Sunday Race Day – Button Victorious In Red Bull FightFull race report can be read here | Turkish GP Photo Album
Jenson Button remained unstoppable in the Turkish Grand Prix –
taking his sixth win from seven races in 2009 and extending his
championship advantage to a mammoth 26 points.
Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel lost the lead to Button on the opening
lap and could only finish third behind his Red Bull team-mate Mark
Webber, while Button’s Brawn team-mate – and closest title rival –
Rubens Barrichello had a disastrous afternoon and eventually retired…
Ferrari was never in the hunt, and Felipe Massa had to settle for a
distant sixth rather than a fourth consecutive win. Kimi Raikkonen lost
ground on lap one, damaged his front wing slightly running into
Fernando Alonso, and ended up ninth…
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1h26:24.848
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 6.714
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) + 7.461
4. Trulli Toyota (B) + 27.843
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 31.539
6. Massa Ferrari (B) + 39.996
7. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 46.247
8. Glock Toyota (B) + 46.959
9. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 50.246
10. Alonso Renault (B) + 1:02.420
11. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1:04.327
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1:06.376
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1:20.454
14. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
16. Piquet Renault (B) + 1 lap
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
Fastest lap: Button, 1:27.579
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 49
Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 5
Drivers and FOTA discuss F1 crisis
Drivers support FOTA in F1 future row
Alonso calls for changes to Renault car
Post-race press conference
Webber rues poor Turkish GP crowd
Massa: Formula 1 row a nightmare
FOTA agrees to drop KERS in 2010Raikkonen says start cost him points – "I got a very bad start and then ended up
fighting with the guys in the first few corners and ran a little bit
wide in the back of, I think, corner nine then touched Fernando’s rear
wheel when I tried to pass him on the end of the straight, so I broke
the front wing a bit. After that it was a bit difficult. The car was OK after we changed
the front wing and the tyres – the end of the second stint and the last
stint was fine – but it was too late."With a better start I think we could easily have got one or two points, but that’s how it goes. It’s a different place again. Usually the car has been quite strong there," he added. We’re going to get something new again for Silverstone so it
definitely has improved but here I think was more difficult than in the
previous race and it just depends on where you go, which kind of
circuit it is."Ferrari Team Quotes – Kimi Raikkonen – 9th: "It was definitely not the race
we were expecting or the one we wanted. The first lap was decisive for
me: I lost valuable places and then it wasn’t possible to get them back
because today we weren’t quick enough. Over recent weeks, we have
improved our performance a lot, but we are not yet at the level of the
best, especially at tracks like this one. It is never easy to catch up,
because in the meantime, the others are not exactly stopping their own
development. We must not be negative about this after a weekend like
this one, but we should continue to concentrate and to push: I am sure
we can soon return to fighting for the top places. It won’t be easy but
I have confidence in this team."
Chris Dyer: "We are very disappointed because we
expected to be in the fight for better places. We have to really
understand why we lost so much speed from one day to another. Today we
weren’t competitive, not just up against Brawn GP and Red Bull but also
when compared with Toyota and Williams. On top of that, the way the
first lap went cost us dear: it’s not by chance that the classification
of our cars at the end of lap 1 was the same as they passed the
chequered flag."
That wasn’t a good race at all for Ferrari, more so Kimi – his strategy was awful. Being the heaviest out of the top 8 in qualifying did not pay off. That meant Kimi lost positions off the race start, typically on the dirty side, but as the race progressed he wasn’t able to fight back. Kimi’s race was doomed right from the moment the red lights went out, I’m very sorry to say, and once again we’ve witnessed poor strategy from the team. As for Massa’s aggressive move at the start, he was determined to get infront on his special circuit and credit to him, even if it caused a problem for Kimi, but that’s racing. Actually, having watched replays of the start again, I’m convinced Massa was out of order and acted rather rudely towards Kimi at the start because there was no other reason why Kimi had to take such evasive action which cost him further positions into the second corner. I believe Massa was always childish and it shows in his racing behaviour sometimes. So Massa now has 11 points to Kimi’s 9, but let’s remember that Massa and his race engineer Smedley hoped for a podium today. So it wasn’t just Kimi who had a bad race, he just happened to have the worst strategy…again. Yes Kimi damaged his wing when attempting to overtake but the point is – to desperately make up places this can easily happen to anyone, as we saw with Barrichello.
