted on lap 19 and rejoined ahead of Hamilton. This allowed Raikkonen to take the lead - he pushed hard and set a new fastest lap of the race before pitting on lap 21. He emerged ahead of Kubica (who pitted at the same time as Massa), thus leapfrogged into 3rd place. The battle raged at the front though, and Hamilton closed right up on Felipe Massa. On lap 24, Hamilton managed to get very close coming out of turn 10 and got a good tow down the long back straight. He dived to the inside and overtook Massa under braking for turn 12. Hamilton was the new leader of the race! He proceeded to pull away from Massa at about a second per lap, but with a presumed 3-stop strategy, he would be pitting around lap 30/31 - he would have only 6 or 7 more laps before he had to pit again. Sure enough, Hamilton pitted on lap 32, and emerged in third place, with the Ferraris 1-2. Hamilton then seemed to struggle with pace a little bit - before his stop he was lapping in the mid 1m 26s range, and afterwards was only able to manage mid 1m 27s (the same as the Ferraris). Hamilton maintained a gap of around 10 seconds to second placed Raikkonen.

Massa pitted from the lead on lap 41 - his final stop of the race. Raikkonen assumed the race lead, but made his final stop on lap 44. Hamilton again led the race, but would have one more stop to make. Hamilton put the hammer down, and two laps later pitted from the lead. It was a short stop, and he took on the Option tyres (which he had avoided using all race). He stormed out of the pits and emerged just ahead of Raikkonen - he had managed to leapfrog the Finn into second place.

For the remaining 12 laps, the top three held station, all running at roughly the same pace. The gaps between the driver waxed and waned a little, but ultimately there was no change until the checkered flag.

Whilst the leaders were battling it out, Heikki Kovalainen was having a difficult race. After having dropped to the tail end of the field after his early stop, he worked his way up to 11th by lap 26, but dropped back to 14th after a pit stop. He again battled through the field and made his way up to 8th (after some excellent passes on Coulthard and Rosberg), but pitted on lap 51 and dropped back to 13th, and would ultimately finish 12th. In hindsight, the McLaren crew probably should have put more fuel in Kovalainen's car during his first stop (for his puncture) and therefore would not have needed the extra stop at the end of the race.

Elsewhere, Kubica and Heidfeld had relatively uneventful races and came home in solid 4th and 5th places respectively. Fernando Alonso brought his Renault home an excellent 6th - the Renaults didn't quite have the pace that they showed in Barcelona, but nevertheless it was another solid drive for Alonso, who seems to be able to overcome the limitations of his machinery and go faster than the car seems capable of (compare his performance to team mate Piquet, who struggled through to 15th place). Having started 6th, Mark Webber seemed to go backwards all day and ended up in 7th place, and Nico Rosberg was consistent all afternoon and picked up a single point for finishing 8th. David Coulthard failed to capitalise on his top ten starting position and came home 9th, the Toyotas of Trulli and Glock endured an uninspiring race and finished 10th and 13th respectively, the Hondas fared even worse with Button and Barrichello (in his record breaking race) finishing 11th and 14th, the sole remaining Force India of Sutil finished 16th and Sebastian Vettel brought up the rear in 17th. The retirements were Bourdais, who spun out at turn 12 on lap 25 and dug himself into to the gravel; and Nakajima and Fisichella were involved in the turn 1 fracas.

So, it was another great win for Felipe Massa, and one that was by no means easy - he had to battle to stay ahead of Hamilton. The win secured valuable world championship points for the Brazilian, whose team mate Raikkonen netted four fewer points in third place. It was a valuable points haul for Hamilton as well - two more than championship leader Raikkonen. Unfortunately for McLaren, Kovalainen finished outside the points, but one thing is clear - McLaren have closed the performance gap to Ferrari. Furthermore, with two "McLaren" tracks next on the calendar - Monaco and Montreal - the McLaren drivers have a good chance of closing the points gap to Ferrari.

