2008 Turkish GP

OSRN 1

last week

Round 5 of the 2008 F1 season at Istanbul.

Transcript

00:00:00Right now, boys, right now, victory for the first time it is to win, come on mate, he's

00:00:12ruining our race, let's get past him, they touch there, smoke coming off the duct.

00:00:24Crossroads of Europe and Asia, source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Turkey is also

00:00:29home for the fourth year to a round of the formula one world championship.

00:00:34Welcome to the Acura pre-race show for the fifth round of the 2008 formula one season

00:00:38live here on speed, the Turkish Grand Prix.

00:00:41Hello again, everyone, I'm Bob Varsha with David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, Peter Winsor

00:00:45will be along shortly.

00:00:46We want to go no farther before we wish every mom out there a very happy mother's day on

00:00:52behalf of all of us here at speed.

00:00:54With that, it's time for the morning warm-up to get you up to speed on what's been going

00:00:58on this weekend.

00:00:59Steve, kick it off.

00:01:00Well, you remember back in Barcelona, we said, speculated it may be the last race for Super

00:01:04Aguri, this team founded by the man right here, well, so it proved to be.

00:01:08Sadly, the team has gone into receivership, they are not at the Grand Prix at Turkey.

00:01:13Plucky little team that were very well liked up and down the pit lane, very well respected,

00:01:18did an amazing job to get that team together in just a few months.

00:01:21Spectacular performance in 2006 to 11th and 9th in the constructors championship in 2007,

00:01:28brilliant result in 2007 at Montreal, passing the world champion Alonso, that was Sato.

00:01:33Great result.

00:01:34Well, it's been a day change.

00:01:35This race is normally in August, now it's in May, and the weather has been significantly

00:01:38different.

00:01:39A lot, lot cooler, they've had quite a bit of rain, which keeps putting the track back

00:01:42to green again, and it's played havoc with their tires, it's also been very slippery

00:01:45as we've seen a tremendous amount of spins and incidents as the weekend has gone.

00:01:50Tires have been a problem, they can't quite work out which set of tires to use, and the

00:01:54option tire doesn't seem to like this cool weather at all.

00:01:57There you see Felipe Massa having some trouble.

00:01:59Everybody had trouble pretty much all weekend, so it's going to be interesting to see how

00:02:02the race works out, and if it might rain, in fact.

00:02:06And as far as Massa goes, despite those problems with grip, this has been Massa land, pole

00:02:11sitter for three years running now, the last two Turkish Grand Prix, he has led all but

00:02:18seven of 116 laps, and those only on the pit stop rotation, with Felipe Massa not in the

00:02:25race lead.

00:02:26If he wins again today, and complete the trifecta that remains to be seen, he has a great story

00:02:31coming into this weekend, as we wonder what lies in Felipe Massa's future at Ferrari.

00:02:39There's Kimi Raikkonen getting ready to roll out to the number four spot on the grid.

00:02:46You'll note the Ferraris not using that radical vented nose piece that they introduced to

00:02:51much acclaim two weeks ago in Barcelona.

00:02:55Let's go live now down on the starting grid to Peter Windsor.

00:03:01Thanks, Bob.

00:03:02Pole number three here in Turkey for Felipe Massa, but let's not forget the outstanding

00:03:06performance of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

00:03:08Just two weeks ago in the Spanish Grand Prix, he was having to be lifted out of his demolished

00:03:12McLaren.

00:03:13A huge accident for him there, about which he remembers absolutely nothing at all, but

00:03:18a brilliant recovery for Heikki to take his first ever career front row start in Formula

00:03:231.

00:03:24He's ahead of Jean-Michel, let's turn around, another fin called Kimi Raikkonen, so that

00:03:29will be an interesting first corner for Kimi.

00:03:33Question about that.

00:03:34A great comeback for Heikki Kovalainen, who's been smiling and laughing about the incident

00:03:39with everybody this weekend.

00:03:40There you see the official weather forecast.

00:03:43We laugh about that a lot, too.

00:03:45No rain predicted in the next 45 minutes, which is a comforting thought, unless you

00:03:50consider that the race is bound to last at least twice that long.

00:03:54It's going to be an interesting day here in Turkey.

00:03:57Stick around.

00:03:58Welcome back.

00:03:59There's a beautiful look down on the Istanbul autodrome for the fourth time hosting the

00:04:06Turkish Formula 1 Grand Prix.

00:04:08There's Kimi Raikkonen, reigning world champion on a very crowded starting grid.

00:04:12Let's go live to Peter Winsor with red bull Renault driver Mark Webber.

00:04:18Thanks very much, Bob.

00:04:19Yes, a great qualifying performance from both red bull drivers.

00:04:21The first time both have been in the top ten this season.

00:04:24Mark Webber qualified an excellent sixth.

00:04:26Mark, anticlockwise circuit, turn eight's a long, long corner.

00:04:30What's it like through there?

00:04:31Yeah, it's very quick, no question about it.

00:04:35I think 250k, and it is a long, long corner, and obviously very, very bumpy for us.

00:04:39So I think reasonably early on the race, you have to start to rest the neck pretty quickly

00:04:43because it's just so much loading on the neck.

00:04:47So we'll see how we go.

00:04:48But apart from that, the race for us is against Fernando and Jarno and Nick, and I'm looking

00:04:55forward to it, actually.

00:04:56I think there's a few...

00:04:57We might be a bit longer than even some of the guys around us.

00:05:00Maybe Fernando, obviously.

00:05:01Robert's not as long as we think, but yeah, so it's...

00:05:06The progress, hopefully we can translate this into some points again today.

00:05:08I was chatting this morning to your compatriot Chris Dyer, the race engineer for Kimi Raikkonen,

00:05:12Kimi right in front of you.

00:05:13You're going to have a nice view of that first corner.

00:05:15It's going to be interesting to see what he does.

00:05:16Yeah, similar to Melbourne.

00:05:18I've been behind Kimi a few times at the start, and this side of the grid might be a bit slipperier,

00:05:23but I'm looking to try, if we can, to keep Fernando out and stay, of course, stay as

00:05:32close to Kimi as we can in the first sector.

00:05:34All right.

00:05:35Best of luck, Mark.

00:05:36We'll be watching you.

00:05:37Thank you very much.

00:05:38Okay, Jean-Michel, let's have a quick walk a little bit further down the grid.

00:05:40Fernando Alonso over there doing his traditional interview with Spanish TV.

00:05:45They go on forever, so I don't think we'll waste too much time there.

00:05:47John Howard of Toyota.

00:05:48John, if you had a quick word for speed live.

00:05:50Another good top ten.

00:05:51Well, a top ten.

00:05:52I wouldn't necessarily say a good top ten from your point of view.

00:05:55No.

00:05:56I'm expecting more.

00:05:57And a problem on the right front of Timo Glock in Q2.

00:06:00What's that?

00:06:01What's the cause of that?

00:06:02Basically, the drive pegs.

00:06:04So it's something to do with the clamping force of the wheel.

00:06:07So we're using a slightly stiffer wheel, and probably we need to tighten it more to make

00:06:12sure there's no loose movement between the wheel and the peg.

00:06:17Thanks very much, John.

00:06:18I'm told Flavio Briatore is very new.

00:06:20We always have a quick word to Flavio on the grid.

00:06:22Flavio, can I just...

00:06:23Well, we're being pushed out by French television.

00:06:25No problem.

00:06:26I'll see you in the gym on Tuesday, Flavio.

00:06:29Okay.

00:06:30That is a real thing.

00:06:31He does go to the gym periodically.

00:06:32Hard to believe, but he does.

00:06:34Past the BMWs now.

00:06:35Nick Heidfeld.

00:06:36A little bit of a surprising performance there.

00:06:38Ferrari think that BMW, for the first time, are actually starting to run some serious

00:06:41fuel load.

00:06:42But whether that's actually the case, of course, we'll see when the race unfolds.

00:06:47Moving down now towards Williams.

00:06:48Nico Rosberg over by the fence there.

00:06:49But Williams, rather disappointing, one has to say.

00:06:52He's got the different nose.

00:06:53Jean-Michel, let's have a look at the nose on the car.

00:06:54Steve, I'm sure you'd like to see this shot.

00:06:56There's a unique new nose on Nico's car.

00:07:01Nakajima does not have that.

00:07:02That perhaps explains the little bit of difference between them in qualifying.

00:07:06But Williams, overall, disappointing, one has to say.

00:07:09Having breakfast this morning with Keke Rosberg, and he's at a loss as well to explain what

00:07:14is actually going on.

00:07:15Let's walk a little bit further down the grid.

00:07:17We're going to get some targets soon.

00:07:18At this point, Bob, I think we'll send it back to you.

00:07:21Okay.

00:07:22Thanks very much, Peter.

00:07:24I'm curious.

00:07:25There seem to be a lot of cars missing from the grid.

00:07:28Normally we see them out there.

00:07:29We saw Kimi Raikkonen rolling out as we came to air after the commercial break.

00:07:34That's late.

00:07:35I wonder why.

00:07:39Welcome back.

00:07:40You're looking live at the starting grid at the Istanbul autodrome as the minutes continue

00:07:43to tick away before the start of round five of the 2008 Formula 1 season.

00:07:48Look closely and see all the TV cameras and microphones down there.

00:07:52More than 4,000 accredited media at every Formula 1 weekend.

00:07:56There's Rubens Barrichello celebrating his 257th Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend.

00:08:03That is a new record, breaking the mark held since 1993 by Riccardo Patrese.

00:08:08257 or close.

00:08:11That's putting the old driver's uniform on quite a few times.

00:08:15It is.

00:08:16I mean, it's a staggering record.

00:08:17Of course, something that you could never have achieved in the old days.

00:08:22All right.

00:08:23Let's get down live to the starting grid.

00:08:25Peter is with Sebastian Vettel.

00:08:29He is indeed.

00:08:30Sebastian, I guess we have to say goodbye to the car today.

00:08:33What a sad day for you.

00:08:34Yes, it's the last time.

00:08:36So I try to give it the best race and the best finish I can.

00:08:39Well, you've certainly started on a good note.

00:08:42A good qualifying performance.

00:08:43Yes, it was good.

00:08:44I think it was more or less the best we could do.

00:08:46So I was quite happy.

00:08:47And still, it doesn't help us today, apart from the grid position.

00:08:51So we still have to make a good start, survive the first lap, which hasn't been always the

00:08:55case in the last races.

00:08:56But I'm very confident.

00:08:58So we'll see.

00:08:59You're on the dirty side of the grid.

00:09:00You may have seen the start of the GP2 sprint race.

00:09:02It looked like your side got pretty dominated by the clean side.

00:09:05Not very good here in Turkey.

00:09:06Ah, we'll see.

00:09:07I mean, it's always like that.

00:09:09But in the end, I hope they lay enough rubber down so it will not be a big issue for us.

00:09:12We'll be watching you lay rubber off the dummy grid.

00:09:14Thank you very much.

00:09:15Let's just walk a little bit up towards, to some extent, the man of the moment, Rubens

00:09:19Barrichello, who's about to become the most experienced driver in the history of Formula

00:09:251.

00:09:26Jean-Michel, sorry, I've led you the wrong way here.

00:09:27He's just talking to German television.

00:09:29Finishing off.

00:09:30But I'm sure we can just say, Rubens, live on American TV, congratulations.

00:09:34Thank you.

00:09:35Thank you very much.

00:09:36How does it feel?

00:09:37Oh, it feels great.

00:09:38It feels like, for me, the best thing is getting here and still being competitive.

00:09:44I mean, I hope I can reach the 300.

00:09:46And what a circuit on which to be celebrating this number.

00:09:49Yeah, I mean, it's a lovely one.

00:09:51Turn eight is going to be fantastic in the race with all the G-forces and everyone.

00:09:56I think physically it's going to be tough, but I'm up for it.

00:09:59You certainly look up for it.

00:10:00Very well.

00:10:01Best of luck to you.

00:10:02Thank you.

00:10:03Rubens, a great guy.

00:10:05Fantastic to have him in Formula 1.

00:10:06Let's move up a little bit towards the front of the grid again, past the rather grim-looking

00:10:13Bridgestone people.

00:10:14A bit concerned, I think, about the temperatures still, but nonetheless, they've done a good

00:10:18job considering the date change of the Turkish Grand Prix.

00:10:21We're now moving up towards Jarno Trulli, and the Toyota has done a very good job.

00:10:26But I'm more interested to see if we can just have a quick word, actually, with the Renault

00:10:31boys.

00:10:32I'm here with...

00:10:33Bat.

00:10:34Bat.

00:10:35Steve Matchett wants me to ask you the most complicated question I can possibly think

00:10:38of, but I won't indulge you on that at this moment.

00:10:41But another good performance from Renault.

00:10:42Good qualifying performance from Fernando.

00:10:44A bit disappointing, I have to say, though, from Nelson.

00:10:45Yeah, he didn't have a great weekend, to be honest.

00:10:47He was struggling a bit already from Friday.

00:10:49Saturday morning he looked quite good, we were quite encouraged, and then it just didn't

00:10:55work for him.

00:10:56He made a couple of mistakes on his lap.

00:10:57He should have got through to Q2 for sure, but he would have struggled to get through

00:10:59to Q3.

00:11:00Well, in the sense that you're right there with BMW, apparently you've made a lot of

00:11:03progress, but nonetheless the Red Bulls look quick.

00:11:05Yeah, they've also made progress.

00:11:06It looks like us and Red Bull have jumped up a bit.

00:11:09McLaren and BMW maybe have stayed where they are a bit.

00:11:12We've got more stuff coming all the time, as I'm sure everyone has, but we're looking

00:11:17forward to Monaco, let's say.

00:11:18Thanks very much indeed, Alan.

00:11:19It's going to be very, very close in the midfield and, of course, at the front of the race,

00:11:23so for that, let's go back to you, Bob.

00:11:24All right, thanks very much, Peter.

00:11:25We saw those weather statistics.

00:11:27Air temperature just about 63 degrees Fahrenheit.

00:11:30The track just 84.

00:11:32That's a lot colder than it was using these same Bridgestone tires two weeks ago in Spain.

00:11:37We'll be back.

00:11:40Welcome back to Speed's live coverage of the Turkish Grand Prix weekend.

00:11:45This is the Acura pre-race show, and that is world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who will

00:11:49start on the outside of the second row for today's race.

00:11:52A lot of fins and attendants here in Turkey, and a massive crowd on hand at this beautiful

00:11:57racetrack.

00:11:58Now, let's get down to the grid.

00:11:59Peter Windsor standing by with Honda factory driver Jenson Button.

00:12:03Jenson, top speeds, I know you don't want me to mention the word top speeds, but it

00:12:07doesn't seem to be improving from a Honda point of view, even if the grip and balance

00:12:10is on the rise.

00:12:11Yeah, top speeds aren't that high, but they weren't last year either, and I overtook nine

00:12:16people in the race last year on the circuit, so I don't know if it makes so much difference

00:12:21this year.

