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[Dead Man]

The season continues with a visit to Turkey and Istanbul Park. Well known for its infamous Turn 8, a multi-apex turn that catches unwary drivers off guard. With an astounding three straight wins, Felipe Massa hopes to continue to display why he has nearly mastered this course. As the season progresses, more and more adjustments are made to various cars, with more changes set to debut here. All the changes in the world could count for nothing if a drivers skill slips for even a second, however.

The venue of the Turkish Grand Prix is located in Pendik on the Asian side of Istanbul, close to the junction of Kurtköy on the north side of the TEM motorway, linking Istanbul to Ankara. It is adjacent to the newly constructed Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and is surrounded by forests and fields.

The circuit and its facilities were designed by the well-known racetrack architect Hermann Tilke, who said he designed the track to try to catch the drivers out. The inaugural Turkish Grand Prix certainly caught the drivers out, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend.

Turn 8 particularly caught the imagination. The corner is a fast, sweeping corner with four apexes, similar to one of the multi-apex sections of the old Nürburgring. Spectators and drivers alike raved about Turn 8, comparing it to legendary corners such as Eau Rouge and 130R. The circuit itself has already been compared to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Another notable corner is Turn 1, a sharp downhill left-hander immediately after the front straight. This corner has been nicknamed by some as the "Turkish Corkscrew" in reference to the famous "Corkscrew" at Laguna Seca. Both the 2006 F1 and MotoGP races at the circuit featured multiple incidents at this corner. A third noteworthy area is the uphill kink in the middle of the back straight; due to its similarity to Eau Rouge, it has been jokingly referred to as "Faux Rouge."

The circuit is not, however, without its critics. After qualifying, Jenson Button claimed that the track was getting bumpier as the weekend went on, particularly at Turn 8, which was what caused so many drivers to spin off. This harks back to another circuit designed by Hermann Tilke, Shanghai International Circuit, which is said to be sinking in places because it was built on the site of a former swamp. Jarno Trulli was notable for his lukewarm feeling towards the circuit, saying that he felt the circuit was easy to learn, and that good performance was down more to the car than the driver.

Onboard Lap

Istanbul Park Onboard Lap courtesy of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Take a closer look here.

Fastest Lap
Jenson Button - Brawn-Mercedes - 1:27.579
Most Wins
Felipe Massa - 3
Most Wins for Constructor
Ferrari - 3

Highlights from Previous Years

Highlights from Turkey 2008

Previous Winners

Championship Standings

Last Minute News

Jenson Button Q&A: Red Bull yet to show true pace
Exclusive Nico Rosberg Q&A: We will win soon with this car
Pre-Turkey Analysis: Ferraris Big Weekend
Ferrari set to hold on to Felipe Massa for 2011
Formula 1 set to make US return at new Austin track in 2012

 

[Leunam]

lol

 

[Chris R]

Just watched P2 earlier tonight, the ending :lol so damn funny, Webber trying to explain PUT SOMETHING UNDER THE TIRE :lol

Watching F1 debrief right now, they are talking to the Austin guys. P3 about to start too. Have to stay up and watch a stream of that to try and figure out who I put for my pole position and/or 1st/2nd/3rd for my bets.

 

[TylerD]

It has been a hectic week of moving for me. I am finally finished and got my PC setup so I can try to stream P3.

I am super pumped for the new USGP, I really hope it happens. Only 6 hrs drive for me which will make it easy to attend every year!

 

[Pimpwerx]

I'm not gonna make it to FP3. Definitely not through it. This is painful. PEACE.

 

[DrM]

Already mechanical problems for Kovalainen and Sutil after 5 minutes in FP3

 

[navanman]

Its overcast today and a lot cooler, definately going to suit the RBR cars even more.

 

[AcridMeat]

This is hard, it's 1:15am and I'm watching a stream with the most monotone foreign broadcaster. It's putting me to sleep. :lol

edit: Looks like a problem for Webber?