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

Felipe Massa took a highly predictable pole position in Istanbul, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton. Massa's Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen will line up fourth, ahead of Kubica, Webber, Alonso, Trulli, Heidfeld and Coulthard. After the superb times that the Red Bull cars had set during the morning P3 session, it was anticipated that they would have a good qualifying session, and indeed both Red Bull cars made it through to P3.

Conditions during qualifying were cooler than anticipated - an air temperature of around 17 celcius and a track temperature in the mid 30s. Consequently, it appeared as though some of the drivers were struggling to get heat into their tyres. This was evident in Q1, where several of the drivers on the harder Prime tyres opted to do two flying laps on the one set of tyres, having only sufficiently heated the tyres after one flying lap. With the absence of Super Aguri, Q1 seemed a bit more sedate than usual, but with 5 cars to be eliminated and only 4 "slow" cars - the two Force India cars and the two STR cars - at least one of the cars from the bigger teams was going to be eliminated. In the end there were two - Nakajima and Piquet both failed to progress through to Q2. So, the Q1 eliminees were Nakajima, Piquet, Bourdais, Fisichella, and Sutil.

Q2 saw the rest of the usual suspects eliminated, and in the end there wasn't really a close fight to get into the top ten - Rosberg was the fastest Q2 eliminee, and he missed the cut by 2 tenths. Indeed, it looks as though the gulf between the upper-midfield and the lower-midfield is widening. So, those eliminated were Rosberg, Barrichello, Button, Vettel, and Glock.

There was, however, some drama and intrigue in Q3. The McLarens and the Ferraris were, as usual, the pace setters, and the early pace was set by Kovalainen. His lap time was bettered by Felipe Massa on his first set of tyres, and took provisional pole. Hamilton had a relatively poor lap that would provisionally see him in 6th pace - it would turn out that he had a spectacular slide in the fast and challenging turn 8, and that scuppered his lap. All the drivers (except for David Coulthard, who elected not to run at all in Q3) came in for fresh tyres and another stab at setting a fast time. There was a surprise though - Lewis Hamilton opted to stay on the harder Prime tyre, rather than switch to the softer Option tyre, which was supposedly worth about 3 tenths per lap. The decision was intriguing, and Ron Dennis would later claim that Lewis preferred the balance of the car on the Prime tyres. Nevertheless, his flying lap included yet another nervous moment in turn 8.

Hamilton's time was bettered by team mate Kovalainen, who took provisional pole, but that time was bettered by Felipe Massa, who loves the Istanbul Park track. As it was, Massa took pole position by two tenths from Kovalainen, with team mate Raikkonen in fourth place around 3 tenths adrift. Replays of Raikkonen's lap seemed to indicate that he was baulked by Alonso on his flying lap, but there was no penalty, presumably because they were both on their flying laps.

So, Felipe Massa took pole position ahead of tomorrow's race. He has won in Istanbul the last two times he has come here, and on both occasions won from pole. Can he turn it into glory again on Sunday? We shall have to wait and see.