00:12:22We'll have to wait and see.

00:12:23But the car's working well, especially on the harder tyres, so I'm looking forward to

00:12:26it.

00:12:27It's a long way forward, but it was in Barcelona as well when I finished sixth.

00:12:30We've just heard on the radio Rubens talking to his engineers about the tyre choice, still

00:12:33wondering which way to go.

00:12:35How does it feel in your mind from a tyre point of view?

00:12:38I'm pretty sure which way I'm going.

00:12:39I can't say, but I know.

00:12:41Are you going the same way as Rubens?

00:12:42I don't know.

00:12:43I don't know which way he's going.

00:12:44Thanks very much, Jenson.

00:12:46All right, thanks, Peter.

00:12:47There's Robert Kubica heading for his BMW Sauber.

00:12:50Jenson Button's Honda contract is up this year, but he has announced he will be back

00:12:54with the team next year, which would seem to take away some of his bargaining leverage.

00:12:59There is one of the Turkish dignitaries on hand for the weekend.

00:13:02Now, as Steve mentioned earlier, Formula 1 has seen its latest casualty among the teams.

00:13:06Super Aguri Honda is no more, joining the likes of Arrows, Prost, and Lotus among the

00:13:11fallen teams.

00:13:13Frankly put, it takes a lot of money to play in Formula 1, but how much and why is it so

00:13:16hard to find?

00:13:18Peter Wintzer has that story.

00:13:20Yes, very sad to see Super Aguri falling by the Formula 1 wayside, and so to the background

00:13:26of what some observers call a global economic recession, we have to ask the question, is

00:13:31the Formula 1 economy, too, also in decline?

00:13:34It grows every year.

00:13:36We have six countries waiting to have a race.

00:13:41I mean, the teams, we are very selective on the type of sponsors we allow to come into

00:13:47Formula 1.

00:13:48There could be a lot more sponsors, but we're a little bit more selective.

00:13:51Spin or reality?

00:13:53Let's look at the State of the Union.

00:13:55Number of races currently on the Formula 1 calendar, 18, and with events in Abu Dhabi

00:13:59and hopefully the U.S. and or India joining soon, that takes us up and even over the agreed

00:14:05maximum races of 20.

00:14:07Turkey, moreover, is but one of the new frontier countries recently to have built a 250 million

00:14:12dollar super circuit specifically for Formula 1.

00:14:15Look at Abu Dhabi and add then the new tracks in Bahrain, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur quickly

00:14:20to identify a segment of the Formula 1 economy that comfortably exceeds one billion dollars.

00:14:27The average expenditure of the current Formula 1 teams, including personnel, engines, research

00:14:31and development and logistics, is around 200 million dollars.

00:14:35And from where does that money come?

00:14:37Bernie Eccleston is notoriously monosyllabic about internal Formula 1 finances, but most

00:14:42team owners agree that the 10 teams receive an average of 50 million dollars from TV rights,

00:14:48circuit appearance fees and Formula 1 endorsement.

00:14:50That leaves an average of 150 million dollars per team generated by commercial sponsorship.

00:14:55Most of the big tobacco companies have gone, but their place has been comfortably filled

00:14:59by the telecoms, IT and banking sectors.

00:15:02The ultra-exclusive Formula 1 paddock club, a five-star day out that is replicated at

00:15:06all 18 races, attracts a conservative average of 70 guests per team, per race.

00:15:11That's 70 times 10 times 18 times 3,000 dollars a head, or another 40 million dollars.

00:15:18Then there are the trade industries, like the hundreds of technical suppliers like Bridgestone,

00:15:21logistics companies, event organisers, media and PR agencies, catering firms and travel

00:15:26shops who exist exclusively via the Formula 1 economy.

00:15:30Again conservatively, this sector turns over another 100 million dollars.

00:15:34As proof of Formula 1's economic strength, consider, too, that there's never been more

00:15:38American money in Formula 1, despite the absence of a U.S. race driver or team.

00:15:44What then of Super Aguri?

00:15:45Well, in reality, of course, they were not a classic Formula 1 team.

00:15:48They were a cloned Honda Formula 1 team, and in that sense, they didn't play to the strengths

00:15:53of Formula 1's growing, ever-growing economy.

00:15:56All in, it is about a two billion dollar business, and without question, one of the great marketing

00:16:03platforms in worldwide sport.

00:16:06There's Heikki Kovalainen, the miracle man, after that huge crash two weeks ago in Spain.

00:16:11He is back on the grid, and not just on the grid, he is up on row one for the first time

00:16:16in his young Formula 1 career.

00:16:18Now let's go back to Peter Windsor, standing by with McLaren chairman, Ron Dennis.

00:16:23Ron, great to talk to you.

00:16:25Robert Kubica is interesting.

00:16:27He's quite into getting the whole nose remodeling business, but he wonders if there's anything

00:16:31else he should do at the same time.

00:16:32He's doing well.

00:16:34It was meant to be a humorous and not a personal comment.

00:16:37You shouldn't perpetuate this.

00:16:39I'm not, Ron.

00:16:40Good performance.

00:16:41Lewis didn't look very happy yesterday.

00:16:43He looked like he was a man who had the pole in sight.

00:16:45He was definitely a little bit overdriving.

00:16:49The car was more than capable of getting pole, but it's one of those things.

00:16:55We'll see.

00:16:56We will indeed.

00:16:57Thank you very much indeed, Rod.

00:16:58Best of luck.

00:17:00Well, way to throw your driver under the bus, Ron.

00:17:02Thanks, coach.

00:17:03Put me in the game.

00:17:04There's Mark Webber and his Red Bull Renault.

00:17:07Our Acura pre-race show is coming to an end for round five of the 2008 Formula 1 season.

00:17:12The Turkish Grand Prix is up next, so stay right there.

00:17:17Appearances can be deceiving.

00:17:18In the season's first race, Lewis Hamilton and McLaren scored a decisive victory, a triumph

00:17:25that promised a bright future and also brought a wave of relief.

00:17:29The nightmares of last year seemed all at once to belong to the past.

00:17:34Just as important, Ferrari had its worst day in recent memory, squandering the aura that

00:17:39had been created when Kimi Räikkönen upset McLaren in the last moments of last season.

00:17:44Now, with just four races run, the picture is dramatically different.

00:17:48Both of Ferrari's drivers have scored victories in a three-race winning spree that has seen

00:17:54Kimi seizing, and then extending, his lead in the championship.

00:17:57If there are any weaknesses at Ferrari, they're well hidden.

00:18:01McLaren, by contrast, has been beset by troubles that have been highly visible.

00:18:07BMW is suddenly in the game.

00:18:09They have a fast car and a luminous new star in Robert Kubica.

00:18:13Should Ferrari stumble, the win could go not to the Silver Arrows, but to the White Knights

00:18:18of the Barrel.

00:18:20Renault was counted out, despite the virtuosity of double world champion Fernando Alonso.

00:18:25But two weeks ago in Spain, Alonso vaulted from the middle of the pack to the front row

00:18:30of the grid, showing promise that surprised even the man himself.

00:18:35Right now, the future has to be seen through a mist that is colored Ferrari red.

00:18:40But a breeze could blow that away in a moment.

00:18:42After all, this is only the fifth race of 18.

00:18:45We may be at the end of the beginning, but we're a long way from the beginning of the

00:18:49end.

00:18:50The Grand Prix of Turkey is next.

00:19:06For centuries, exotic Istanbul was the center of the Ottoman Empire.

00:19:09Since 1923, it's been the capital of the modern Turkish Republic.

00:19:13But for the last two years, it has been Masa land, as in Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who

00:19:18will start from pole, seeking his third straight win in round five of the Formula One season,

00:19:23the Turkish Grand Prix.

00:19:24Hello, everybody.

00:19:25I'm Bob Varsha with David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, Peter Windsor.

00:19:28Let's get right to the action.

00:19:29Our BMW track analysis.

00:19:31David?

00:19:32On board with Felipe Massa as he set the fastest time.

00:19:34This is a 3.18 mile circuit.

00:19:36It's got a lot of elevation change, and of course, it's one of the few tracks that goes

00:19:39anti-clockwise.

00:19:40Turn one, left hander downhill, very poor grip there, but as you turn into turn two,

00:19:45the grip improves enormously as you're going up this hill.

00:19:48Unfortunately, right on the crest of the hill, we've got three and then downhill to

00:19:52turn seven.

00:19:53A long run down here.

00:19:54Could see some overtaking into turn seven, but it's a corner that goes in tight and then

00:19:58unwinds.

00:19:59So these guys are flat on it from about there, and then they stay pretty much flat on it

00:20:04as they go into the four apex turn eight.

00:20:06Just a little bit of a lift, 155 mile an hour here.

00:20:09You can see where all the skid plates have been dragging on the floor there.

00:20:12Maximum downforce at maximum speed as you go through that long left hander, very tough

00:20:16on the neck.

00:20:17Down to nine and ten, a left-right complex, but you want to get the exit of ten pretty

00:20:21good because it's a long straight from here up to twelve.

00:20:24In the meantime, he crests it there, go down a little dip here through turn eleven, up

00:20:29over a crest.

00:20:30This is one of your big overtaking opportunities coming up into twelve, and this is where the

00:20:34McLarens were a bit slow in this next sector.

00:20:36You've got twelve, thirteen and fourteen, all tight, slowish corners.

00:20:40You've got to get them all right, obviously, especially as you come off this last turn

00:20:44fourteen, because there's a good chance of overtaking going into turn one.

00:20:50That is the calamity corner, that last three-corner complex.

00:20:54Cars are rolling off.

00:20:55Here's the starting grid for round five of the world championship.

00:20:58On the pole, Felipe Massa and Ferrari.

00:21:00As I mentioned, his third straight pole.

00:21:02The other two both led to victories, leading all but seven of 116 laps.

00:21:06Next to him, A.K.

00:21:07Kovalainen in the McLaren Mercedes, the Finns' first career front row start.

00:21:11Lewis Hamilton in the second McLaren for only the second time in his four-long career

00:21:14lines up third, alongside Kimi Räikkönen, the points leader.

00:21:19Strangely enough, he's faster than anybody else through the speed trap except Massa.

00:21:24At over 200 miles an hour, on row three, Robert Kubica of Poland in the first of the BMW Saubers.

00:21:30Out of the top four on the grid for the first time this season.

00:21:33Next to him, Australian Mark Webber of the Red Bull Renault, quickest in Saturday's final

00:21:36practice, equalling his best grid position of the year.

00:21:40World champion Fernando Alonso in his Renault lines up in seventh spot.

00:21:43Still looks like he's fighting that car pretty hard.

00:21:45Alongside the Toyota, Jarno Trulli, who's in eighth spot, same as Spain last week or

00:21:49two weeks ago.

00:21:50His worst two qualifying positions of the year.

00:21:52On row five, Nick Heidfeld of the second BMW Sauber, celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday.

00:21:58But he qualified four places behind his teammate, which was no fun.

00:22:01Next to him, David Coulthard of the second of the Red Bull Renaults, who made the top

00:22:04ten in qualifying for the first time since the season opener in Australia.

00:22:08Niko Rosberg still strange off the pace as Williams Toyota lines up 11th.

00:22:11Niko was seven when Ruben Barrichello made his debut for appearance 257 races ago.

00:22:16Ruben's also outqualified button for the third time this year.

00:22:18On row seven is Jenson Button.

00:22:20Yet again, the slowest car in a straight line, nine miles an hour off the pace of Raikkonen.

00:22:25Next to him, Sebastian Vettel of Germany in the STR Ferrari, hoping to complete lap one

00:22:30for only the second time in five races.

00:22:33The second Toyota, Timo Glock, had a disastrous qualifying two.

00:22:35He should be up with his teammate.

00:22:36Lines up 15th.

00:22:37Next to him, Kaz Nakajima in the second Williams Toyota failed to get a Q1.

00:22:42On row nine, Nelson Piquet in the Renaults, still struggling a full three-quarters of

00:22:45a second off of teammate Alonso's pace.

00:22:48Next to him, Sebastian Bordet in the second STR, who blamed the Force India drivers for

00:22:52holding him up in Q1.

00:22:53Well, the Force India drivers are back on the back row through until 19th, because Fisichella

00:22:57got a three-stop penalty for crossing the red light on Friday morning.

00:23:03And as mentioned, no Super Aguri Hondas, so we have just 20 cars in today's race.

00:23:08Now, to the Toyota story lines for the Turkish Grand Prix.

00:23:11Steve?

00:23:12Well, for me, it's Raikkonen.

00:23:13Fuel load, 1.9 seconds is the difference between Q2 and Q3.

00:23:17Is he carrying a lot of fuel, or is he a little bit slow?

00:23:19We're going to see as the race unfolds.

00:23:22What the hecky.

00:23:23Hecky Kayvalonen had a huge crash just two weeks ago.

00:23:25Back in the car.

00:23:26Not only back in the car, but on the front row for the first time in his young career.

00:23:30Pretty good recovery, I'd say.

00:23:32For me, it's all about Istanbul massacre.

00:23:35It's been all about Felipe Massa and Ferrari the last two years here in Turkey.

00:23:40He's going to try to make it three straight today and climb up the championship standings.

00:23:45The cars are now set.

00:23:46Here come the lights for round five of the 2008 Formula 1 season.

00:23:51Turn up the volume, wake up the neighbors, and enjoy the start of the Turkish Grand Prix.

00:23:55And turn one here is notorious.

00:23:58Fast approach, tight downhill left hand.

00:24:00Long, long hold.

00:24:02I don't know if they're waiting for a green flag from the back or what, but let's go.

00:24:05Oh, wow.

00:24:06Is there a problem with the lights here?

00:24:10Oh, here we go.

00:24:13Good start for Alonso toward the back.

00:24:22Massa.

00:24:23Oh, Raikkonen almost got together with Alonso, who's charging forward as the Ferrari is going

00:24:29backwards.

00:24:31Nakajima.

00:24:32Nakajima and the Williams, Toyota, and Fisichella, I believe, in the force, India F1.

00:24:36Off the clean line, Massa, Hamilton, Kubica charge forward.

00:24:41The dirty line starters got left.

00:24:45Raikkonen very slow down in one.

00:24:53Alonso got a terrific start.

00:24:55There he is in fourth place.

00:24:57Safety car is on track.

00:25:01There's the force India car.

00:25:03Yeah, we still haven't seen the graphic on screen from FOM to say safety car.

00:25:07There we go.

00:25:08Right there.

00:25:09Oh, boy.

00:25:10That is the worst feeling in the world.

00:25:13I can absolutely guarantee you that awful, gut-wrenching feeling of being out of a race,

00:25:18any race on the first lap.

00:25:21So now, again, just to refresh our memories under this safety car period, any car that

00:25:26has been damaged is allowed to return to the pits and have mechanical work done to the car.