Towards the very end of the race, Kimi maintained pace with the Toyota and BMW infront of him, and also set the fastest sector 3 time. On the last lap of the race, Kimi also set his personal best lap time. This proves to me nothing was wrong with Kimi today. I was cheering for Piquet when he was on Hamilton’s ass Finally Piquet did something good. I wonder how humble Hamilton feels now that he is one of the "monkey’s in the back" he got bit by his own words! Red Bull tried so hard to fight for victory but they’re still so far behind compared to Brawn and Jenson Button is ruling the show – but it won’t last forever. What’s interesting is Ferrari still have the closest speed to the
Brawns; in Turn 8’s apex speed classification the Ferrari’s were quicker than the Red
Bulls. Button drove incredibly smooth as ever today, and he’s not making any mistakes. He is almost invincible. After many years of experience in struggling and working through problems and difficulties, it’s no surprise that this has made him a stronger force than say…Hamilton was in the past two years. So, Button deserves his glory and congratulations to him.After Monaco, which was a positive weekend for us, Kimi still said that the fans need to be patient. And he was right – Turkey was a completely different story and while we are disappointed, it doesn’t change the fact that Ferrari still have a lot of work to do. And putting out vacancies for a proper strategist should be one of them! And let’s remember the politics going on right now, the FOTA and the drivers were in a meeting today and both sides have voiced their unity in supporting one another against the crisis that Mosley & Co are bringing F1 into. It’s all very exhausting, and it’s quite an annoying distraction.
Today wasn’t good, no, but Kimi is still great and we won’t ever leave his side so you know what’s coming next… Keep Flying Kimi!
FUCK ISRAEL 
yess! we are here, near Kimi no matter what!i will be patient! the way is still long! the race was… don’t know how to say but we can’t really say boring, that’s clear! there were great fights!but we have almost not seen Kimi! That annoyed me! and it must have been a bit boring for him… though he pushed till the end! we saw the Brawn are not perfect so who knows?just focus on the best!and let’s wait and see! as always for the moment!Keep flying Kimi!
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Keep being patient!!!Keep being positive!!!Keep flying Kimi!!!
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Ferrari with Ross Brawn had top class strategy in any race .. now that their brains gone to Brawn GP … Ferrari is now out of their mind with their stupid strategies 😉 Kimi was a little unlucky to be on the dirty side of the track .. as always Kimi did whatever best he could and we are with him no matter what .. Keep Flying Kimi n keep rocking … cheers! There was no live coverage here in the US .. ppl here care about shitty Nascar and not abt F1 .. with the way things are going on in F1, soon Bernie and Max’s FIA will turn this great sport into a stupid racing like Nascar .. F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of motor racing.. its becoming the pinnacle of politics..
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I don’t think Kimi was on a bad stratagy, heavier than the guys infront. He was just unlucky with the start. Kimi had to avoid Massa because of Barichello’s bad start, so it wasn’t completly Massa’s fault. But there are positives, Kimi outqualified Massa (on heavier fuel) and did a better fastest lap (on the last lap) that Massa on his "best" circuit. So it just proves how much better Kimi is, Massa is nowhere near Kimi at Spa.
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I don’t know Marilyne, I think ‘boring’ is a pretty good description of todays race! As much as I like to see Button winning if Kimi can’t, I just wish he maybe had to work for it a bit more. I don’t want a return to the Schumacher snoozefest years, this is probably the first race this year I haven’t felt any excitement for past the first lap. I’m surprised that sponsors aren’t queuing up to Brawn GP with the amount of TV coverage they are getting at the moment!!! Shame about Kimi’s bad start, I don’t think Massa did anything particularly unusual, seen that so many times at the start of races, just annoying that he had to do it to Kimi. I realise Kimi’s first pit-stop must have been quite long with a nose change (oh and thanks to the tv producers of Turkey for showing neither of them) but I couldn’t understand why he was nowhere for so long, in the last third of his race he was much faster than Massa and Kubica, odd.Ah well, Silverstone next, I hope whatever new parts Ferrari bring can achieve a better result than this weekend!!
