Formula 1 2010: Round 7 Turkey

frostie500

This weekend sees the Turkish Grand Prix and gives Formula 1 a chance to move on from the controversial end to the Monaco Grand Prix. Mercedes have drawn a line under the incident after assurances that from the FIA that the safety car procedures will be looked into at the next World Council meeting so now it is up the action on track to remind fans of why they love this sport. It is not for protracted legal techncalicalities but rather because of the enjoyment everyone gets from seeing a full blooded racing car in action on a challenging circuit. It is quite fitting than that the Turkish Grand Prix is next up on the calander.

The Istanbul Park Circuit



Designed, as per usual, by German circuit architect Herman Tilke this fast and flowing track just outside of Istanbul is different to any of his other other creations. While many of the “Tilkedrome” circuits are bland and relativily feature less Istanbul is a great circuit with undulations and fast sweeping bends. Indeed while most of Tilke’s creations have left a lot to be desired as far as ultimate challenge to the drivers this one has what is now regarded as Formula 1’s most difficult corner. The triple apex Turn 8 is an immense test of a drivers precision, nerve and ability.

With the cars spending in the region of six seconds in the Turn 8 complex per lap it is clear that this is an area where there is lots of time to be gained or lost. In the race though it is not that simple as Lewis Hamilton has found out countless times. The tyres face maximum load through here and as a result if a driver pushes too hard the tyres wear at an exceptional rate. Even with the current super hard tyres that drivers have consistently managed to nurse through races-Alonso completed all but one lap in Monaco on a single set-this section could be one of the few faced this year that causes serious wear problems for teams and drivers.

Apart from Turn 8 there are a series of off camber turns throughout the lap with Turn 1 consistently causing havoak in races and Turn 4 also having the ability to catch unwary drivers out on cold tyres at the start of races. The ending section of the lap is quite tight and twisty and stunts some of the flow created from the majority of the lap but it is here that pole position will be sorted and this section is therefore crucial for the results of Sunday’s race. Drivers brake into Turn 12 from the region of 200 mph and then have to shuffle the cars through the last two turns where consistently we see good laps fall apart in qualifying.

Weather for this weekend’s Grand Prix

While changeable weather has been the norm this season, with the threat of rain hanging over almost every race weekend so far there are no such worries ahead of this weekend. Clear skies are expected on Saturday and Sunday with temperatures in the high twenties. Friday is expected to cloud over ahead of the afternoon session but even so temperatures should be quite high. The wind can be a factor through Turn 8 with gusts affecting the aerodynamic balance but wind speeds are expected to be quite low and the overall the weather will be very favourable for the performance of the cars.

Statistics ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix

This circuit has been dominated in the past by Felipe Massa who has taken three wins from pole position. The Brazilian will need to recapture that form if he is to stave off the rumours of him losing his drive. His team have cooled on him considerably this season with rumours of Mark Webber or Robert Kubica linked to replacing him. Massa has said that he is not comfortable in the car right now and has been solidly beaten by his teammate Alonso throughout the season but did show some signs of life in Monaco. With this being one of the circuits that he has traditionally excelled it will be of crucial importance that he can beat his teammate if he is to end rumours of his departure from the red team.

This race was first run in 2005 and won by then McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen from pole position. Last year was the first race not won from pole, Jenson Button beating Sebastian Vettel en route to his world title. Historically Turkey has had a high finishing rate with over 85% of starters seeing the chequered flag and close racing has been the norm with an average winning margin of seven seconds.

What can we expect from this weekend?

The expectation is once more for Red Bull to stretch away at the front of the field. Webber has dominated the last two weekends with pole positions and race wins so the main question ahead of this weekend’s race is whether his teammate Vettel can get his performances on a par. The team claim he was hampered by a damaged chassis in Spain and Monaco so this race will give us an understanding of just how much that issue affected the young German.

Top speed has generally been rewarded by fast lap times and strong finishes around this track so this should be a great opportunity for McLaren and Ferrari to utilise their F-ducts and hopefully bring the fight to the Red Bull team. Outside of the main contenders Force India have historically been very fast down the straights so this could be another race weekend where Adrian Sutil performs well.

Last season Brawn GP left Turkey knowing that they no longer had the fastest car on the grid as Red Bull moved past and started to show their true potential. It is only now that the Milton Keyes based team have shown just how good they can be and there is little to suggest that they will be caught anytime soon. It would be brave to bet against another Red Bull win and with Mark Webber in such strong form if would be tough to bet against the Australian making it a hat trick of victories.

Past Winners
2009 Jenson Button Brawn GP
2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
2007 Felipe Massa Ferrari
2006 Felipe Massa Ferrari
2005 Kimi Raikonen McLaren

PJTierney

I'll be away in London for race weekend, where can I catch repeats of the BBC coverage?