00:25:30Here we go.

00:25:31We see the Williams guys getting ready to change their nose.

00:25:34Here comes Nakajima, who was involved in that frac car.

00:25:37Oh, the rear wing's gone, guys.

00:25:39Yeah.

00:25:40Yeah, it's so difficult to change the rear wing.

00:25:42I think this will be a retirement from the race.

00:25:44He even lost the wing on the airbox.

00:25:46On the airbox.

00:25:47Yeah.

00:25:48Oh, boy.

00:25:49That must have been a bit hairy.

00:25:50I've got up there.

00:25:52I need a new front wing.

00:25:55I need a new front wing.

00:25:58I need a new front wing.

00:26:01Both four cars in trouble.

00:26:03So, again, as they clear the debris away from the track there, they are allowed to work

00:26:10on the cars mechanically.

00:26:11They're not allowed to refuel the cars until they give the pit lane open signal.

00:26:16Let's have another look at the restart.

00:26:18Excuse me.

00:26:19Another look at the start.

00:26:20Look at the clean line cars.

00:26:221, 2, 3.

00:26:23Rocketing into turn one.

00:26:24Oh.

00:26:25Raikkonen got cut off there by Kovalainen, and that allowed Alonso to go around the outside.

00:26:28Oh, wow.

00:26:29The car of Fisichella went right over the top of Nakajima.

00:26:32This will be a great view.

00:26:33Watch this.

00:26:34Watch it from here.

00:26:35He goes right over the top.

00:26:36Oh, too hot into the corner.

00:26:39He just ran up the back of the Williams.

00:26:42Boy, oh, boy.

00:26:43I'm not sure what Fisichella was thinking there.

00:26:45On board with Raikkonen.

00:26:46Now, watch the slow start.

00:26:50He launches up alongside Kovalainen.

00:26:52Wow.

00:26:53Kovalainen there.

00:26:54That was pretty close.

00:26:55And there goes Alonso.

00:26:56There goes Alonso.

00:26:57Boy, I'll tell you what, Alonso, when he gets the old rag up, he just goes down the outside

00:27:02there.

00:27:03He's...

00:27:04Boy, Raikkonen had to have been muttering to himself.

00:27:07What is going on here?

00:27:09Okay.

00:27:10We're behind the safety car.

00:27:11The field is neutralized.

00:27:12Let's go to Peter Windsor.

00:27:13Thanks, Bob.

00:27:14Yes, a couple of thoughts from that.

00:27:15That's the second big mistake Gene Keller, Fisichella has made this weekend.

00:27:19Remember, he went through that red light in practice as well.

00:27:21Not very good for a driver of his experience.

00:27:23First point.

00:27:24Secondly, we believe Lewis Hamilton has less fuel on board than his teammate, Heikki Kovalainen.

00:27:28We believe that because he looked so grumpy after qualifying yesterday.

00:27:31And it stands to reason with Ron Dennis saying he thinks he had the pole in sights with Lewis.

00:27:35So a great start for Lewis.

00:27:36Above all, he needed to be in front of his teammate, Heikki, to take advantage of that

00:27:40lighter fuel load.

00:27:41And finally, good to see Kimi Raikkonen driving like a potential world champion again because

00:27:47he stayed right out of trouble.

00:27:49Lots of incidents he could have forced the issue with there and he didn't.

00:27:51And equally, he might well have let Massa get on with the pole having lost most of Friday

00:27:55practice.

00:27:56So Kimi, for sure, thinking of points in this race and not being too aggressive.

00:27:59Good points all, Peter.

00:28:00Very good points, yeah.

00:28:01But of course, this safety car is not what Hamilton needed if he really is running light.

00:28:06There's the change in grid position to current standings.

00:28:09Lights are out.

00:28:10The lights are off on the safety car.

00:28:12Just before we threw down to Peter Windsor there, we saw the graphic from FOM come on

00:28:17screen to say pit lane open, which is a requirement from the sporting regulations.

00:28:21That allows the teams to go in and refuel.

00:28:24Hamilton wants a good start here.

00:28:26He is all over the back of Massa's Ferrari.

00:28:28Robert Kubica right there as well.

00:28:30Here we go.

00:28:31Yeah, he's not going to let Massa get away if he can help it here.

00:28:34We saw Alonzo last week, remember, made such a terrible restart.

00:28:37Now he's all over Kubica.

00:28:40And Kovalainen, I wonder if he has some damage.

00:28:47That will do.

00:28:51Kovalainen's race no good at all.

00:28:53Here's the McLaren guys now.

00:28:54What are they doing?

00:28:55Or are we changing pit strategy?

00:28:57Well, off with the hards and on with the hards.

00:28:59So it's not a problem, per se, where the tires may be picked up a slow puncture.

00:29:03Real slow at the front right corner.

00:29:05Well, maybe, you know, they have telemetry figures streaming off the car.

00:29:08They have sensors in each wheel and tire, which will give the team an indication if there's a slow puncture.

00:29:13That'll be flashed upon telemetry.

00:29:14So perhaps, perhaps that's the reason.

00:29:17There's Kimi Räikkönen.

00:29:20Is Kimi Räikkönen the only one of these front runners on soft tires?

00:29:22I think he is.

00:29:23Yes, he is.

00:29:24Almost the entire field is on the hard tires.

00:29:26Rubens Barrichello started on the soft tires and both of the Ferraris did too.

00:29:31But the Ferraris just seem to be able to make these soft tires work so well.

00:29:35I mean, at Silverson last year, Kimi Räikkönen surprised everybody by running two stints on soft tires.

00:29:40Having a good run on Alonzo.

00:29:44Now, don't forget, the Ferrari is doing over 201 to the speed trap into this corner.

00:29:50He just walked right by the Renault right there.

00:29:52Alonzo gets a little wide.

00:29:54He's coming under fire from Mark Webber, who's had a terrific weekend thus far.

00:29:58But you're right, guys.

00:29:59The Ferraris, absolutely amazing how they seem to be able to handle these soft compound tires.

00:30:04The story from the engineers all weekend long is, which tire compound did we use?

00:30:08They have been thinking about that, debating it, discussing it from Friday right through, really, to the start of the race.

00:30:15You see a lot of indecision on the grid.

00:30:17But you're right.

00:30:18The Ferraris just seem to be able to handle the tires so much better.

00:30:22Well, it's worth noting, once again, in replay, you see Kimi Räikkönen putting away Fernando Alonzo's Renault.

00:30:27We're using the same Bridgestone tires, the hard and medium compounds, that we used two weeks ago in Spain,

00:30:34where it was as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it is here in Turkey.

00:30:38I mean, it is incredible, the speed that Ferraris got.

00:30:41Yeah.

00:30:42Very, very fast, indeed.

00:30:43And you're right.

00:30:44And just to give a little explanation of that, it is the heat difference, the ambient temperature here.

00:30:49Running the race earlier in the year, it's nowhere near as hot as they expected it to be.

00:30:53And it's actually cooler here now, or was over the weekend, than it was in Spain.

00:30:58And that has just caught the tire engineers off guard.

00:31:00The soft compound tires really wanted to be hotter for the rest of the field.

00:31:05And then they start to suffer from this graining, if it is cool,

00:31:07with little tiny grain-like pieces of rubber roll across the surface of the tire on the soft compound tires

00:31:13until they come up to temperature.

00:31:15So, which is why the majority seem to be favoring the hard tire.

00:31:18They get a more consistent feel out of the tires over a longer run.

00:31:22Felipe Massa inexorably edges away from Lewis Hamilton.

00:31:26He's now 6 tenths of a second in front.

00:31:29Hamilton on the hard tires, we've just been explaining all that.

00:31:32Felipe Massa on the soft one.

00:31:34There's a rumor going around this weekend that while several of the teams asked for

00:31:40and were given permission to make small changes to the

00:31:43here-to-4 frozen specifications of their 2.4 liter V8 engines,

00:31:48Ferrari, one of the teams that was allowed to make changes to their specification

00:31:53in the name of reliability, specifically the oiling,

00:31:57but a lot of teams are now thinking that the Ferrari seems to be a lot more powerful

00:32:01than it was before those changes were made,

00:32:03which would be in contravention of the spirit, if not the letter of the rules.

00:32:10Of course, a lot of that could be aerodynamics as well.

00:32:12Peter Windsor.

00:32:14Well, Bob, down at the back of the McLaren garage,

00:32:16I'm afraid not much to report.

00:32:18The only spoken...

00:32:20One more stop, I should say. Really two stops.

00:32:22But technically, it is a one-stopper race now for Kovalainen.

00:32:26And I think it's a one-stop race for David Coulthard too,

00:32:28who was three and a half seconds slower in Q3 than he was in Q2.

00:32:32The big question is, how much fuel has Lewis Hamilton got on board?

00:32:36Yes.

00:32:37There is David Coulthard.

00:32:38Was he running that light?

00:32:39You know, reading between the lines, what Ron Dennis said to Peter on the grid there,

00:32:43that he was running that light.

00:32:45Reading between the lines, what Ron Dennis said to Peter on the grid there,

00:32:48that he thought, you know, that Hamilton should have been on the pole

00:32:51or could have been on the pole.

00:32:52So if he is running very light, I mean, look for him to be stopping fairly soon.

00:32:57Yeah.

00:32:59The Gimpster.

00:33:15There it is.

00:33:16Turn 8.

00:33:17Four apexes, 155 miles an hour in average speed.

00:33:23250 clicks, Mark Webber said.

00:33:27And of course, it's flat and it's bumpy too as well through there.

00:33:30So you see a lot of those...

00:33:33The plank smoke.

00:33:34The plank smoke and you see a lot of plank marks on the road there

00:33:36because they've got maximum downforce.

00:33:38Well, not maximum, pretty much maximum downforce.

00:33:40They go through a bumpy corner.

00:33:41But it is interesting to see how the Ferrari handles Turn 8 so well.

00:33:44There's no attempt from the Ferrari drivers to shift off line

00:33:46where those bumpy parts of the track are.

00:33:48They have great, great mechanical traction on the car as well.

00:33:52The Ferrari this year has got everything working well.

00:33:58Peter Windsor with more on David Coulthard's fuel level.

00:34:01Well, Bob, yes, only just to add a little bit of color to what you were saying

00:34:04about him being on high level of fuel.

00:34:06Interesting reason for that is because he'd used up all his soft tires

00:34:09by the time he got into Q3.

00:34:11So there was no way he was going to do a quick time anyway.

00:34:13They just loaded the car up with the fuel and he went out on the harder tire

00:34:15and that was it.

00:34:16Quite a good call, really, from his point of view.

00:34:18And probably quite annoying for Nico Rosberg

00:34:20because he was saying he was the first guy,

00:34:22because he was just out the top ten,

00:34:23who could run a full load of fuel.

00:34:25But, of course, it's DC ahead of him who's doing that.

00:34:30There's Kimi Raikkonen.

00:34:31This is the second race on the engine

00:34:34of both of the Varsity Ferraris as well as the STR Ferraris,

00:34:37both Renaults, the BMW of Robert Kubica and both of the Toyotas.

00:34:42Everybody else has a fresh power plant.

00:34:49Welcome back live to the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix.

00:34:52Bob Barsha, David Hoff, Steve Matchett, Peter Windsor with you.

00:34:55We just saw Nico Rosberg in the Williams Toyota,

00:34:58now aboard the works car of Jarno Trulli chasing David Coulthard's Red Bull.

00:35:07Ninth and tenth.

00:35:12Look at the length of the stems of those mirrors.

00:35:28Well, they lift those first three apexes,

00:35:31then they nail it, don't they,

00:35:33through that fourth one, absolutely flat out.

00:35:36Interesting comments, I thought, from Toyota on the grid there,

00:35:39talking about the rim problem they had on the Toyota,

00:35:42thinking back to Kovalainen's problems in the Spanish Grand Prix.

00:35:45I wonder whether or not that is a reaction to that.

00:35:47All the teams are beginning to look at their rims now.

00:35:50They're saying, you know, that the rim is so light

00:35:52and it's starting to flex a little bit,

00:35:54and again, suffering from clamp load,

00:35:56which is something they believe that happened to Kovalainen's car,

00:35:59just caused by a Spanish car.

00:36:02It wouldn't be at all surprising now,

00:36:04if all teams are thinking, you know,

00:36:06guys, our rims are so light, they're right on the edge.

00:36:10Lewis Hamilton, fast lap,

00:36:12resetting his own best time for 1.27.307.

00:36:16Rosberg, you know, again, like two weeks ago in Spain,

00:36:19he gained four spots on the first lap,

00:36:22and he's gained three spots on the second lap,

00:36:25and he's gained four spots on the third lap.

00:36:29And he's gained three spots since the start of this race too,

00:36:32so Nico Rosberg really trying to get on with the program,

00:36:37but they seem to be a bit slow in qualifying for some reason or other.

00:36:40Rear view camera off David Coulthard's RB4 chassis,

00:36:43looking back towards Trulli's TF108 in the background there,

00:36:48that extended dorsal fin.

00:36:50The idea of that, again, just to clean the airflow,

00:36:53give clean airflow towards the rear wing,

00:36:55and you can see it there on that shot,

00:36:57perfectly sort of aligned to the exact center.

00:36:59There's a little hole, a little gap in the rear element of the Red Bull chassis.

00:37:04Lewis Hamilton about to reset fast lap again.

00:37:07Purple in sectors one and two of the three.

00:37:13He's humming.

00:37:14Yeah, he's humming right along.

00:37:15Felipe Massa there.

00:37:16Of course, these two guys, we think, have got about the same sort of fuel load.

00:37:20Robert Kubica coming into the picture behind.

00:37:22Just 3.6 seconds behind Hamilton now.

00:37:244.2 seconds behind him now.

00:37:26Ymir Aycan in one and a half seconds behind Kubica.

00:37:29The key to this battle, guys, right here, is how much fuel,

00:37:33as we've just talked about,

00:37:34how much fuel has Hamilton got on board relative to Massa?

00:37:37My best guess, talking to people last night,

00:37:39is that Massa probably will pit 18.19, lap 18.19, there or thereabouts.

00:37:45Hamilton probably 15 or 16.

00:37:47So maybe Massa has about three more laps of fuel on board.

00:37:52Which, in weight terms, is quite significant.

00:37:54So really, Hamilton should be taking the fight now.

00:37:56If that's the case, Hamilton should be fast right now.

00:37:59And because he's considerably lighter than Massa,

00:38:01he should be taking the fight to Massa.

00:38:03Doesn't seem to be able to do that at the moment to me.

00:38:06There's Kovalainen trying to come forward.

00:38:08Currently in 18th position.

00:38:10That's Adrian Sutil in the Force India Ferrari ahead in 17th.

00:38:14Sutil has also stopped.

00:38:17Nakajima, as well as Giancarlo Fisichella,

00:38:19now shown as out of the race.