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Hey Nicki 🙂 hope you’re good. I know what you mean about Jense, he’s very good of course and deserves these good times and all, but winning in an extremely superior car kinda takes the buzz away.@Charlie: I think you’re right, yes. I did think, after qualifying yesterday, that Kimi’s strategy would seriously get him in the top 4 at least, but my doubt was that he was starting on the dirty side. The same thing happened in 2007, Kimi was heavier and he lost position to Kovalainen, and also damaged his wing into T1 which ruined his race. I was hoping Ferrari and Kimi would’ve learnt from 2007. So while we can be pleased he outqualified Massa this year (and you’re absolutely right again – Kimi was always the better driver), the strategy wasn’t suitable for the race. Regarding Massa’s start: while I think it was a bit out of order to Kimi (probably because Kimi owned him in qualifying? lol) it’s unfair to put all the blame on Massa for Kimi’s start. Yes, Massa got in Kimi’s way – but that’s racing! His driving behaviour was cocky, but we already know how childish Massa is and sometimes he can be quite clumsy.Like I said, in 2007 Kimi’s front wing got damaged by Kovalainen at the start into T1. It happens. Massa’s wing got damaged at Bahrain this year, by tapping Kimi’s rear wheel into T1. It happens all the time and not just to Kimi.The fact is the Ferrari isn’t where it should be yet.I know a lot of fans are very upset about today but the less they get upset about it, the better. It’s done and dusted, Kimi’s over it, he was pretty relaxed – chatting with mates in the paddock after the race! Check it out in this video from Italian Sky, courtesy of TaniaS at the official Kimi forum:http://www.mediafire.com/?jy5zzy2mtdkHahaha!
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I feel so sad about the race result yesterday. I can’t sleep. When I close my eyes ,I’ll think what happened in the race,especially the start.I think Massa blocked the way Kimi want to go, but everyone would say that’s just racing .Ok, I accept. Even though, I think this is not the first time.Kimi, I love you and keep flying.Please never give up~
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What massa did on the race start was normal for a racer.Yeah..i want to say the same thing too..that racing. Did u guyz agreed with me that when it comes to race start,massa always being aggressive than kimi.And knowing massa qualify behind kimi just make me scared that massa always had a good start. So when it comes to race day, it didn’t surprised me when he able to past kimi. Moreover starting on the dirty side was not even help kimi. I’ve noticed kimi always playing safe at start and it different to massa. But i do not have any problem with that circumstances cause every racer has their own driving style. Nways..i really hope ferrari first win comes from kimi. Untill know,keep flying kimi and keep flying evenstar.
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I had a little bit more hope for this race. but i’m disapointed, again!I think Kimi is also disapointed.But he is still a great driver, but should he do, when he has a bad car….Evenstar: i got a question. Where can i get the picture of Kimi of "about"-section??? I love it. I know it is from the tag heuer shooting!
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@Bella: Here is the picture – http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1139/th31.jpg 🙂
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THANKS!!This pic is breathtaking!
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Too bad Kimi had that touche with Fernando, his race sucked.. but at least he beat Felipe in qualifying, that was what I was hoping for. The pace of Ferrari wasn’t there this weekend, and Massa was simply more eager. Kimi was on the dirty side, but still, normally he’s a better starter than Massa.@Evenstar: I have to disagree with your statement that Jenson is more impressive this year than Lewis in the past. In 2007 he rocked from race one, and Jenson wouldn’t be as dominant if he had Alonso as a team-mate.In 2007 Lewis’ car was the class of the field, but illegal. The Brawn is also questionable because of the diffuser. And they both are the no 1 in their team. I’m not a Hamilton-fan, more like the opposite, but this year’s McLaren is a dog-house and I want to see him go down in a proper Formula1-car!
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Great review Saima. In spite of the depressing race :PI hope its okay I used that stunning picture you linked to as the group pic on the Kimi group on FB?
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Hey Soren! Cheers, and you’re most welcome to use any pic you like 🙂
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Great！I am a Chinese boy. Say 加油 to them！ 虽然没看懂到底是什么意思~~ (*^__^*) ……
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