Qualifying Results

Q1				Q2				Q3
Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Massa	1:25.994		1.	Raikkonen	1:26.050		1.	Massa	1:27.617
2.	Hamilton	1:26.192	+ 0.198	2.	Kubica	1:26.129	+ 0.079	2.	Kovalainen	1:27.808	+ 0.191
3.	Raikkonen	1:26.457	+ 0.463	3.	Massa	1:26.192	+ 0.142	3.	Hamilton	1:27.923	+ 0.306
4.	Glock	1:26.614	+ 0.620	4.	Kovalainen	1:26.290	+ 0.240	4.	Raikkonen	1:27.936	+ 0.319
5.	Trulli	1:26.695	+ 0.701	5.	Webber	1:26.466	+ 0.416	5.	Kubica	1:28.390	+ 0.773
6.	Kovalainen	1:26.736	+ 0.742	6.	Hamilton	1:26.477	+ 0.427	6.	Webber	1:28.417	+ 0.800
7.	Kubica	1:26.761	+ 0.767	7.	Coulthard	1:26.520	+ 0.470	7.	Alonso	1:28.422	+ 0.805
8.	Webber	1:26.773	+ 0.779	8.	Alonso	1:26.522	+ 0.472	8.	Trulli	1:28.836	+ 1.219
9.	Alonso	1:26.836	+ 0.842	9.	Heidfeld	1:26.607	+ 0.557	9.	Heidfeld	1:28.882	+ 1.265
10.	Coulthard	1:26.939	+ 0.945	10.	Trulli	1:26.822	+ 0.772	10.	Coulthard	1:29.959	+ 2.342
11.	Heidfeld	1:27.107	+ 1.113	11.	Rosberg	1:27.012	+ 0.962
12.	Barrichello	1:27.355	+ 1.361	12.	Barrichello	1:27.219	+ 1.169
13.	Rosberg	1:27.367	+ 1.373	13.	Button	1:27.298	+ 1.248
14.	Button	1:27.428	+ 1.434	14.	Vettel	1:27.412	+ 1.362
15.	Vettel	1:27.442	+ 1.448	15.	Glock	1:27.806	+ 1.756
16.	Nakajima	1:27.547	+ 1.553
17.	Piquet	1:27.568	+ 1.574
18.	Bourdais	1:27.621	+ 1.627
19.	Fisichella *	1:27.807	+ 1.813
20.	Sutil	1:28.325	+ 2.331
* Fisichella received a grid penalty for jumping the pit lane red light in P1, and will start from the back of the grid

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

Mark Webber somewhat surprisingly topped the time sheet in P3, with a time of 1:27.030, edging out Fernando Alonso and Red Bull team mate David Coulthard. Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest, followed by Felipe Massa, Trulli, Hamilton, Glock, Button, and Piquet. The pace of the Red Bull cars probably indicates that they were on light fuel and were concentrating on their Q1 and Q2 pace. This is especially critical now that Super Aguri are no longer competing because 5 cars will be eliminated from both Q1 and Q2, the upshot of which is that at least one big scalp (ie a non Force India or STR car) will be eliminated in Q1.

Kimi Raikkonen did not set a blistering time, and finished the session in 12th place, one place ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. Although it is normal for the front running cars to be off the pace in P3, the pace of the McLarens and Ferraris was probably slower than expected, which could indicate that they were experimenting with heavy fuel loads ahead of Sunday's race. However, it is more likely that they are just confident of their qualifying pace, and were trying to conserve running time and tyres.

Given the pace that the Red Bull cars showed, though, there is a prospect that both of them could get through to Q3, along with Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso (who were 2nd and 4th fastest respectively). However, they will have a fight on their hands from the BMWs (who have so far had a pretty anonymous weekend) and the Toyotas, who have shown good qualifying form so far this weekend.

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Webber	1:27.030		11.	Raikkonen	1:27.837	+ 0.807
2.	Alonso	1:27.172	+ 0.142	12.	Kovalainen	1:27.849	+ 0.819
3.	Coulthard	1:27.193	+ 0.163	13.	Vettel	1:27.899	+ 0.869
4.	Rosberg	1:27.365	+ 0.335	14.	Barrichello	1:27.946	+ 0.916
5.	Massa	1:27.530	+ 0.500	15.	Bourdais	1:27.948	+ 0.918
6.	Trulli	1:27.614	+ 0.584	16.	Kubica	1:27.971	+ 0.941
7.	Hamilton	1:27.658	+ 0.628	17.	Nakajima	1:28.301	+ 1.271
8.	Glock	1:27.733	+ 0.703	18.	Fisichella	1:28.573	+ 1.543
9.	Button	1:27.766	+ 0.736	19.	Heidfeld	1:28.655	+ 1.625
10.	Piquet	1:27.781	+ 0.751	20.	Sutil	1:29.131	+ 2.101

