Planet-F1

What The Papers Say About Turkey

Monday 12th May 2008

Fleet Street is singing the praises of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton - the two stars of Sunday's Turkish GP.

'No wonder that Felipe Massa loves Istanbul Park. Yesterday the only problem he encountered on his way to a hat-trick of victories here came on the 24th lap when Lewis Hamilton pulled a daring and successful passing move on him going into Turn 12.

'Unfortunately for the 23-year-old Englishman, the spectre of last year's tyre failure here, which arguably cost him the world title, obliged McLaren to opt for a three-stop strategy, and that ultimately cost him his chance of victory. But on a day when the team's pre-event computer prediction had forecast nothing better than a fifth place finish, he said he felt that the runner-up spot, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, counted as his best race ever.' - David Tremayne, The Independent

'Lewis Hamilton's title challenge is back on track after a tactically astute and impeccably executed drive to take second place in the Turkish grand prix. This was despite being forced to make three tyre changes, rather than two, because of concerns about the safety of his tyres.

'The Briton's McLaren-Mercedes split the Ferraris to finish the 58-lap race 3.7sec behind Felipe Massa and 0.2sec ahead of the hard-charging Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton refused to buckle under tremendous and sustained pressure from the Finnish world champion, whose lead in this year's series was cut from nine points to seven.' - Alan Henry, The Guardian

'The confidence that appeared to have deserted Lewis Hamilton at times this season was back surging through his veins last night after an excellent drive in the Turkish Grand Prix helped him to finish an unlikely runner-up behind Felipe Massa, of Ferrari.

'While Hamilton's composed performance caught the eye on a day when he was hampered by being forced into a three-stop pit strategy, the spoils deservedly went to Massa, who completed not only his second win in three races, but also his third consecutive victory from pole at Istanbul Park.

'The likeable Brazilian, who counts Michael Schumacher among his retinue of advisers, remains one of the most hotly debated talents in Formula One, with many a critic convinced that he will never be anything other than a qualifying specialist. Massa may be quick, they argue, but he lacks consistency in a race, is prone to mistakes under pressure and is temperamentally erratic.

'Others, including, for much of the time, Massa himself, do not buy into this and will point to his superb driving on a demanding track in Turkey over the past three years as the best evidence of it.' - Edward Gorman, The Guardian

'Lewis Hamilton described this as 'the best race ever for me'. That's quite a claim when you consider some of the remarkable drives in the Englishman's brief F1 career. But it was fully justified by a 58-lap race in which Hamilton was 'full-on' from start to finish. More than that, he and McLaren-Mercedes had to overcome a potential handicap when forced by concerns over tyre wear to make an extra pit stop.

'In truth, Hamilton would have accepted fifth place. In the end, he finished second, pushing the winner, Felipe Massa, for an hour and 27 minutes.

'These two were in a league of their own, particularly after two other candidates for victory, Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen, touched at the first corner, forcing Kovalainen to make a pit stop to replace a tyre on his McLaren and Raikkonen's Ferrari dropped to sixth. The world champion staged an impressive recovery to finish a close third, but even that was not enough to detract from the way Massa had been forced to work for his, and Ferrari's, third win in succession in Turkey.' - Maurice Hamilton, The Guardian

'Lewis Hamilton produced the drive of his life yesterday to roar back into title contention.

'The Brit F1 sensation finished second in the Turkish Grand Prix after seeing victory hopes shredded before the race even started amid fears a tyre could blow at 200mph.

'Hamilton's McLaren team had been ordered by tyre suppliers Bridgestone to do an extra pit-stop than his rivals because of concerns the rubber would not last longer stints.

'The enforced strategy handed victory to Brazil's Felipe Massa by four seconds but Hamilton split the Ferraris by beating reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen into third place.' - Michael Spearman, The Sun