00:38:21Yeah, and you remember Sutil came on the radio

00:38:23just after that first last skirmish,

00:38:25and had a new nose fitted onto his car, too.

00:38:27So he's already done that one pit stop.

00:38:29And we'll say Kovalainen in for that one pit stop

00:38:31because of the slow puncture.

00:38:32So he should be good to go to about half distance of the race.

00:38:35But look at the speed compared to Sutil.

00:38:37I mean, look at the speed.

00:38:39He should be good to go to about half distance of the race.

00:38:41But look at the speed compared to Sutil.

00:38:43But, of course, getting by is a different thing altogether.

00:38:45Through here, of course, that air

00:38:47being disturbed badly by Sutil.

00:38:49So he can't administer the old coup de grace.

00:38:51But he should be able to use the tow down here.

00:38:56Steve, also an interesting battle of strategy,

00:38:58I think, between Fernando Alonso in the Renault

00:39:00and Mark Webber in the Red Bull.

00:39:02We've seen Webber's pace empty and with fuel on board.

00:39:04At the moment, he doesn't quite have the edge on Alonso,

00:39:07which would suggest also that, like Hamilton,

00:39:10maybe Alonso is running a little bit lighter

00:39:12than his nearest rival, Mark Webber.

00:39:14Yeah, I think that's a good point, Peter.

00:39:16It is. And again, you know,

00:39:18we can't really overstate

00:39:20weight is so, so important to these cars.

00:39:23I mean, down to the absolute last gram,

00:39:25you can see a time difference on timing and scoring

00:39:28because timing and scoring goes down to thousandths of a second.

00:39:31Kovalainen all over Sutil now.

00:39:35That's a bit of a surprise

00:39:37because that Force India car,

00:39:39which appears to have made aerodynamic strides recently,

00:39:42has that Ferrari 2.4 litre V8 in the back.

00:39:46I don't expect, quite frankly,

00:39:48it's quite the same as the Ferrari engines

00:39:50in Felipe Masch and Kimi Räikkönen's car, somehow.

00:39:57Guys, you've got to wonder at this point

00:39:59how annoyed Ron Dennis must be about this.

00:40:01Not necessarily because of Hecky's pit stop.

00:40:03Of course, that would have irritated him.

00:40:04But look how similar the two cars are in terms of graphics.

00:40:07I've got to tell you also,

00:40:08their two motorhomes are almost identical.

00:40:10All tinted glass, mirrored glass.

00:40:12Can't go anywhere near them.

00:40:13And they're both next to one another in the pit lane

00:40:15and in motorhome alley.

00:40:16So, it'd be quite fun to go up to Ron at this moment

00:40:18and say, Ron, a bit difficult to tell the difference

00:40:20between your car and the Force India car.

00:40:22Well, we'll leave that to you, Peter.

00:40:24Yeah, we will.

00:40:26Ricciolo is holding me up. Ricciolo is holding me up.

00:40:30Right.

00:40:35Barrichello in 12th.

00:40:36Timo Glock in 13th.

00:40:41Timo Glock didn't qualify very well.

00:40:42Had a horrible start, but now he's behind.

00:40:44The gap between Massa and Hamilton

00:40:46is now down to 1.1 seconds.

00:40:49As you see, Lewis Hamilton

00:40:50continues to put the hammer down,

00:40:52improving fast lap to a 26.8.

00:40:57It's funny that Peter should mention

00:40:58that you don't dare go near those structures

00:41:01in motorhome alley for Force India F1

00:41:04and McLaren Mercedes.

00:41:05After all, they are called hospitality units.

00:41:10But the graphics are horribly similar, aren't they?

00:41:12They are.

00:41:13Cats has been out all the time.

00:41:14Here he goes.

00:41:15Kovalainen going down the outside.

00:41:18And Sutil, he hopes.

00:41:20Sutil lurking there on the inside still.

00:41:24And Kovalainen going plenty wide that we couldn't see,

00:41:26but he's going plenty wide to make...

00:41:29Something...

00:41:30I think it's just debris.

00:41:31I think it's just paper or something on the track.

00:41:33Looks like Sutil might have left it

00:41:35a little too late there for a second.

00:41:38This is David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli

00:41:40still at it over 9th place.

00:41:43Jarno Trulli actually slightly quicker of the two.

00:41:46But of course, that's the penalty

00:41:47for making a dodgy start,

00:41:49truly losing two spots on the start.

00:41:51Rossvere picking up three.

00:41:53The qualifying performance for Red Bull Renault

00:41:556th and 10th on the grid is even more impressive

00:41:58when you think that in the final session of qualifying,

00:42:01they didn't even go out for about three minutes to go.

00:42:04They each got basically one odd lap.

00:42:08Welcome back live to round 5

00:42:09of the 2008 Formula 1 season here on Speed.

00:42:12The Turkish Grand Prix.

00:42:13Fernando Alonso is in the pits.

00:42:1615 laps in.

00:42:18Quite a lot of fuel going on board.

00:42:20Alonso there.

00:42:2110.1 seconds total time.

00:42:23Alonso in a little bit before we expected.

00:42:25But now we're right in that pit stop window

00:42:27for where we expect Hamilton to be in the pits.

00:42:29Lap 15, there or thereabouts.

00:42:32Again, we suspect Massa running about three laps more fuel

00:42:36than Hamilton,

00:42:37which equates to about 18 pounds in weight

00:42:41extra on Massa.

00:42:4318 pounds in weight extra on Massa's car relative to Hamilton.

00:42:48Well, that should make Hamilton

00:42:50about 0.3 of a second per lap faster.

00:42:53Of course, you've got to factor into that.

00:42:55Of course, they're two different cars.

00:42:56Right.

00:42:57And they are using two different compounds of tyres.

00:42:59Hamilton, what should be effectively the slower tyre,

00:43:02but a more consistent tyre.

00:43:03And as we're saying at the top of the race there,

00:43:05Ferrari just being able to make better use

00:43:07out of those soft compound tyres.

00:43:10As we see Lewis Hamilton coming into the pits now

00:43:14at the end of the 15th lap, the end of his 16th lap.

00:43:18They don't look ready.

00:43:22Unless they're trying to fog one by somebody.

00:43:24I think that's what they were doing.

00:43:26Just not letting them know he was coming.

00:43:33It's the Force F1 guys getting out of the way.

00:43:40Another set of hard compound Bridgestones.

00:43:43This fella right here is your fire marshal.

00:43:45Requirement to the sports and regulations,

00:43:47you must have that extinguisher ready

00:43:50at all times you're in a pit stop.

00:43:52Not much fuel when I'm boiling it, see?

00:43:54Very short stop indeed.

00:43:59Hamilton pitted from second.

00:44:00Alonso from fifth.

00:44:03Alonso rejoins in tenth.

00:44:0917 laps of fuel. Peter Windsor.

00:44:11Bob, interesting that pit position that McLaren now have

00:44:14at the wrong end of the pit lane, if you like.

00:44:16But in reality, it could be a good place to be

00:44:18because it looked to me there as if the distance

00:44:20between the McLaren pit area and the speed limit line

00:44:23allowed Lewis just to gun it out of the pit stop

00:44:25and just go for it without having to worry about the speed limiter.

00:44:27That may be one less thing to think about.

00:44:29It could be an advantage for him. Who knows?

00:44:32Which brings up a good point.

00:44:33It's just bizarre to me that because McLaren scored

00:44:36no constructor's points last year in the aftermath

00:44:38of the Spygate industrial espionage saga,

00:44:41that they are relegated to the far end of the pit lane

00:44:44which has fewer facilities at the typical Formula 1 racetrack

00:44:48than at others, which is totally bizarre to me.

00:44:51If they go to the facilities...

00:44:53All the pits would be the same.

00:44:54They should be.

00:45:01Masa has been absolutely bulletproof here

00:45:04the last two, now going on three years, at Turkey.

00:45:08And it comes at a very critical juncture

00:45:10in the young Brazilian's career.

00:45:14Peter?

00:45:15Well, Bob, just to add to that business of the facilities,

00:45:17yes, of course the facilities are the same in the garage,

00:45:20but I was talking to the tyre man at McLaren earlier today,

00:45:24so we see Heikki Kovalainen just passing,

00:45:26looked like Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso there.

00:45:30Nice pass again.

00:45:31Heikki doing a good job from the back of the field now.

00:45:33But just going back to the facilities,

00:45:34the problem, of course, is something like Bridgestone.

00:45:37And the tyre guy had a pedometer on him in Barcelona

00:45:40and had to walk over 20 miles in three days

00:45:43up and down the Bridgestone.

00:45:44Bridgestone, of course, are right opposite Ferrari

00:45:46and the top teams.

00:45:48Wow.

00:45:50Need to give him a Segway or something.

00:45:54Well, as for Sebastian Vettel in the STR,

00:45:57he's probably just enjoying life.

00:45:58He's 17 laps into a Grand Prix.

00:46:00Three of the first four,

00:46:01he was walking home after lap one.

00:46:03But he qualified 14th,

00:46:05and he somehow got himself down to 17th now,

00:46:07whereas Sebastian Bordet, who qualified 18th,

00:46:09was making great strides here, up to 14th.

00:46:14Well, there it is.

00:46:15Catching up with Timo Glack.

00:46:18There's Robert Kubica.

00:46:20Second place now after Hamilton's pit stop.

00:46:23And he's got Kimi Raikkonen behind him in the Ferrari.

00:46:27Oh, Bob Kubica again doing a terrific job.

00:46:33Mark Webber in.

00:46:35Red Bull Renault.

00:46:36He qualified a bit on the light side there.

00:46:38Pits from fourth.

00:46:42He has scored all eight of his team's points this year.

00:46:51What scuffs going on?

00:46:57And Webber's points have been coming in increasing numbers

00:47:01as the car gets better.

00:47:02Zero in Australia,

00:47:03then two in Malaysia,

00:47:04two in Bahrain,

00:47:05and four in Spain.

00:47:07What's the white line, Mark?

00:47:08Yeah.

00:47:10Comes out behind Alonso, is that right?

00:47:14Yep.

00:47:15Just ahead of Nick Heidfeld.

00:47:18Who is now up to fifth.

00:47:22Excuse me, no, Heidfeld must have pitted

00:47:25as well.

00:47:28No, doesn't show a stop.

00:47:36There's Mark.

00:47:37There we go.

00:47:38Here comes Massa.

00:47:39Race leader is in.

00:47:44Putting the aforementioned Bob Kubica into the lead.

00:47:48Another set of softs going on.

00:47:50So Ferrari continues to run a very different tire strategy

00:47:53than just about everyone else.

00:47:55Well done.

00:47:56They waited for that pitting.

00:47:58Kubica's BMW Sauber to go by.

00:48:01Set their men on his way.

00:48:02Hard tires.

00:48:07Not much of the white stripe remaining on Massa's tires.

00:48:10There's the old tires that are coming off the car.

00:48:12They were well scrubbed.

00:48:13It's Nick Heidfeld going by.

00:48:15Kimi Räikkönen takes over the lead.

00:48:17There's Lewis Hamilton.

00:48:20Right on Massa's tail again.

00:48:24No doubt doing it muscly now.

00:48:28Massa's car, very squirrelly, just coming out of the pit lane there.

00:48:31Talking about that white line, you have to stop to the driver's left of that.

00:48:34But just as he came off pit lane, speed limiter.

00:48:36They were aware, the team were of course telling him where Hamilton was.

00:48:39And he was really gunning it as he came around there.

00:48:41The pack-in got light on him.

00:48:43Noticing a bit of a dip.

00:48:45Hamilton working hard.

00:48:46Watch as we head into Turn 8.

00:48:48Turn 8.

00:48:52Right there.

00:48:53Yeah.

00:48:56Of course, don't forget, this is an anti-clockwise circuit.

00:48:59So that is a long, long, long left-hander, which these guys are not used to.

00:49:02That would be counter-clockwise for those of you who speak English but not British.

00:49:07Sorry, Bob.

00:49:11Guys, interesting to see that Lewis does have Felipe in sights there.

00:49:14That being so, he's actually done a very good job on those couple of laps.

00:49:17On his out laps, in fact.

00:49:19Because in reality, Massa had a big advantage there.

00:49:22Three laps extra worth of fuel, or four laps extra worth of fuel.

00:49:25But Lewis has done a very good job on those two or three laps.

00:49:27And they're not at parity now, but they're closer than they were, if you like, at the start of the race.

00:49:35On board with Kimi Raikkonen, who just laid down a 1.26.506 for fast lap as he gets ready for his stop.

00:49:45The question is, when will it come for the world champion?

00:49:49Well, the bogey time for getting in and out of the pits, trouble-free from any other traffic and rivals around, is about 26.5 seconds.

00:49:56You need about 27 to be comfortable, but you can do it in around 26.5 seconds with a good start.

00:50:03There's Nico Rosberg. Meanwhile, Jarno Trulli is pitting the Toyota from eighth.

00:50:08Rosberg doing a heck of a job here, keeping Kubica, who came out just in front of him after that stop.

00:50:14So Robert Kubica's on new tires, obviously got a full fuel load, and Nico Rosberg running down a little bit.

00:50:18Still in all, Rosberg doing a good job at the moment, running in sixth spot.

00:50:23Ferrari in the pit lane. There you see that light standard.

00:50:26One of George Jetson's garage fixtures.

00:50:29Obviously getting ready for Raikkonen. The gap at the moment too high for 13.6. It'll be interesting how much fuel he's in.

00:50:35Oh, boy, oh, boy.

00:50:37What slamming at the end of the pit wall will be.

00:50:39Sorry, boys. Yeah, I speared the end of the pit wall.

00:50:41Hello, I'm here in the pit lane.

00:50:45That's my wheel bouncing down the pit lane.

00:50:49Red light is on.

00:50:51Soft, soft, soft, soft.

00:50:53Soft, soft, soft, soft.

00:50:58Ready and go.

00:51:00Ooh, bold move to send him just as Heidfeld was pitting.

00:51:05So the second place car is now in.

00:51:12So he's going to come out in front of Kubica.

00:51:15Upside here.

00:51:16Wait and see.

00:51:17Don't see any sign until here he comes.

00:51:19Yep. Yep.

00:51:21Yeah.

00:51:22Raikkonen and the Ferrari team managed to gain him some track position.

00:51:27Well, of course, Kubi Raikkonen cranks out those quick laps and pretty fast lap of the race so far.

00:51:31That makes it easier.

00:51:50Four and a half G's to the driver's right.

00:51:52Trying to tear his head off.

00:51:56Heiko Kovalainen said after his accident in Spain two weeks ago,

00:51:59he went back home to Finland specifically to work on his neck in preparation for this one of just three

00:52:06counterclockwise circuits on the Formula One calendar.

00:52:11Well, they need to because they're just not used to it.

00:52:14You know, they get such a workout going clockwise.

00:52:17And they get used to that.

00:52:18Of course, you can do so much training in the gym to do that.