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

After having basically sat out the whole of the morning session with a gearbox problem, world champion Kimi Raikkonen bounced back to set the fastest lap in Friday Practice 2, with a time of 1:27.542, narrowly beating Lewis Hamilton by 36 1/1000ths of a second. However, Hamilton's time was set on brand new Option (soft) tyres, whereas Raikkonen's was set on used Prime tyres. The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa was third fastest, over a tenth slower than Raikkonen, but the surprise of the session was David Coulthard, who finished the session fourth fastest, just over two tenths slower than Raikkonen. However, the fuel loads that the cars were running is unknown. Kovalainen, Kubica, Trulli, Nakajima, Alonso and Heidfeld rounded out the top ten.

The session started after a brief sprinkle of rain, which stopped just a minute into the session. Consequently the track was slightly damp at the beginning of the session and there were few runners in the first 20 minutes. One man who did run was Sebastien Bourdais, who continues his normal practice of putting in as many laps as possible as he can to try and learn the circuits.

Shortly after going out on track, which was probably still a little damp in places, Mark Webber lost control of his Red Bull car on the exit of turn 8, spun, and hit the inside wall head on. The impact was quite hefty - enough to rip off both front wheels - but the Australian climbed out of his car unharmed. The incident precipitated a red flag so that the debris could be cleared.

After the session resumed, a lot of cars looked like they were struggling in the slick conditions - getting sideways in the corners, running wide out of the turns and so on. None more so than Nelsinho Piquet, whose car seemed especially tail happy, especially in the turn 9/10 complex. Consequently, he was well off the pace in 16th place. His team mate Alonso was struggling too, and couldn't match his pace from the morning session - he would end the session in 9th place. Jenson Button also endured a poor session and, although he would better his morning time by a tenth of a second, he would finish the session in 11th place. The session was even worse for team mate Barrichello, who would finish the session 15th fastest.

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Raikkonen	1:27.543		11.	Button	1:28.826	+ 1.283
2.	Hamilton	1:27.579	+ 0.036	12.	Glock	1:28.849	+ 1.306
3.	Massa	1:27.682	+ 0.139	13.	Rosberg	1:28.907	+ 1.364
4.	Coulthard	1:27.763	+ 0.220	14.	Fisichella	1:29.008	+ 1.465
5.	Kovalainen	1:27.954	+ 0.411	15.	Barrichello	1:29.024	+ 1.481
6.	Kubica	1:28.431	+ 0.888	16.	Piquet	1:29.212	+ 1.669
7.	Trulli	1:28.619	+ 1.076	17.	Vettel	1:29.462	+ 1.919
8.	Nakajima	1:28.664	+ 1.121	18.	Bourdais	1:29.630	+ 2.087
9.	Alonso	1:28.681	+ 1.138	19.	Webber	1:29.633	+ 2.090
10.	Heidfeld	1:28.817	+ 1.274	20.	Sutil	1:30.832	+ 3.289

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

Felipe Massa started the weekend of the 2008 Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix on form, posting a fastest lap time of 1:27.323 to top the time sheet in Friday Practice 1. He beat McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen into second place by over a tenth of a second, and fellow McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton by just over 4 tenths. The man in fourth place was Fernando Alonso - almost a second slower than Massa, but nonetheless demonstrating the Renault's new found form. World champion Kimi Raikkonen would finish the session slowest, almost 3.5 seconds off Massa's pace. The Finn would only do 3 laps before being sidelined by a gearbox problem, and would spend the rest of the session in the pits whilst his gearbox was replaced.

At the start of the session, the track was damp in places (between turns 3 and 9) due to some last minute cleaning of the circuit that had been perfomed. Consequently, there was no running in the first 40 minutes of the session, save for the drivers doing their installation laps. When the drivers finally started venturing out, it appeared as though they were struggling for grip, and there were several slips and slides from the drivers - Nakajima, Trulli, Hamilton, and Massa would all spin during the session, all of whom were getting caught out in the turn 3/4/5 complex of corners.

