The start of the Turkish Grand Prix.
By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy Ferrari Media
Several years ago, Ferrari fans were perfectly happy with routines. Michael Schumacher would have a flawless qualifying session, have an uneventful race and cross the line with a gap to second place that could occasionally be measured with a calendar, rather than a stop watch. But should the same type of performance happen from another driver and team combination, the talk quickly changes to how F1 has lost its magic and it is more about the money than the show. It was about the money back then, too, but one didn’t feel like a complete futz for spending $30 for a coffee cup with the scudetto on the side of it when your team was winning.
Alonso settled for third after being passed by Webber.
Ferrari had their strongest finish to date with Alonso capturing the final spot on the podium, but the F150 (the Ferrari, not the Ford pickup truck) is not up to pace, one wonders if they will be able to close the gap before it is time to stop development of this year’s car and start looking forward to 2012. Massa finished outside of the points after only qualifying in tenth. The odds on him returning to the team next year are starting make betting on Greek bonds look safer.
Turkey features one of the best tracks but this may be the last time an F1 race is held there.
McLaren ended up well off of the pace. Fourth place doesn’t sound so bad, but a quick check of the time sheets showed Hamilton’s finish more than 40 seconds behind the winner. Jenson Button’s sixth place was more than a minute behind. Whatever speed the Woking based team had earlier in the season is starting to slip away now that racing is back closer to home.
Record number of pit stops and passes. Are the new regs working? Your turn guys.
Nico Rosberg split the McLarens by finishing in fifth place, finishing ahead of Schumacher (now say it with me everyone), again. The seven time title holder is not doing any favors to his legacy by staying in the car. I can see the appeal of driving for a German team as a German driver, but I’m beginning to wonder if his input on the design characteristics of the car include where to locate the cup holder. There is nothing wrong with joining Jean Alesi in DTM at this point…
Renault had Heidfeld and Petrov finish in seventh and eighth respectively. Not many outside of France actually noticed.
For Ferrari, and everyone else aside from Vettel, this was the story of the race.
The last two points paying positions went to Ferrari engine customers, Buemi finished the STR in ninth and Kobayashi-san’s Sauber ended up in tenth. Unfortunately, both were ahead of Massa.
Racing has returned to Europe, but the fans are still staying away. Turkey had plenty of empty stands, Spain in two weeks is not looking so good since Alonso is in fifth place in the driver’s championship, the promoters are not likely to get the boost they are used to when he is challenging for the lead. The other issue is the increase in the number of pit stops, you almost need to be parked in front of a TV monitor to follow the race. I’m sure the powers that be would like everyone to download an app for their mobiles/tablets/chip in the back of your head so that they can find one more revenue stream to plug into. But if you’re going to glue your eyes to a 2” wide screen, what is the point of even going to the event. Well, I guess some people like overpriced beer and greasy track food.
Race Results
| 1 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 1h30m17.558s |
| 2 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | + 8.8s |
| 3 | ALONSO | Ferrari | + 10.0s |
| 4 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 40.2s |
| 5 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | + 47.5s |
| 6 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 59.4s |
| 7 | HEIDFELD | Renault | + 60.8s |
| 8 | PETROV | Renault | + 68.1s |
| 9 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | + 69.3s |
| 10 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | + 78.0s |
| 11 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 79.8s |
| 12 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | + 85.4s |
| 13 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 14 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 15 | BARRICHELLO | Williams-Cosworth | + 1 lap |
| 16 | ALGUERSUARI | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 17 | MALDONADO | Williams-Cosworth | + 1 lap |
| 18 | TRULLI | Lotus-Renault | + 1 lap |
| 19 | KOVALAINEN | Lotus-Renault | + 2 laps |
| 20 | D’AMBROSIO | Virgin-Cosworth | + 2 laps |
| 21 | KARTHIKEYAN | HRT-Cosworth | + 3 laps |
| 22 | LIUZZI | HRT-Cosworth | + 5 laps |
| 23 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | + 14 laps, retired |
| DNS | GLOCK | Virgin-Cosworth | + 58 laps, gearbox |
| Fastest Lap |
WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 1m29.703s |
Note: D’Ambrosio qualified 20th but penalised five grid places for ignoring yellow flags in second practice. Kobayashi failed to set a Q1 time within the 107% requirement but allowed to race at stewards’ discretion.
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 93 Points |
| 2 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 59 Points |
| 3 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 55 Points |
| 4 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 46 Points |
| 5 | ALONSO | Ferrari | 41 Points |
| 6 | MASSA | Ferrari | 24 Points |
| 7 | HEIDFELD | Renault | 21 Points |
| 8 | PETROV | Renault | 21 Points |
| 9 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | 20 Points |
| 10 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | 8 Points |
| 11 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | 6 Points |
| 12 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | 6 Points |
| 13 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | 2 Points |
| 14 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | 2 Points |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | RBR-RENAULT | 148 Points |
| 2 | McLAREN-MERCEDES | 105 Points |
| 3 | FERRARI | 65 Points |
| 4 | RENAULT | 42 Points |
| 5 | MERCEDES | 26 Points |
| 6 | SAUBER-FERRARI | 8 Points |
| 7 | STR-FERRARI | 6 Points |
| 8 | FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES | 4 Points |
I must say that I have to agreed with your synopsis of the race. I am a life long Ferrari fan and was very happy when ” The German” was winning every thing, however I was also happy when the team were struggling. Just see those cars running makes F1 come alive. I am also very happy to see the “New German” win because he seems to have unlimited talent combined with being a damn fine chap!
Too many rules: when you can “open” your wing; when you can use your extra power. It’s about as silly as “Formula Indianapolis.” My mantra for 3 decades now: wide tires ruined racing.
Agreed, wide tires and aerodynamics ruined racing. Flying on the ground, really? And now they know so much about tires and rubber compounds, that the game has turned building them so they won’t last and forcing pit stops. Madness, I say!