00:52:20Lifting weights with a helmet.

00:52:22The drivers put a helmet on and they add weights to that helmet

00:52:25and just keep lifting and working those neck muscles.

00:52:27But there ain't no substitute for the real thing.

00:52:29No, there's not.

00:52:30Because there's so much side load goes on your body.

00:52:32Your whole upper torso gets a real workout.

00:52:35Well, Nico Rosberg currently running in sixth.

00:52:38Has not yet stopped.

00:52:40Highest placed person who never made it to Q3.

00:52:42Never made it to Q3.

00:52:45In case you're wondering, the other two counterclockwise circuits are

00:52:49Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paulo where we'll finish up the 2008 season

00:52:53and the new Street Circuit in Singapore that will host the first night race in Formula One history.

00:52:59And it will be absolutely spectacular.

00:53:01So be sure you're with us for that here on Speed.

00:53:0522 laps complete, a 58 scheduled.

00:53:07And the Turkish round of the Formula One World Championship will be back in a moment.

00:53:13Welcome back to the Turkish Grand Prix.

00:53:16Lewis Hamilton has now caught Felipe Massa's race-leading Ferrari.

00:53:21And he has been all over the back of the red car, corner after corner.

00:53:25Look at him going through turn 11 here.

00:53:27Gets a good tow.

00:53:28Oh, wow, look at this.

00:53:29This is the Ferrari.

00:53:31Just go down.

00:53:32He's not going to make it.

00:53:33Whoa!

00:53:36He does make it.

00:53:37Boy, I mean, last year he showed his powers of overtaking ability.

00:53:40And boy, you don't often see that.

00:53:42That was pretty impressive.

00:53:44Yeah, very impressive.

00:53:45Massa put up a fight too.

00:53:47Yeah.

00:53:48Well, I mean, the Ferrari, you know, was two and a half mile an hour quicker at least up the straight.

00:53:51But he got that tow and it just worked like a charm.

00:53:54Look at it.

00:53:55Wow.

00:53:56Fantastic.

00:53:57Well, just as we were in break there, we were contemplating fuel loads.

00:54:00It was a very fast stop for Hamilton.

00:54:02Let's have another look at it here.

00:54:04This overtaking maneuver.

00:54:06Hamilton on the inside.

00:54:07But Felipe Massa could believe that.

00:54:10It looks to me, guys, like Hamilton has considerably less fuel in his car now.

00:54:16About ten laps lighter.

00:54:17I mean, it was a fantastic move by Hamilton.

00:54:19But I think considerably lighter.

00:54:21And I think the reason he's doing this, make this ballsy move on Massa,

00:54:25it may be, may be that they've put Hamilton on a three-stopper relative to Ferrari's two-stopper race right here.

00:54:33In which case, Hamilton has to make the move on Ferrari.

00:54:36And does so.

00:54:37I'll tell you what.

00:54:38Every time you see it, you don't think he's going to make it.

00:54:40No.

00:54:41Yeah, but he just stuck in there.

00:54:43I mean, luckily for him, you know, Massa let him.

00:54:47I mean, in the end, he gave up.

00:54:50This is only the second lap that Lewis Hamilton has led since winning the season opener in Melbourne, Australia.

00:54:56Peter Windsor.

00:54:58Well, Steve, I think that's a great call from you.

00:55:00I have to say I agree with you.

00:55:02And it's almost as if Ferrari might have said to Massa,

00:55:04listen, we think Lewis is also on a three-stop strategy.

00:55:06And remember also that Lewis qualified on the harder of the two Bridgestones.

00:55:10We see how well now Ferrari are using the softer Bridgestone option.

00:55:14Lewis still, in theory, has two new sets of that option to go.

00:55:18So maybe they've decided to maximise those two sets by putting him on the three-stop strategy.

00:55:22Yeah, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

00:55:23You see now Lewis absolutely flying.

00:55:26But this is the only response, if they've done that,

00:55:28if McLaren's answer to Ferrari's ability to be able to get best use out of the option tyre is to run light,

00:55:35then this is exactly, exactly what McLaren must do.

00:55:39This is Heikki Kovalainen and Nelson Piquet.

00:55:42Oh, boy.

00:55:43Yeah.

00:55:45Problems continue for the son of a three-time world champion.

00:55:48Here's a view from...

00:55:50Oh, that was just...

00:55:52That's what they call an unforced error.

00:55:54Oh, Sebastian Bordet has the STR in the kitty litter.

00:55:57Oh, Sebastian Bordet is down in 17th after his stop, but it's going so well.

00:56:02Yeah, so is it, boys.

00:56:07Are they going to bring out the safety car, which is the last thing Hamilton wants to see?

00:56:11Here is the incident.

00:56:13Oh, they just lose it.

00:56:14On the brakes for 12.

00:56:18Yeah.

00:56:19It's so tempting to go deep into 12, but you've got to be able to fight your way out of it.

00:56:25Bordet braking later and later, but, boy, you put yourself at risk of doing exactly that.

00:56:29As David mentioned, Bordet had stopped while we were in commercial break,

00:56:32along with his teammates Sebastian Vettel, David Coulthard from 6th, and Nico Rosberg.

00:56:37Now, we're hoping that this is going to be for Kovalainen.

00:56:40Certainly McLaren are setting up.

00:56:41I'm sure that'll be for Kovalainen.

00:56:44We had him on lap 27.

00:56:47We're now serving 26, so there we are.

00:56:50Kovalainen in the pits.

00:56:51There we are.

00:56:54Looks like no safety car, which will be a boon for Hamilton.

00:56:57Now, if soft tyres go on the car, that's a great indication.

00:57:00It's going to be a single, well, one more stop for these.

00:57:03And what are they going?

00:57:04They're going hard.

00:57:07Again, just to clarify that, to the sporting regulations, each competitor, each driver has to use the compact.

00:57:13That's what Peter means, yeah, about that short run down to the pit exit there.

00:57:16Yeah.

00:57:17If there's an advantage of being right down to the end of the pit lane there with the junior teams, that's it.

00:57:24See the white stripe on the left rear of the Toyota.

00:57:27Almost gone.

00:57:28That right rear, I should say.

00:57:30Webber in the red bull.

00:57:31Button and Barrichello in the two Hondas.

00:57:33And Timo Glock in the Toyota.

00:57:357, 8, 9, and 10.

00:57:44Great stuff.

00:57:45Glock looking for a big step up in his season as you ride with Heikki Kovalainen.

00:57:49Speaking of great road racing, the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series will rock the corkscrew

00:57:53at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

00:57:55Some teams hoping to change their fortunes after a rough weekend at Virginia International most recently.

00:58:00Rolex Sports Car Series at Laguna Seca next Sunday at 12 Eastern, 9 Pacific, only here on Speed.

00:58:09Hamilton again sets the fastest first sector time.

00:58:12Sector 1, 31.9.

00:58:14Hamilton.

00:58:15Massa last time through was a 32.6.

00:58:18Rubens Barrichello ducked into the pit lane from ninth in the Honda.

00:58:22Well, Hamilton's already got a four-second lead over Felipe Massa.

00:58:25And he went purple in sector 1.

00:58:27This could be another fast lap.

00:58:28We're taking it away from Kimi Raikkonen, who has the current standard at 126.506.

00:58:37Webber, Button, Barrichello.

00:58:38Barrichello, not longer.

00:58:39He's just pulled into pits.

00:58:40Timo Glock.

00:58:43As we mentioned, Timo Glock.

00:58:44As you heard Peter Windsor discuss with John Howitt from Toyota,

00:58:47Glock suffered an apparent wheel stud problem that had those wheels vibrating.

00:58:53Going back to what you were saying earlier, Steve, about the McLaren incident with a failed wheel rim.

00:58:59You look at that incident where Mark Webber nosed the Red Bull Renault into the Armco in Friday's second practice

00:59:05and basically shattered the front end of the car.

00:59:08Are these cars getting too weight-conscious, too light?

00:59:11Are they asking too much of them structurally?

00:59:14Well, it's a constant fight, in my mind, between the FIA officials and the engineers.

00:59:20The engineers will make the car as light as the rules allow them to.

00:59:25And there is no weight restrictions and no weight-allowed rule applied to the rims.

00:59:32They can be as light as possible.

00:59:35So that's what it is, Bob.

00:59:37You put the weight onto the chassis because the regulations insist they do,

00:59:40because they have to be strong enough to pass the structural test.

00:59:43But there is no structural test on the rims or the suspension, as yet.

00:59:47When we saw that sector time there, every time we see that Hamilton's easing away,

00:59:51except in sector three, which is those tight corners.

00:59:57Well, the engineering is spectacular, but I think back to Hikikova-Leinen going into that tyre wall in Barcelona two weeks ago.

01:00:03We can laugh about it now, but boy, at the time.

01:00:06Well, that's that struggle for unsprung weight, too, which is why the wheels are so light.

01:00:10Yeah, absolutely, it is.

01:00:12Robert Kubica currently in fourth for BMW Sauber.

01:00:17We'll take a break and return with more from the Turkish Grand Prix approaching halfway.

01:00:27Robert, no radio from car to pit. We are racing Hamilton.

01:00:31We are racing Hamilton.

01:00:35No radio communication from the driver to his pit crew. Well, that'll make things easier.

01:00:42He says they're racing Hamilton, so...

01:00:44Which is interesting, because Kubica's in fourth.

01:00:46They're expecting Hamilton to be making a start pretty clean, then.

01:00:48Yep.

01:00:49Everybody noodling away on what the pit strategy is for McLaren,

01:00:53as they try to grapple with the superior performance of the Ferraris.

01:00:57Right now, Lewis Hamilton leads over Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen in third,

01:01:01then Kubica, Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW is in fifth,

01:01:05then Fernando Alonso sixth, Mark Webber seventh, Jenson Button in the eighth and final points-paying position.

01:01:11Timo Glock is ninth, Nico Rosberg tenth for Williams.

01:01:15Well, the gap now is seven and a half seconds between Hamilton and Felipe Massa,

01:01:18but I think that gap's got to be at least ten seconds for them to be able to be in here

01:01:23with any sort of a shot of winning this race, depending on their pit stop strategy,

01:01:26which, according to our man Steve, they'll be coming in any minute now, I think.

01:01:31Well, our man Steve Hopes has got it right.

01:01:33No radio.

01:01:34It was a quick stop, though.

01:01:35Yeah, it was.

01:01:36We have him at around lap 33, but again, looking at the performance between Hamilton and Massa,

01:01:42it is that third sector that Massa just seems to have the advantage,

01:01:46or I should say McLaren has a significant disadvantage.

01:01:49Button and Glock for Honda and Toyota, respectively, come in for their pit stop.

01:01:54Button desperately hoping he gets out first, but he's unlikely to now.

01:01:57But again, looking at the first sector while we're watching these pit stop guys,

01:02:00Hamilton last time through sector one, 31.8, Massa 32.5, so a massive time difference.

01:02:0630.4 Hamilton through the second sector, 30.8 through the second sector,

01:02:11so in the first two sectors, McLaren has it in the bag.

01:02:15Now, when we see the third sector times, I'll give you those,

01:02:18and we'll just have an indication of the relative performance between the two.

01:02:21There he is.

01:02:22Hamilton back in.

01:02:23You saw Alonso splitting the cars, leaving Jenson Button on the softer Bridgestone,

01:02:28Timo Glock on the harder.

01:02:30We weren't far off.

01:02:31We were thinking 33.

01:02:33Timon is scoring a show in lap 32.

01:02:36Eight seconds of fuel will get him the race distance.

01:02:40What tires are going on?

01:02:41Oh, he must be going to make a stop.

01:02:45Five seconds of fuel.

01:02:46We're three-stopping.

01:02:47They're going to have the three-stopper, exactly, putting the hard tires back on again.

01:02:50And now, finally, the secret is out of the bag, and that's what everybody's looking for.

01:02:55We're all only second-guessing until finally McLaren have to reveal to the world what they're doing.

01:03:01Yep.

01:03:03He joins in third place.

01:03:06And he's got to scoot now.

01:03:08Yeah.

01:03:09So we'll have to wait until we get a good flying lap, racing lap in sector three

01:03:13to see the performance relative to Ferraris through that third sector.

01:03:17But it is sector one and sector two that McLaren has the edge.

01:03:20Sector three, it all starts to fall away.

01:03:22And, again, that just comes back to Ferrari's ability to use the soft tires

01:03:27and just not get the car moving, sliding as much.

01:03:30The McLaren is clearly sliding around at that third sector.

01:03:33Which makes you wonder whether or not their tire strategy is based in part on the fact that

01:03:37they're graining their tires and they don't want to stay on them for too long.

01:03:40Do you know, Bob, I think that's exactly right.

01:03:42I think it's McLaren's response to the fact they can't get best use out of the option time.

01:03:47Oh, Nelson Piquet sliding all over the road, giving Jenson Button some breathing space

01:03:51and scaring the daylights out of the guys behind the Renault, I'm sure.

01:03:54And himself.

01:04:01Oh, Kovalainen catching up to Timo Glock.

01:04:06This is for 13th.

01:04:08He's going to have his work cut out to get past these guys because they're all concentrating on each other.

01:04:12Right.

01:04:13I think Glock will be reluctant to give him too much room here,

01:04:16lose too much time on those guys in front because he feels he can handle them.

01:04:26Resetting the top eight.

01:04:27Massa, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Weber and Rosberg.

01:04:38Interesting that Piquet is looking racy with Jenson Button's Honda.

01:04:43He should have him in straight line speed, but again, you've talked about Fernando Alonso having to wrestle with that Renault.

01:04:48Put yourself in the shoes of the rookie, Piquet.

01:04:54And a good bit quicker up that straight.

01:04:59Kovalainen, no, no, not quite yet.

01:05:01That's Glock ahead of Kovalainen on the road.

01:05:07I think Renault is still struggling, well, struggling in all departments,

01:05:10so they're making improvements.

01:05:11But one thing they've been doing, again, is trimming wing off the car to give them straight line speed.

01:05:16But you take wing off the car and it makes the car unstable, under braking.

01:05:22Boy, how weird is the tire strategy in Turkey as we check a replay.

01:05:27Kovalainen getting alongside Glock.

01:05:30Here we are in the second half of the race and only two drivers, Glock and Jenson Button,

01:05:35have used both sets of tires, or both sets of compounds required by the regulations.

01:05:43Everybody else is sticking with what they started with.

01:05:47Kovalainen and Glock.

01:05:48Kovalainen and Glock.

01:06:05Trying to get too far back, too far back.

01:06:08Make a good turn.

01:06:09That would be a big help for him.

01:06:12Want to force him into a mistake like that.

01:06:14Here comes the big braking area after this right-hand kink.

01:06:17The run down on the brakes to turn 12.

01:06:20You've got to make it stick, you've got to make it stick.

01:06:22Nah, he'll make this one stick.

01:06:23Oh, meanwhile, Piquet and Button duking it out.