The Toro Rosso and Red Bull cars endured a less than fruitful session - they would occupy positions 16-19, behind the two Force India cars. The two Hondas enjoyed better performance than they have shown of late - Button was 5th fastest and Rubens Barrichello, who is starting in his record 257th Grand Prix this weekend, was 8th fastest.

Lap Times

Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference	Pos.	Driver	Time	Difference
1.	Massa	1:27.323		11.	Trulli	1:29.329	+ 2.006
2.	Kovalainen	1:27.456	+ 0.133	12.	Kubica	1:29.330	+ 2.007
3.	Hamilton	1:27.752	+ 0.429	13.	Rosberg	1:29.367	+ 2.044
4.	Alonso	1:28.284	+ 0.961	14.	Sutil	1:29.756	+ 2.433
5.	Button	1:28.919	+ 1.596	15.	Fisichella	1:29.811	+ 2.488
6.	Nakajima	1:29.002	+ 1.679	16.	Webber	1:30.088	+ 2.765
7.	Heidfeld	1:29.024	+ 1.701	17.	Coulthard	1:30.340	+ 3.017
8.	Barrichello	1:29.068	+ 1.745	18.	Bourdais	1:30.388	+ 3.065
9.	Piquet	1:29.082	+ 1.759	19.	Vettel	1:30.426	+ 3.103
10	Glock	1:29.103	+ 1.780	20.	Kimi Raikkonen	1:30.732	+ 3.409

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey

Round five of the Formula 1 world championship is in Istanbul, Turkey - a city and a country with a great and varied history. Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia - the only city to lie in two continents - and is Europe's most populous city, with a population of around 11.3 million people. Like most of the "new venues" in Formula 1, Turkey is historic, eclectic, and multi-cultural.

The Istanbul Park circuit was built in 2005 and has hosted 3 Formula 1 events, two of which were won by Felipe Massa. Like most modern Formula 1 venues, it was designed by Herman Tilke, but unlike most of his other creations this circuit has real character: it is an anti-clockwise circuit, which is against the norm; it features bends that were modelled on some of the most famous bends at other circuits; it has a long, fast back stretch; and it has the fearsome quadruple apex bend, turn 8.

Given the recent form of the Ferraris, and the fact that Felipe Massa excels as this circuit (much like at Bahrain, which he won earlier this season), Massa surely goes into the race as the favourite. However, Kimi Raikkonen has momentum in his favour, having won the previous race in Barcelona. They will be given a run for their money by the McLarens though - the McLarens were quicker than expected in Barcelona, and will hope to have closed the gap to their rivals for this weekend. The much improved Renaults should also be borne in mind - Fernando Alonso had an excellent run at his home Grand Prix before a rare engine failure (specifically distributor failure) let him down. Alonso will surely be out to prove a point this weekend.

Unfortunately, one team that will not be proving any points is the Super Aguri team. The team had be plunged into dire financial straits by the pullout of a potential buyer - the Magma consortium. The fate of the team hung by a thread, but it looked as though they might be able to pull through, and the team dispatched its motorhomes to Istanbul. However, Nick Fry of parent team Honda, informed the FIA that Super Aguri would not be competing, and that they should be barred from the paddock. The reasons why are still not clear, but it appears that Honda did not want to be "embarrassed" by Super Aguri. Formula One's minnows had no choice but to pull out of the Grand Prix and pull out of Formula 1 altogether. It is a sad end for a little team with a big heart, that stole some incredible points, not least of which were at the 2007 Canadian GP, where Sato executed a fantastic overtaking maneuvre on reigning world champion Alonso.

So, only 20 cars will line up on the grid on Sunday. The weather prospects for the weekend include possible rain on Friday and Saturday, but clear on Sunday with cool temperatures - in the mid teens (celcius). These temperatures are to be expected with the new calendar position of the Turkish Grand Prix, having been moved from it's previous late August date.

Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix, Turkey