Frank Bullitt

Should be an interesting race,Ferrari have a new blown rear wing coming to this which should help down the straights,hopefully Red Bull arent too far ahead.

amacachi

Just to let ye know the BBC are showing last year's GP on the Red Button, along with I think 4 GPs from the early 80s.

The main thing I'm looking forward to this is comparing the throttle through tun 8 in qualifying to the race. There's be an unreal difference I'm going to guess.

Tau

amacachi wrote: »

Just to let ye know the BBC are showing last year's GP on the Red Button, along with I think 4 GPs from the early 80s.

The main thing I'm looking forward to this is comparing the throttle through tun 8 in qualifying to the race. There's be an unreal difference I'm going to guess.

How are you going to compare them? Are you listening to engine tones, or are you just hoping they'll throw up a graphic? (Or is there another way I'm missing?)

amacachi

Tau wrote: »

How are you going to compare them? Are you listening to engine tones, or are you just hoping they'll throw up a graphic? (Or is there another way I'm missing?)

Very easy to tell on the onboard how much they're lifting if you've heard them at full throttle.

vincenzolorenzo

frostie500 wrote: »

This weekend sees the Turkish Grand Prix and gives Formula 1 a chance to move on from the controversial end to the Monaco Grand Prix.

Thank God! :D

smooch71

Where does he get all this stuff??

amacachi

smooch71 wrote: »

Where does he get all this stuff??

Who?
If you're talking about Frostie it's from his blog.

smooch71

amacachi wrote: »

Who?
If you're talking about Frostie it's from his blog.

Right.

It's pretty impressive.

recyclebin

Just watchin practice now. Massa off track for the third time at turn 8. Maybe his dominance of Turkey has ended.

I'd say Red Bull are sand bagging again.

recyclebin

Webbers pulled off the circuit with what looks like engine trouble. It could just be an old engine. Vettels also struggling with cooling.

amacachi

LOL at Webber going mad. :pac: Looking like the usual Red Bull weekend if that's an engine failure.

D2D

PJTierney wrote: »

I'll be away in London for race weekend, where can I catch repeats of the BBC coverage?

Replay's are on the red button after the race, on BBC Three at 7pm on Sunday and at 1.45am on Monday morning. Also, since your in the UK, you can watch the replay on the BBC iPlayer

frostie500

Skys on the blink so I havent seen either of the sessions so far, its like being back with ITV!

lord lucan

For those who have Film24 on Sky,there's a programme on at 14.30 today(Saturday) called Michael Schumacher:The Red Baron. A look at his career. It's followed at 15.30 by a similar programme about Senna.

amacachi

lord lucan wrote: »

For those who have Film24 on Sky,there's a programme on at 14.30 today(Saturday) called Michael Schumacher:The Red Baron. A look at his career. It's followed at 15.30 by a similar programme about Senna.

FFS, there's already two things on at that time I want to watch around then and I won't be home.
EDIT: Channel 157 btw, might save someone 5 minutes I've just wasted looking for it. :pac:

lord lucan

amacachi wrote: »

EDIT: Channel 157 btw, might save someone 5 minutes I've just wasted looking for it. :pac:

Good call,never thought of that.:cool:

I never even knew i had that channel,found the programmes by accident!:pac:

amacachi

lord lucan wrote: »

Good call,never thought of that.:cool:

I never even knew i had that channel,found the programmes by accident!:pac:

I just went straight to films and was looking at Film4, then thought maybe it was Sunday, then did the same for Movies 24. :pac:

EvilMonkey

1 Web
2 Ham
3 Vett

Vettel doesn't look happy. Something wrong with the car?
I hope Hamilton can get in front of Webber at the start and doesn't let him disappear off.

More mistakes from Alonso. :mad:

Kobayashi gets Sauber into the top 10

mickdw

Schumi in the gravel but still ahead of rosberg

naughto

how come the qing is not on the bbc red button job cant find it any where

GTE

There seems to be more important sports events taking up the space.

I suppose they can only have so many feeds of TV on the red button.

I dont know why they dont have a seperate sports feed for BBC 2. Double the viewage.



I had my lunch off work planned. Ham sammich, tea, F1.

Nope

naughto

balls any way see it was on for 11 this moring dident bother my ass geting up as i thought it would be on the red button.i might be on when the ****e tennis is over

Ghost Train

Good qualifying, track seems to challange drivers which is good and tyres might be more of a factor. Redbull have had a few issues this weekend, so might be a tougher race for them

amacachi

Ghost Train wrote: »

Good qualifying, track seems to challange drivers which is good and tyres might be more of a factor. Redbull have had a few issues this weekend, so might be a tougher race for them

I dunno about the tyres, the hards seem to be nearly as quick as the softs, so I'd fancy the softs will last fairly well.

frostie500

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Vettel looks rattled more than anything else, I think he now realises that Webber isnt going to just roll over and go away.