01:06:28Boy, he didn't even get to the brakes.

01:06:29Oh, and here comes Glock back in the Toyota.

01:06:32Come on, get out, get out.

01:06:35Well done, Glock.

01:06:38Yes!

01:06:39Good old Timo Glock.

01:06:40There you see, the Mercedes didn't need to do it on the brakes in 12.

01:06:43He can outpower the Toyota.

01:06:45Go, Glock!

01:06:47Ah, what a...

01:06:48What a great bit of drive by both of those guys.

01:06:51Side by side through those corners.

01:06:52That was very cool.

01:06:53Who cares what position it's for?

01:06:55That's really cool stuff.

01:06:59And Ron Dennis is beside himself,

01:07:01watching his man trying to work his way forward

01:07:04on one of the many bizarre strategies

01:07:06we've seen thus far in the Turkish Grand Prix.

01:07:09We'll be right back.

01:07:12Back at the Turkish Grand Prix in replay.

01:07:14This was Nelson Piquet taking the measure of veteran Jenson Button

01:07:19down in the Turn 12, 13, 14 complex.

01:07:22Jenson's car has a lot of fuel on board,

01:07:25and that's going to make it a little bit awkward.

01:07:27But down into this braking zone,

01:07:29see Piquet in the R28 Renault coming around the outside.

01:07:34And now he just...

01:07:35Jenson just can't get on the power enough.

01:07:37There's just too much weight,

01:07:39and we know the Honda's not going in a straight line.

01:07:41And just off Turn 14,

01:07:43this was Heikki Kovalainen just sprinting by

01:07:46that fuel-laden Honda we mentioned earlier.

01:07:48Jenson Button, the slowest car in a straight line,

01:07:51and Kovalainen just smoked him.

01:07:55So the order back there now is Kovalainen, Piquet in 11th,

01:07:59Kovalainen in 12th, Button now 13th, Timo Glock 14th.

01:08:03Kovalainen is now working on the young Brazilian in the Renault.

01:08:07It's only the amount of times I've seen Piquet

01:08:09do something slightly stupid and put it in the gravel

01:08:12or screw up an overtaking maneuver.

01:08:13That was some nice driving actually by Piquet

01:08:15to control the car down in that 12th, 13th, 14th section

01:08:18around the track.

01:08:19Watch the G-meter here in Turn 8.

01:08:25Just bouncing that indicator off of the 5G ring.

01:08:42Here comes Turn 11. Oops.

01:08:47Kimi Räikkönen with Lewis Hamilton right behind.

01:08:52Remember, Hamilton desperately wants to close up

01:08:55on a three-stop strategy.

01:08:59Yeah, we're figuring out, Hamilton,

01:09:01around six laps more fuel on board.

01:09:04Suetil ahead of him. No problem.

01:09:0820 laps to go.

01:09:13There's the gap from Räikkönen to Hamilton.

01:09:16You saw Massa disappear from view.

01:09:22Also, Räikkönen able to step a little further away

01:09:26from Hamilton on that lap.

01:09:29They're earning their money today.

01:09:31Next weekend, the American Le Mans Series

01:09:33returns to the Salt Lake City area

01:09:35to tackle the ultra-fast outer course

01:09:37of Miller Motorsports Park for the first time ever.

01:09:40You won't want to miss that.

01:09:41The American Le Mans Series sports cars live

01:09:44May 18th at 3 Eastern, 12 Pacific, only on Speed.

01:09:51Now, the game is on.

01:09:53Only on Speed.

01:09:58Now, the gap comes down

01:10:00as Hamilton tries to reel in the world champion.

01:10:05So, what we're looking at now,

01:10:06that both Räikkönen and Hamilton

01:10:09both have one more stop.

01:10:11Räikkönen on a two-stop strategy.

01:10:13Hamilton on a three-stop.

01:10:15But Hamilton's already had two of those three.

01:10:17So, they've both got one more stop to do.

01:10:20The gap now, like, 2.2 seconds.

01:10:22But, again, Hamilton can run longer

01:10:24at this stint of the race.

01:10:25He's probably got, like, again,

01:10:26about six laps more fuel on board.

01:10:28So, it's now up to Hamilton.

01:10:29He's really got to push,

01:10:30get after the pace of Räikkönen.

01:10:33And then, of course, he's going to have to use

01:10:35those soft compound tires,

01:10:36which are probably not going to suit the car.

01:10:38Felipe Massa puts Jenson Button a lap down.

01:10:41So, he has lapped up to 12th place.

01:10:43And that would be Heikki Kovalainen,

01:10:45whom we saw working so hard a moment ago.

01:10:48Although, it has to be said, you know,

01:10:50the time for McLaren to be using those soft compound tires

01:10:53is now the closing stint of the race.

01:10:56Air temperature's gone up.

01:10:57Ambient temperature's gone up.

01:10:58Track temperature has gone up.

01:10:59There's more rubber down on the track,

01:11:01all of which will aid McLaren's ability

01:11:03to use those soft compound tires.

01:11:05They've just got to prevent the graining issue

01:11:08that has been an issue with all the teams

01:11:10running that soft compound tires.

01:11:11But this closing stint of the race,

01:11:13it ain't going to get better for McLaren than now.

01:11:16They have to use it to the sport in red.

01:11:17This is going to be a close battle

01:11:19for second position, guys.

01:11:20Mm-hmm.

01:11:22I suppose McLaren wants to have as little fuel

01:11:24in the car as possible

01:11:25when they go to that soft compound, too.

01:11:27Yeah.

01:11:32Well, Felipe Massa has been utterly dominant once again,

01:11:36despite the best efforts of his rivals,

01:11:38going for his third straight victory here in Turkey.

01:11:41Boy, he likes it around here, doesn't he?

01:11:43I mean, it's outstanding the way he grabbed that pole yesterday.

01:11:46He was quick all day Friday.

01:11:48Saturday morning, qualifying,

01:11:51and has driven impeccably in the race so far.

01:11:55Watching Robert Kubica.

01:11:57Expect Fernando Alonso, the next man to visit pit lane.

01:12:00Ferrari in the pit lane as well.

01:12:03Here comes Massa.

01:12:08We're not far off.

01:12:09We had Massa down at lap 41.

01:12:11We're serving lap 40.

01:12:12Hard's going on, so he makes the mandatory switch

01:12:16to the other tire compound.

01:12:18Good stuff. Good to go.

01:12:19That's about 5.2 seconds of fuel is all he needed,

01:12:22so that's Massa done, as far as pit stops are concerned.

01:12:25Kubica into the pits, too.

01:12:29Long, long pit lane, isn't it?

01:12:30Yeah, it is.

01:12:31It is.

01:12:32Diabolical, that rev limiter.

01:12:34That works against the three-pit stop strategy, too,

01:12:36because it takes so long just to navigate the pit lane.

01:12:39Yes, sir.

01:12:40And although the McLaren guys can leap out of that pit,

01:12:43they've got a long way on the rev limiter

01:12:45to get down to it in the first place.

01:12:48You lose one end of the game and the other.

01:12:50It always evens out.

01:12:54Kubica coming out at Alonso.

01:13:00All right, so Massa back out.

01:13:02Raikkonen will assume the race lead.

01:13:04Hamilton in second.

01:13:07It's Mike Heidfeld.

01:13:10Excuse me, that's Kubica.

01:13:12Look at this Hamilton-Raikkonen battle.

01:13:14Hamilton, for the first time since lap 31,

01:13:16is now back in the 1.26 zone,

01:13:18so he is pushing.

01:13:19He's got to take that pace.

01:13:20He's got to take the fight now to Raikkonen.

01:13:23He's now 2.1 seconds behind him,

01:13:26as they lie first and second now after Massa's stop.

01:13:28So Raikkonen leads Hamilton by 2.1.

01:13:31The Ferraris just seem to be so good on either of these tires.

01:13:34That's the only downside.

01:13:36And the McLarens don't seem to like the softer compound,

01:13:39which they're going to have to put on now.

01:13:41Felipe Massa's dad looking on in the Ferrari garage.

01:13:44Consider, coming into this season,

01:13:46Felipe Massa had won consecutive Grand Prix

01:13:49at only one track on the schedule.

01:13:51Now he's won back-to-back on two of the tracks

01:13:54and going for his third straight win

01:13:56in the Grand Prix.

01:13:58Half a second.

01:13:59Hamilton makes up on Raikkonen's time.

01:14:01The gap now.

01:14:02Raikkonen to Hamilton, 1.6 seconds.

01:14:05But Felipe Massa's only just under 12 seconds behind Hamilton.

01:14:10Yeah, this is the battle for second

01:14:12between Raikkonen and Hamilton, yeah.

01:14:14Run in order now is Raikkonen-Hamilton-Massa-Heidfeld,

01:14:17but, of course, Raikkonen-Hamilton have to pit.

01:14:19Dave, you're right.

01:14:20So Massa will take the lead of the race

01:14:22once this season is over.

01:14:24Hamilton have to pit. Dave, you're right.

01:14:25So Massa will take the lead of the race

01:14:27once this pit stop between Raikkonen and Hamilton happens.

01:14:31The key is, how are they going to handle it?

01:14:34How will the McLaren handle the softer compound tyres?

01:14:39Fernando Alonso pits from 6th for Renault.

01:14:45Probably dropping back to just in front of his teammate.

01:14:51Hamilton a little bit quicker than Raikkonen.

01:14:53Again, through sector 1, he takes a 10th off Raikkonen in sector 1.

01:14:57He takes a 10th off Raikkonen in sector 2.

01:15:00They give you the sector 3 times once they pop up on time and score.

01:15:03And to see, again, the relative performance

01:15:05between McLaren and Ferrari

01:15:07through that difficult for McLaren third sector.

01:15:12He was the two-time world champion.

01:15:14He suffered that engine meltdown in his home Grand Prix two weeks ago.

01:15:17Turned out to be a timing gear issue.

01:15:20Nothing structural within the engine.

01:15:24He thought he might have been in line for a 5th place finish.

01:15:26Let's ride along with Lewis.

01:15:30And there it is, a sector 3 times pop-up.

01:15:32Hamilton loses just a 10th.

01:15:35So Hamilton takes two 10ths out of Raikkonen's time.

01:15:39The gap down now to 1.5 seconds between Raikkonen and Hamilton.

01:15:45Neckeitfeld pits from 4th.

01:15:47His second.

01:15:51Soft compound tires on.

01:15:54For the last 16 laps.

01:15:56Sun shining, confounding all the weather forecast.

01:15:58Remember, we were going to have rain showers on and off all day.

01:16:01It's been an absolutely beautiful day.

01:16:05We love to beat up on the weather, man.

01:16:08And Raikkonen has responded to Hamilton's pace through sector 1.

01:16:11They're both neck and neck.

01:16:1332.6, Raikkonen.

01:16:1532.6 for Hamilton.

01:16:17Sector 2, Hamilton two tenths quicker.

01:16:21On board with Nico Rosberg.

01:16:25Having a much better race than he looked like he was going to have yesterday afternoon.

01:16:37Kimi is in the pits. Race leader is in.

01:16:41Lewis Hamilton will take over the point.

01:16:43Okay, now then, Lewis Hamilton.

01:16:45Get your foot in it, sunshine, and really get that McLaren moving.

01:16:51Quick stop there.

01:16:56Now, remember, something that we talk about throughout the broadcast,

01:16:59the car that's going to pit later, Hamilton in this case,

01:17:03will need less fuel delivery time.

01:17:05That isn't to say he's going to need less fuel relative to Ferrari to get to the end of the race.

01:17:10But the longer he runs in the race means less time spent in the pits.

01:17:14That's where the advantage is.

01:17:16So if Raikkonen needs four, four and a half seconds of fuel,

01:17:20Hamilton will need considerably less time in the pits when he comes in.

01:17:26Boy, a late pit entry there for Nico Rosberg.

01:17:32And here's our thermal imaging camera, new this weekend in our Formula 1 coverage.

01:17:36Yeah, something we've never seen before.

01:17:38The whiter the image around here where the radiator ducts are on, the exhaust outlets,

01:17:42that's the whiter, the hotter parts of the car.

01:17:45The blacker image is the cooler part of the car.

01:17:47And you noticed as the hot tires came off, the ones going on were burning just as brightly.

01:17:52So they got those tires up to temperature with the electronic tire blankets.

01:17:59It's a very cool feature.

01:18:01We'll take a break and see what happens to Lewis Hamilton's pit strategy when we return.

01:18:13Welcome back to the Turkish Grand Prix.

01:18:14Moments ago, this was Lewis Hamilton pitting earlier than we thought he would with 13 laps remaining.

01:18:19Yeah, and it's going to be a very quick stop, guys.

01:18:21Look out for this key mechanic here.

01:18:23He's going to put a little bit more downforce on the car.

01:18:25Remember, McLaren have to fit the McLaren MP4-23 chassis of Lewis Hamilton with the soft compound tires.

01:18:32Doesn't need an awful lot of fuel on board to get the rest of the race distance.

01:18:35There's the white stripe on the soft tire, and they need to push.

01:18:38Now, Hamilton, where is Raikkonen?

01:18:41And here comes Raikkonen, right there.

01:18:44Yep, he got him.

01:18:48So Hamilton rejoins in second.

01:18:50The question is, can he run down Felipe Massa and pass him again?

01:18:55We've already seen him do it once on track.

01:18:57If he wants to win, he's got to get him.

01:18:59Now, this is going to be key.

01:19:00Well, those tires have got to work.

01:19:02Exactly, yeah.

01:19:03How well can Lewis and the McLaren chassis, at this stage of the afternoon, run on these soft option tires?

01:19:11They didn't like them all weekend long.

01:19:13They haven't liked them.

01:19:14These guys, conversely, Ferrari, have been more than happy with them.

01:19:18Remember, they've been having trouble, the McLaren boys have, of getting those tires up to temperature.

01:19:22So Lewis Hamilton might need as much as two laps, I think, to get those things where he wants them.

01:19:33That's what we've been saying about these soft tires.

01:19:35The big issue for McLaren is going to be those last slow corners of the lap.

01:19:39That's where most of the damage is done to the rear tires.

01:19:41But having said that, remember last year, it was on the long Turn 8 that Lewis fell into problems with the tire,

01:19:47just gave up going through Turn 8 and effectively ruined his race.

01:19:50But it's going to be those last corners.

01:19:52The other issue McLaren are talking about at the moment is that, of course, the track is now much more rubbered in

01:19:56than it's been at any stage of the weekend.

01:19:58So it could be a very different Istanbul Park on which he's now driving compared with Friday and Saturday.

01:20:03Yeah, you bring up a very good point there, Peter.

01:20:05The track will feel different, the car will feel different to the driver.

01:20:09And, of course, just where you need to protect your position, that long run down into Turn 12, David,

01:20:14is exactly the point where Kimi may well be thinking that's his best overtaking opportunity

01:20:19to take it to McLaren on the point of the track where they may be at their weakest.