 

[DrM]

Something is wrong with Webber's car

Mark is told that there is no throttle response

He managed to get around the circut with almost no throttle. :lol

 

[navanman]

I've got a stream with no commentary at all.

Anyone for the BBC stream up?

 

[Dead Man]

Damn it, local TV is delaying coverage of the qualifying... for a repeat of a netball match.

 

[DrM]

Hamilton goes off in turn 8 and he stops in the gravel pit. However, he managed to get out, but his tyres are gone.

 

[AcridMeat]

Hamilton off.

wow at the replay, took absolutely nothing for him to completely lose it.

edit: Looks like a puncture on a couple of the tires as well.

edit: Holy shit it looks like a puncture on all 4. :lol :lol

 

[DrM]

Webber is back.

 

[AcridMeat]

Webber is back and already back in P2...I don't know what to think. Do I go with RBR?

 

[DrM]

it will be interesting to see tyre choice in Q3. Hards are quite fast and very very durable. So if someone starts on hards, he will pit much later. Softer are abit faster, but according to some teams, graining appears on the front after 4 laps.

 

[AcridMeat]

Hamilton just took P1.

 

[navanman]

Fascinating FP3, Hamilton does at quick lap to go quickest on soft tyres right at end of the session.

The qualifing will be in hotter conditions and may suit the non-RBR cars even more and the same for tomorrow where it will be like yesterday with track temperatures of 50C.

 

[Chris R]

For my bets I just put Vettel as taking the pole, and then Ham/Ham/Ham for the 1/2/3 spots to try to get ANY money from there :lol

 

[navanman]

Webber goes off at Turn 8 same as Hamilton.

 

[navanman]

Vettel on a stormer and smashes Hamilton's time by 0.3s.

Time to look at the weekend bets now!

I can lots of cars going off at Turn 8 during the race tomorrow on full load of fuel. If you do spin off, you destroy the tyres because of the abrasive tarmac run off area.

 

[DrM]

Turn 8 will be interesting today and tommorow

Vettel and Rosberg even faster

 

[AcridMeat]

I'm really torn on what I should do pick wise, I just threw around some ideas and came up with some interesting choices. I'm not liking how inconsistent Webber is though.

Webber just went off again as I typed that. :lol :lol :lol


edit: Where the hell did Rosberg come from?

 

[DrM]

edit: Where the hell did Rosberg come from?

He is always good on his last flying laps.

Also, Massa is struggling this year on 'his' track.

 

[AcridMeat]

He is always good on his last flying laps.

Also, Massa is struggling this year on 'his' track.

True enough about Rosberg, just didn't see him beating Hamilton's time.

Also yeah, this just isn't Massa's year it seems.

edit: One last thing, what are the chances Sutil is back for qualifying?

 

[dalin80]

Its overcast today and a lot cooler, definately going to suit the RBR cars even more.

Or not, the red bulls were far more skittish today in the cooler weather, both drivers had a number of small offs and both had trouble at turn 8 where as yesterday it was a fairly simple flat out corner for them.

From the radio it seems hamilton deliberately trashed his tyres in order to avoid crashing the car.

 

[DrM]

edit: One last thing, what are the chances Sutil is back for qualifying?

He will be there, but we do not know what failed. They reported problems with hydraulics system

 

[AcridMeat]

He will be there, but we do not know what failed. They reported problems with hydraulics system

Ah, thought so. Screw it, I'll just have him as the 1st to retire anyway. :lol

 

[Bobo]

YO ADRIAN I DID IT Yes, it's time to move on from Sutil. He served me well but He doesn't look too clever this weekend.

 

[AcridMeat]

YO ADRIAN I DID IT Yes, it's time to move on from Sutil. He served me well but He doesn't look too clever this weekend.

Man, you've been missing out. I moved onto Buemi a couple races ago. Fool has been fantastic for the price.

 

[Bobo]

Man, you've been missing out. I moved onto Buemi a couple races ago. Fool has been fantastic for the price.