He doesn't look very comfortable at all does he. Red Bull have announched that Vettel did have a rear roll bar failure which obviously would make it all but impossible to challenge Webber for pole. Even so with the confidence that Mark is displaying right now, and his faultless driving he really does seem to be stretching his teammate to the limit.

Last year Webber could not get on a par during qualifying but would, more often than not, show better and more consistent pace in the race than Vettel. It seems that right now he has captured the spark needed to qualify well and its very interesting to see Vettel losing his sunny disposition as he struggles with a teammate who is quicker than him right now. Obviously Webber will not keep this run going indefinitely but Vettel needs to do something special otherwise the internal momentum of the team might start shifting to the Australians advantage

Myrddin

That article says that park ferme will prevent them changing the bar until Sunday morning. When does park ferme end? I though it was once the race begins...

GTE

Button is downright pissing me off now

He had a good reason why he couldnt put in an epic lap to challenge pole but he sounded like such a whiner when he talked about it.
GOD!

I would have loved to see what Schumachers last lap could have done.

Delighted for Hamilton. Its going to be close at the front if he can keep up with Webber and if Vet gets his car sorted too. Interesting!

I want to see a tussle with the Mercedes cars and Button.

Ghost Train

bbk wrote: »

Button is downright pissing me off now

Didn't think he made too big deal about it... he can be a bit moany even on a good day, forth not bad considering he lost his final run

mickdw

EnterNow wrote: »

That article says that park ferme will prevent them changing the bar until Sunday morning. When does park ferme end? I though it was once the race begins...

The cars are sealed over night in the garage under the watchful eye of the FIA. The seal is removed a few hours before the race. It is during this time that they will be allowed to change any damage I guess under supervision Im sure. The cars are still under park ferme rules though.

frostie500

Good start to the race. Hamilton clearly has a faster car down the straights but I cant see him being close enough to make a move into T12.Vettel cant match the leading two yet-probably as a result of the roll bar failure yesterday and the resultant lock ups damaging the tyres

Ghost Train

great so far, some rain might really mix it up

amacachi

Vettel looks far better than Webber but I doubt he'll be allowed have a go if there's no rain.

Come on rain!!

Ghost Train

amacachi wrote: »

Vettel looks far better than Webber but I doubt he'll be allowed have a go if there's no rain.

Come on rain!!

I was thinking vettle looked the most uncomfortable of the top three

amacachi

He does seem to have slowed now, around the pitstops he looked far more comfortable.

frostie500

he's just after setting a fastest lap but I think hes more likly to be passed by Hamilton than he is to lead.

Webber has been very consistent and steady whereas it seems that Vettel has to press very hard. Hamilton looks pretty racy and can set good times but still cant get close enough to make a move into T12.

It will be a shame if it rains as this is quite a rarity to have the top four so close

Ghost Train

they all seem to be doing faster and faster sectors so not much in it

amacachi

Just looking at the lap timing and other things there, Chandhok's last lap was his first lap in this race that he went faster than he did in the GP2 race last year. :pac:

Ghost Train

humidity rising now, and temp dropping so rain must be close

Wonder will it pass them by though

Mike Litoris

amacachi wrote: »

Just looking at the lap timing and other things there, Chandhok's last lap was his first lap in this race that he went faster than he did in the GP2 race last year. :pac:

7

Thats shocking.

Fingers crossed for this damn rain!!

amacachi

Ghost Train wrote: »

humity rising now, and temp dropping so rain must be close

Wonder will it pass them by though

I'd like to see the radar again, but it did look like a very light shower. If it is just going to be a few mm as was said earlier then if one of the top 4 stays out I'd say they'll go on to win.

antomorro-sei

Havn't watched Formula 1 in ages. I forgot how good it is

Think I'll probably start following it closely again!

amacachi

antomorro-sei wrote: »

Havn't watched Formula 1 in ages. I forgot how good it is

Think I'll probably start following it closely again!

Tense race I have to admit! Some might wonder why this is better than Bahrain when there's only been one overtake at the top and that was in the pits, those people don't understand F1. :pac:

We're right in the middle of when the rain was supposed to have started, looks like it may not be coming.
Button getting closer and closer to Hamilton.

frostie500

Have to say I hope the rain stays off, its so rare to have such a tight and as Amacahi said a tense battle at the front of the field

antomorro-sei

frostie500 wrote: »

Have to say I hope the rain stays off, its so rare to have such a tight and as Amacahi said a tense battle at the front of the field

Yer, I can see the rain coming though. The sky is getting darker by the minute.

Ghost Train

wow

amacachi

Finally the Red Bull drivers remember who they are.

amacachi

Vettel's fault. No doubt about it. What the **** was he thinking!? Webber a few seconds a sector off the pace now.

antomorro-sei

Ghost Train wrote: »

wow

Wow is right.

Ghost Train

vettle fault, hard racing by webber