01:20:22Well, if he's two or three miles an hour quicker than the straight enemy,

01:20:24plus he's going to get the tow from Hamilton,

01:20:26that should help get him into that Turn 12.

01:20:31A year ago, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth in this race after that tire failure that Peter mentioned.

01:20:38Did a great job then of getting the car back in one piece,

01:20:41refitting the tire and then working his way through the field.

01:20:44And he comes off the final corner.

01:20:47Okay, now the old scoreboard's going to fix it.

01:20:50So him and Hamilton and Massa doing almost exactly the same time.

01:20:54And Hamilton is 5.2 seconds behind Massa, so he's got to do 11 laps to go.

01:21:00He's got to be about six tenths quicker, which he wasn't on that lap.

01:21:03Mark Webber, David Coulthard right there have also made their final pit stops, as has Nelson Piquet.

01:21:12Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Trulli, Webber, Rosberg and Coulthard.

01:21:18The top ten as we go to break in return for the final laps of the Turkish Grand Prix.

01:21:24♪♪♪

01:21:40Welcome back in replay. That's Heikki Kovalainen putting a pass on David Coulthard for tenth place.

01:21:46Nine laps remaining. Kovalainen still has a stop to make to change to the soft compound Bridgestone tires.

01:21:52We've been speculating whether Lewis Hamilton will be able to catch and pass Massa, which he's already done once in this race.

01:21:58But I think the speculation now is can Kimi Raikkonen catch and pass Hamilton for that second?

01:22:03He seems to be quicker on those hard tires again.

01:22:06Lewis Hamilton on the softer tire, just not having the run he hoped.

01:22:09We're on board now with Heikki Kovalainen, who is still on the hard tires and has to make that stop, one more stop.

01:22:15He's already down in tenth spot.

01:22:18He began this lap 1.2 seconds behind Nico Rosberg's Williams.

01:22:23Here he is in the final complex, wheel to wheel.

01:22:30But again, he's got another pit stop as Rosberg will not give up.

01:22:38Yeah, but you're right, Bob. They don't need to be fighting.

01:22:41Williams do not need to be fighting with McLaren at this stage because, as you say, he has to come in for a pit stop.

01:22:46You don't want to get tangled up and get off the track for no good reason here.

01:22:49Two years ago, they were rivals for the championship in GP2, the title that went to Nico Rosberg.

01:22:55Lewis Hamilton doesn't like those tires. He's just done his slowest lap since lap 3.

01:23:01So again, those softer tires not suiting the McLaren.

01:23:09Not over yet. Oh, look at the Williams dive underneath.

01:23:13And while we're watching this fantastic battle, I'll just update you.

01:23:16The gap now, Hamilton to Raikkonen. Raikkonen just 0.7 behind the McLaren.

01:23:22Yeah, you see it again.

01:23:26Yeah, Raikkonen is coming.

01:23:28Picked up two tenths on the last lap. It was 0.9 the lap before, now down to 0.7.

01:23:32But you're right, David. Again, it's just proving the McLaren just not able to use those soft compound tires.

01:23:39Even though the temperature's right, the track's rubbered in, you'd expect them to be looking better than they've been looking all weekend.

01:23:46Yeah, well, they've got to use them. It's the sporting regulations.

01:23:49They have to use them, as we say, really for McLaren.

01:23:51They're caught between a rock and a hard place because, you're right, the track is at its best.

01:23:55It's not going to get any better than this before the checkered flag falls,

01:23:58as far as temperature and rubber that's being laid down on the track.

01:24:02Kimi Raikkonen just lining Lewis Hamilton up, I'm sure, for the end of this race.

01:24:06I wonder which of the four apexes in Turn 8 they're talking about there, that apex speed.

01:24:11And the Ferrari's quicker than anyone else through that incredible corner.

01:24:15Well, we're watching this Kovalainen.

01:24:17Comes into the pits for his last stop, again, to change over to those soft tires.

01:24:23He will give up the eighth and final points-paying position.

01:24:27So he's really going to have to haul the mail over these last seven laps if he's going to get back into the points for McLaren.

01:24:34Luca Baldessari.

01:24:36Well, that last sector there, Massa went through in 24 seconds, Hamilton 24.4 and Raikkonen 24.2.

01:24:44So, again, making up ground in that last sector, which the McLaren and Hamilton and those tires don't like.

01:24:51Raikkonen leads Hamilton by nine points in the World Championship coming into this weekend.

01:24:57Right now, he's trying to get him on the track to fatten that points lead.

01:25:04Five laps remaining in the Turkish Grand Prix, next time by the flag stand.

01:25:08And Lewis Hamilton now is trying to keep the Ferrari of World Champion Kimi Raikkonen behind him.

01:25:14Or he will give up two further points in the World Championship, making the gap 11 going to Monaco in two weeks.

01:25:22Boy, he needs these points like he needs oxygen if he wants to stay in the World Championship.

01:25:27Well, yeah, he's always starting the defensive stuff.

01:25:29Yes.

01:25:30The trouble with that is it takes up time.

01:25:32Felipe Massa leads the race six seconds ahead of this battle between Hamilton and Raikkonen.

01:25:40And speaking of Monaco, don't miss it.

01:25:42The glitz, the glamour, all of the pizzazz of the Principality.

01:25:46One of the greatest events in all of motorsports.

01:25:48Speed will bring you live coverage of the Grand Prix of Monaco.

01:25:51Live, two weeks from now, May 25th, 7.30 a.m. Eastern, 4.30 a.m. Pacific.

01:25:57Join us then.

01:25:59Peter Windsor.

01:26:06Steve, we've been talking all race about Sector 3 and how good that's been for Ferrari and how much that has hurt the McLarens, particularly Lewis Hamilton.

01:26:14But it's very difficult, I think, looking at the TV pictures as we are, actually seeing how the Ferraris are gaining time through there.

01:26:20Everybody appears to be almost cornering on rails.

01:26:23But in reality, talking to the McLaren guys, I think it is a question of how early they can squeeze the power on coming out of those very slow corners.

01:26:30And Lewis, although it doesn't show up on TV, is having to be incredibly careful with the way he applies the power.

01:26:36And it's probably a question of maybe a second, a couple of seconds later than Kimi and Massa are able to get on the power.

01:26:42Even though, as I say, it doesn't really show up on the screens.

01:26:44You see Kimi now looking very neat, but Lewis looking very neat as well.

01:26:47If you just saw that picture, and you weren't able to look at the times, you'd think the McLaren was OK.

01:26:51But it's actually slow there.

01:26:53You're right, it's absolutely tiny increments of performance difference, which in all it is.

01:26:58And I think the McLaren probably...

01:26:59Oh boy, this is not what Hamilton needs right now.

01:27:04Excuse me, Kovalainen now on the white stripes.

01:27:08I didn't think that looked... It looked like Hamilton.

01:27:10Sorry, ready, fire, aim.

01:27:13That takes 12th place away from Timo Bloch.

01:27:16Both cars a lap down.

01:27:18Such is the pace at the front, there are only...

01:27:21Truly.

01:27:2211 unlapped cars.

01:27:24Jarno, we are 15.

01:27:25Kulted in front of you, 3 seconds.

01:27:27And Rosberg, another second in front.

01:27:29Try to catch that group.

01:27:34Don't worry, I'm pushing like a hell.

01:27:38Yeah, I'm sure you are.

01:27:39Atta boy.

01:27:40I think it's an act of pure optimism, frankly, to think you're going to get into the points.

01:27:43I love the way these guys from the pit say,

01:27:45just give it a bit more.

01:27:47I'm already pushing like hell.

01:27:50Once again, Kovalainen.

01:27:54On Timo Bloch.

01:28:00Guys, I've got to say, Jarno Trulli's response then reminded me irrefutably of Jean-Pierre Satie from Grand Prix.

01:28:06I'm pushing like hell.

01:28:08That's exactly how Jean-Pierre used to speak.

01:28:12Yeah, boy, Hamilton's pushing like hell too.

01:28:15I mean, this is getting pretty desperate.

01:28:17I mean, Kimi Räikkönen right behind him.

01:28:20But getting back to the point you were talking about, Peter,

01:28:22the difference between the McLaren and the Ferrari,

01:28:24and being able to get on the power that little bit quicker in the Ferrari,

01:28:27I think McLaren just a little bit too stiffly sprung relative to the performance of Ferrari,

01:28:33which makes the car just a tiny bit more unstable at the rear

01:28:37and subject to oversteer.

01:28:39And I think the McLaren driver's just a little bit reluctant to hit the power too early

01:28:43for fear of getting more oversteer, snap oversteer on corner exit.

01:28:47And the McLaren just doesn't seem to have it relative to the Ferrari.

01:28:50The Ferrari just is a little bit softer at the back and can get on the power faster as a result.

01:28:55Boy, traffic here, Glock in front of Hamilton now.

01:29:01Steve, on another point though, just adding to that,

01:29:03given that we have very similar aerodynamics between the cars now,

01:29:07very few regulation changes in that sense over the winter,

01:29:09could it be that the Ferrari engine has a slightly different power curve

01:29:13to the Mercedes-Illmore, the Mercedes engine?

01:29:16Yeah, without question, that's very possible.

01:29:19Although we're in an engine freeze period of Formula 1 development,

01:29:23there are slight differences.

01:29:25And you can still change the mapping of the engines,

01:29:28give a little bit more torque lower down.

01:29:30Ferrari got...

01:29:32Going by Glock, going by Glock.

01:29:35But you're right.

01:29:36And of course, don't forget, they're still playing with the differentials in these cars.

01:29:39They still have full automatic control.

01:29:42The drivers can change the way the torque's delivered left to right

01:29:46on the diffs through the transmission.

01:29:48All these tiny, tiny little changes just make a difference.

01:29:52Again, through that third sector for Ferrari.

01:29:55Again, those are the changes from grid position to the way the cars currently run.

01:30:01Coming up on the last lap.

01:30:04What do you do if you're Kimi Räikkönen?

01:30:06Are you close enough?

01:30:07Do you dare try, knowing you've got that nine-point lead in the World Championship,

01:30:11on board with Kimi?

01:30:12He's a fair way back, really.

01:30:13He's got to be a bit of a desperate lunge.

01:30:15But of course, I think there's another lap car looming up in front there.

01:30:19Well, the gap has opened up slightly.

01:30:21Well, funnily enough, the last lap of Hamilton was just a hair quicker than...

01:30:25...than Räikkönen.

01:30:26...than Räikkönen, yeah.

01:30:27Maybe he's already made his decision.

01:30:28Räikkönen's actually starting to slide around now.

01:30:30I noticed that coming out of Turn 10 last time.

01:30:32He gave a bit of a slide.

01:30:34So maybe...

01:30:36He's not going to take it to him now, is he?

01:30:38I don't think so.

01:30:40It was 0.6, it's 0.7.

01:30:41It's probably around about 0.8 now, looking at that gap.

01:30:44Of course, he could be laying back just to give old Lewis Hamilton the full set of security.

01:30:51Instead of making up two points, he'll give up two points,

01:30:54which would make the lead seven going to Monaco.

01:30:58Meanwhile, haven't talked much about this guy,

01:31:01who's doing something incredibly rare these days.

01:31:05His third straight victory in Turkey.

01:31:08He's got 3.3 miles, father and wife looking on.

01:31:13Perhaps the whole family on hand.

01:31:17It's interesting, the rumors are cropping up once again

01:31:20about whether Felipe Massa has a future at Ferrari.

01:31:23All he's done is go out, take pole positions, win races.

01:31:28I mean, Ferrari has done so well with very clear numbers one and two driver priorities.

01:31:33Think of Schumacher-Irvine and Schumacher-Barrichello.

01:31:37And now, Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa.

01:31:41Why would you eliminate a guy like Massa to get another superstar,

01:31:45like a Fernando Alonso, perhaps, into the team?

01:31:48I'll tell you what, Räikkönen is not that far behind.

01:31:53Well, the gap didn't change through the speed trap.

01:31:55It was 0.7 the previous lap, it remains 0.7,

01:31:58the difference between Hamilton and Räikkönen.

01:32:01The slightest slip from Lewis here.

01:32:06Back on our leader.

01:32:08Six career victories for Felipe Massa.

01:32:12All but one of them coming from pole position.

01:32:15If he picks this one up, it'll be his seventh, his sixth from pole.

01:32:22And how much more you can ask of a young driver.

01:32:26Go!

01:32:31Never a wheel put wrong during the day.

01:32:34From pole position for the third straight year,

01:32:37the Istanbul Autodrome is Felipe Massa's new home.

01:32:47Wonderful strategy, the great drive by Lewis Hamilton brings him home in second place.

01:32:52And Kimi Räikkönen will hold on for third.

01:32:56And the world championship lead.

01:32:58Here come the BMW Saubers, Robert Kubica.

01:33:02Will be followed home by his teammate, Nick Heidfeld, in fifth.

01:33:07Heidfeld, 17 seconds behind his teammate at the flag.

01:33:11Happy belated birthday to Quick Nick, now 31 years old.

01:33:16And behind him, we anticipate the two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso.

01:33:22Will be followed home by Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg.

01:33:26Back up into the points for Williams Toyota.

01:33:32Let's see if Felipe has a chat with his team. Yes.

01:33:39Fantastic work, fantastic.

01:33:42Race win, pole position, race win.

01:33:45Pole position, brilliant, absolutely fantastic.

01:33:48Ten points in the bag, absolutely wonderful.

01:33:52Well done mate, absolutely fantastic.

01:33:58But he does not get the sweep.

01:34:00Fast lap of the race, Kimi Räikkönen in the other Ferrari with that 1.26.5.

01:34:06We'll take a break and return to see Felipe Massa and his colleagues

01:34:10on the podium at the Istanbul Autodrome.

01:34:13Stay with us.

01:34:16Welcome back live to the Istanbul Autodrome.

01:34:21Look at the crowd and the flaggers going out to congratulate Felipe Massa

01:34:25as he arrives in pit lane.

01:34:27Oh, where are you going?

01:34:30There's the driver's championship points.

01:34:32Räikkönen remains the leader.

01:34:34Felipe Massa moves into a tie with Lewis Hamilton for second.

01:34:37Robert Kubica drops down a spot to fourth.

01:34:40Nick Heidfeld remains sixth.

01:34:42Nicky Kovalainen seventh.

01:34:43Mark Webber up into eighth.

01:34:47Fernando Alonso moves by Nico Rosberg into ninth.

01:34:55And Sebastian Vettel finishes a Grand Prix.

01:34:57Unfortunately, last driver on the road, but nevertheless did finish.

01:35:05Big lift, more ammunition for Felipe Massa's argument.

01:35:08If, in fact, he needs to make it, he should remain a Ferrari driver.

01:35:15I wonder how many Ferraris they sell in Brazil.

01:35:24He'll head for the weigh-in.

01:35:25Quite a few, probably.

01:35:26There's a lot of wealth in Brazil.

01:35:29I understand there are more helicopters licensed in the city of Sao Paulo alone

01:35:33than in any other metropolitan area in the world.

01:35:39There's the constructor's championship.

01:35:41Well, what do you need to know?

01:35:43Ferrari remains the force in Formula 1

01:35:46as everyone now turns their thoughts to the grandest Grand Prix of all,

01:35:51Monaco, coming up in two weeks live here on Speed.

01:35:54We'll take a break and return.

01:35:59Back in Turkey, time for the podium ceremonies.

01:36:03Two Ferrari uniforms and one McLaren Mercedes.

01:36:07Felipe Massa, I think that's officially the first smile we've seen out of this guy this weekend.

01:38:08Celebration time for Felipe Massa.

01:38:15It'll be interesting to see who hands out the trophies.

01:38:17Recall a couple of years ago, where a political statement was made,

01:38:21the unrecognized president of the Turkish Republic of Cyprus was up there giving out trophies,

01:38:26which caused a huge fuss, and the organizers were fined about $5 million by the FIA.

01:38:34Which they never paid, right?

01:38:35They paid half of it.

01:38:41Constructor's trophy to Ferrari.

01:38:44Yeah, nice job, boys.

01:38:47Again, proving the team to beat, aren't they?

01:38:50Oh boy, I'll say.

01:38:53Although Lewis Hamilton made a pretty stout comeback.

01:38:57I don't think we thought he was going to be...

01:38:59If we were on the podium, we thought he'd be in the third spot.

01:39:03Unfortunately, his teammate Heikki Kovalainen didn't have a very good day,

01:39:06having a flat tyre or a puncture right at the beginning of the race,

01:39:09which left him struggling down there in 12th spot.

01:39:12Which kind of gives you an idea of how close this whole thing is, really.

01:39:14You know, even going to the back with one of the fastest cars in the field,

01:39:17still only managed to get up to 12th.

01:39:20Jimmy Räikkönen still in top of the league,

01:39:23but his lead now cut down to 7 points from 9.

01:39:28There he goes, the old campers.

01:39:33Yeah!

01:39:36Interesting that they do spray the champagne here in Turkey,

01:39:39which has a substantial Muslim population.

01:39:43Well, they're very proud of being a secular state, aren't they?

01:39:46Because Mr. Gul, the current president who we just saw there giving that trophy,

01:39:50is a Muslim and very proud of it,

01:39:54but he's trying to keep the country as secular as possible.

01:39:58Good on him.

01:40:02Photo op.

01:40:04While they shoot the pictures, we'll take a break

01:40:06and return to hear from our top three finishers.

01:40:11Welcome back to the Istanbul Autodrome,

01:40:13where Round 5 of the 2008 Formula 1 season is now complete.

01:40:17Fourth straight win for Ferrari

01:40:19and the second on the season for Felipe Massa.

01:40:22Let's join Peter Windsor.

01:40:26Congratulations to the three podium finishers of the Petrolafici Grand Prix of Turkey.

01:40:30Third, and retaining his lead in the World Championship for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro,

01:40:33Kimi Raikkonen.

01:40:34Second, and splitting the Ferraris for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes,

01:40:37Lewis Hamilton, scoring his second win of the year,

01:40:40his 200th point for Ferrari,

01:40:42and becoming the first man since Michael Schumacher

01:40:44to win the same Grand Prix three years in a row

01:40:47for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro,

01:40:49Felipe Massa.

01:40:50Felipe, you like winning from the pole,

01:40:52you've done that many times.

01:40:54Turkish Grand Prix always results in a winner for the pole,

01:40:57and everything delivered for you today.

01:40:59Yeah, it's just fantastic.

01:41:00Today was a very difficult race.

01:41:02Actually, Lewis was pushing me hard,

01:41:06a lot from the whole race.

01:41:09And I thought he was very light in the beginning

01:41:13because he was pushing me so heavily.

01:41:16And then when I did my pit stop,

01:41:19he was straight away there,

01:41:20so I thought maybe he put less fuel or something.

01:41:23And then I realised,

01:41:25my team told me straight away that he was on three stops.

01:41:29And that for sure was a little bit of help

01:41:33because he was very strong,

01:41:34I couldn't hold him in the track,

01:41:37so he passed me.

01:41:39But then I knew I still had a big chance to win the race

01:41:44because three stops was a little bit,

01:41:47quite a lot of optimistic.

01:41:49But anyway, I just created a reasonable gap

01:41:53to be in the front after the pit stops.

01:41:58It was difficult, but we made it.

01:42:00And the third time in Turkey is just fantastic.

01:42:03I mean, I think I can get a passport here already.

01:42:07Felipe, Ferrari very good on both types of Bridgestone tyre,

01:42:11unlike most of the other cars in the field.

01:42:13And starting on the option, the softer tyre,

01:42:16unusual so far as the rest of the grid was concerned.

01:42:19Yeah, I was just talking with Kimi now.

01:42:24Today was a very difficult day to choose the tyres

01:42:28because the difference was not so big from the soft and the hard,

01:42:32even on the first lap and during the run.

01:42:36The hard was much better on Friday,

01:42:38but my soft survived quite well on Friday,

01:42:40so we were really keen to use the soft today.

01:42:44But then I saw Lewis going very quickly with the hard

01:42:48and then we thought maybe it was a little bit of a mistake.

01:42:53And I think in the last run the car was so easy to drive on the hard

01:42:57that maybe it was the right choice to choose the hard.

01:43:00Well, congratulations to you.

01:43:02And Lewis, switching to you,

01:43:04I guess from where you were yesterday in qualifying

01:43:06you weren't too happy with your qualifying result,

01:43:08but today to split the Ferraris, a great result for you.

01:43:10Absolutely.

01:43:12I'm thrilled, I think, to come second from third,

01:43:16but with the strategy we were on, as you could tell yesterday,

01:43:18a little bit disappointed with it.

01:43:20Higgy did a fantastic job

01:43:22and was able to out-qualify me with more fuel.

01:43:26But after looking at the data I realised

01:43:29that I was happy with the tyre choice

01:43:31and I just lost a bit of time in my middle sector.

01:43:35And today we started on the harder tyre

01:43:38and we knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris

01:43:42and, to be honest, we were just hoping to get some points.

01:43:45Finishing in the top five would have been good.

01:43:47But the balance of the car was great

01:43:50and on the hard tyres I was able to keep up with Felipe

01:43:55and even overtake him.

01:43:57And after that I was gone and I was able to keep pushing and pushing.

01:44:00At the end it was quite tough.

01:44:03The softer tyre was definitely the worst tyre.

01:44:06So, yeah, I'm much happier.

01:44:10The sector three was a relatively important area for you,

01:44:14relative to the Ferraris, that is.

01:44:16Equally, you were able to switch to that three-stop strategy

01:44:19because of the fuel load at which you started the race.

01:44:22Do you think that your second place is a result of switching to that strategy?

01:44:26Because it minimised the amount of time on the soft tyre at the end?

01:44:30Perhaps.

01:44:32I mean, the reason we went with it,

01:44:34I have to tell you, the reason we went with the three-stop

01:44:36was due to Bridgestone were concerned that, well,

01:44:40they thought that the tyre was going to fail, like it did last year.

01:44:43And therefore they made us do a three-stop

01:44:47as it was the safest route to go.

01:44:50So, unfortunately for us,

01:44:53that put us in not such a strong position to win the race.

01:44:57However, you know, I'm given a problem

01:45:03and I deal with it.

01:45:05So, there's a team and that's why I still believe that we're the best.

01:45:09And I really have to say a big thank you to the team.

01:45:11They did a great job keeping the calm

01:45:13and doing a great job in all the pit stops.

01:45:16And when you were really quick with relatively light fuel

01:45:19on the three-stop strategy,

01:45:22it was sector three in which you were losing ground to the Ferrari

01:45:25or not gaining on the Ferrari, unlike sectors one and two.

01:45:27Is that a worry going into Monte Carlo?

01:45:30I don't see it as a worry, but obviously in Barcelona,

01:45:33the last sector, which was all the tight corners,

01:45:36they were a little bit quicker than us there.

01:45:38And it's the same here.

01:45:39The last three corners on the straight

01:45:42and the last three corners, they seem to take quite a lot out of us.

01:45:45So, you know, we're going to go back and try to understand exactly why

01:45:49and keep pushing to improve.

01:45:51And I have no doubts that we can do that.

01:45:54Congratulations to you, Lewis.

01:45:55Thank you.

01:45:56Kimi, well done. A good points-scoring day for you.

01:45:58Tell us about that first corner incident with Heikki Kovalainen,

01:46:01which resulted in a puncture for your compatriot.

01:46:04Well, yeah, I got a not very good start anyhow,

01:46:07but I got the side of him on the braking

01:46:09and then got a little bit squeezed in the inside,

01:46:13tried to slow down and get behind him,

01:46:16but we just turned in a bit.

01:46:18And unfortunate thing for both of us,

01:46:20I broke the front wing and he had a puncture,

01:46:22but by the phrasing, it didn't help for either of us.

01:46:29We chose to use the front wing the whole race

01:46:31because it takes too long to change it and it wasn't too bad.

01:46:34So, a bit difficult weekend, but at least we got some good points

01:46:39and we need to just get a better weekend next race.

01:46:43What was the handling of the car like with the broken wing?

01:46:45You did set fastest race lap.

01:46:47Yeah, it wasn't too bad, but I mean, it never helps.

01:46:50It damaged the end of the wing.

01:46:52So, I mean, it's difficult to say how much better

01:46:55or different would have been with the proper wing,

01:46:58but for sure, it doesn't help you.

01:47:01Kimi, part of that was starting on the slow side of the grid,

01:47:04the dirty side of the grid,

01:47:05which is a result of a relatively poor qualifying for you.

01:47:07Can you just talk us through the other problems

01:47:09that led up to qualifying only fourth?

01:47:11Yeah, I think it wasn't the best qualifying for me,

01:47:14but it has been our maybe weakest point.

01:47:18We had a bit more fuel than the others.

01:47:21That's one reason, but also the lap wasn't as good as I wanted.

01:47:25Anyhow, I think so all started a bit on Friday.

01:47:28We had a problem, but like I said, we had a difficult weekend,

01:47:32but I'm still happy to be in the third place.

01:47:34We didn't lose too much points.

01:47:36Early season, we still have a good point,

01:47:38so we'll see what we can do in the next races.

01:47:41I think the next two races, at least last year,

01:47:43was very difficult for us,

01:47:44so we need to see how strong we can be

01:47:48and hopefully we can challenge for wins and go from there.

01:47:52Thank you, Kimi.

01:47:53Returning to you, Felipe, and returning to thoughts of Monte Carlo,

01:47:56the marquee race for Formula One

01:47:58looks very good for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.

01:48:02Yeah, for sure.

01:48:04Last year was okay.

01:48:07I finished third in Monte Carlo,

01:48:10but McLaren was very strong there.

01:48:13We've been working a lot, even from last year.

01:48:17We've been working a lot on the setup for Monte Carlo this year,

01:48:21so hopefully we have a good car,

01:48:24a good chance to win there as well.

01:48:28I mean, having a good weekend in Monte Carlo

01:48:31will be for sure definitely a good result,

01:48:34even being on the podium,

01:48:36scoring as many points as possible.

01:48:37We know Monte Carlo is a track which can be very tricky,

01:48:40especially without traction control,

01:48:42but I'm looking forward to being strong there as well.

01:48:47Congratulations to Felipe Massa

01:48:49and the entire Massa family there,

01:48:51celebrating his victory in Turkey.

01:48:53We'll take a break and return.

01:48:57Final results of today's Turkish Grand Prix.

01:48:59David, Steve?

01:49:00Well, fantastic. Third pole and third win in a row

01:49:02for Felipe Massa here in the Ferrari.

01:49:04Lewis Hamilton had a wonderful race in return.

01:49:06Kimi Raikkonen just behind him.

01:49:07Robert Kubica maintains his good form in fourth.

01:49:09Nick Heidfeld right behind him in second BMW.

01:49:12Alonso again showing good form out of the Renault.

01:49:14Mark Webber again seeing good.

01:49:16And Nico Rosberg saving one point from 11th.

01:49:18These chaps out of the points.

01:49:19David Coulthard, Red Bull,

01:49:21Jonah Trulli for Toyota,

01:49:22Jenson Button in the works under there.

01:49:23Heike Kovalainen had problems.

01:49:25Timo got problems.

01:49:26Rubens Barrichello in the Honda.

01:49:28Then Piquet Jr., Sutil Vettel,

01:49:30Ford A, Kaz Nakajima,

01:49:32Giancarlo Fisichella.

01:49:34Tough start to the day for Fisichella.

01:49:35Drivers' Championship.

01:49:37Well, Raikkonen still leads,

01:49:38but only seven points now instead of nine.

01:49:40And a tie between Massa and Hamilton.

01:49:41And then Robert Kubica hanging right in there

01:49:43with only 24 points.

01:49:44Nick Heidfeld with 20.

01:49:46Kovalainen still has 14

01:49:47because he didn't get any.

01:49:48Then Fernando Alonso down there.

01:49:50Ninth last point there.

01:49:51Sebastian Bordet still got two.

01:49:53Jenson Button did not score today.

01:49:55Now let's have a look at the constructors' points.

01:49:57Ferrari out there in front.

01:49:58P1, 63 points on the board.

01:50:00BMW, Sauber, 44.

01:50:01McLaren, Mercedes hold third spot, 42.

01:50:04Williams, Toyota, 13.

01:50:05Red Bull, 10.

01:50:06Toyota with nine.

01:50:08Renault, nine.

01:50:09Honda, three.

01:50:10Scuderia, Toro Rosso, two teams yet to score.

01:50:12And that'll wrap things up from Istanbul.

01:50:15We get set for something very special.

01:50:17Join us again in two weeks' time

01:50:19for the one and only Grand Prix of Monaco.

01:50:22Our coverage begins Thursday.

01:50:23That's Thursday, May 22nd, 8 a.m. Eastern time.

01:50:26The live coverage of the second free practice.

01:50:28Remember, they practice on Thursday

01:50:30in the Principality.

01:50:31Friday's quiet.

01:50:32Then Saturday, the 24th, also at 8 a.m.,

01:50:34knockout qualifying from Monte Carlo.

01:50:36Finally, Sunday, the 25th, live coverage

01:50:39of the Grand Prix of Monaco,

01:50:40beginning with the Acura pre-race show

01:50:42at 7.30 a.m. Eastern.

01:50:44For David Hoff, Steve Matchett, and Peter Windsor,

01:50:46I'm Bob Farsha.

01:50:47Once again, happy Mother's Day

01:50:48to all the moms out there.

01:50:50We'll see you in two weeks from Monaco.

01:50:52So long, everyone.

2008 Turkish GP

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