Ha I had Buemi as my 2nd driver for the last race but had to drop him this weekend for better chassis/engine. So... going bold with terrible drivers that have no chance of doing anything but I feel my chassis engine combo will do well for the rest of the season. (I hope):lol

 

[Igo]

Ha I had Buemi as my 2nd driver for the last race but had to drop him this weekend for better chassis/engine. So... going bold with terrible drivers that have no chance of doing anything but I feel my chassis engine combo will do well for the rest of the season. (I hope):lol

I kept Buemi and instead dropped Sutil for Petrov. Somewhat of a risk but the price was right and Petrov is improving. Seemed better than dropping Buemi for some scrub who won't finish above 15th just so I could upgrade from Renault to Redbull.

I thought about staying with my Renault chassis and upgrading from Sutil to Webber while dropping Buemi for Chandhok but after doing the maths I think i'm better off this way. I've probably got it all wrong and screwed myself though.

I also thought about not posting any of this before qualifying started so as to not give anyone any ideas. :lol

 

[Goldrusher]

Ham/Ham/Ham for the 1/2/3 spots to try to get ANY money from there

You can do that ?

 

[Deadman]

Bue/Pet/Ren/Ren/Tot. Hopefully Petrov goes well this weekend, he has been so far.

 

[Chris R]

You can do that ?

Yes

Basically hedging my bets that Hamilton makes the podium tomorrow. If he doesn't I'm screwed, but seeing as I've made a total of $0 from podium bets so far (even though one race I had everyone on the podium correct, just the wrong order :| ) I figure why not? Decent chance Hammy gets on the podium (I hope) and if he does, I get bonus cash

 

[navanman]

Bue/Pet/Ren/Ren/Tot. Hopefully Petrov goes well this weekend, he has been so far.

I got the f*cking bonus question wrong and its screwed up my change for this weekend.
Anyway I have Pet/Chandook/Ren/Ren/Total.

 

[navanman]

ScarbF1 blog have an article up on the RBR F-duct that they tried this weekend.

Red Bull have been the last of the top teams to debut their f-duct. Like Ferrari they have had to engineer the set up into a chassis not designed to route the ducting through the cockpit. From this image from WRI2.net we can see the duct is far more complex than a simple tube from the cockpit to the rear wing. In Red Bulls case and similar to Ferraris solution, the duct is fed from the roll hoop and then goes into a split duct, one section leading to the rear wings flap and one which passes under the wing. This lower duct appears to be the default route for the air, before the driver engages the duct. Air simply passes under the rear wing for no effect. There is also a part of the circuit that routes into the cockpit to be closed off by the driver to control the airflow through the circuit. whats curious is that the duct appears to be linked to the airbox, this might be a simple mounting point or some influence from the positive pressure inside the airbox.

Red Bull have decided not to use their duct for this weekends race.

 

[navanman]

More new aero parts for Renault this year who seem to be the most active team this year so far with updates.

 

[Templar Wizard]

any qually streams?
all my usuals have gone to shit!

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

any qually streams?
all my usuals have gone to shit!

http://directos.lasexta.com/formula1

I don't know if works for foreigners (spanish channel).

 

[navanman]

any qually streams?
all my usuals have gone to shit!

http://eplsite.com/stream2.html

Its 10C hotter track temp than FP3 this morning.

 

[moojito]

The commentator there on the bbc just mentioned that it's called an f-duct because it covers the f in vodafone on the mclaren! I didn't know that, and always wondered where the name came from.

 

[DrM]

RBR teaching some lessions :lol

And Jesus Christ @ HRT onboard video. This is just scary

 

[Deadman]

Liuzzi gone. He had the f duct on and Sutil didnt, who then came 10th.

 

[navanman]

Force India have fallen off the pace in the last bit. Glad I chanced to Renault!!

 

[navanman]

HMMM,

RBR have a new rear wing for qualifying. First time they have used it.

 

[Deadman]

Wow Alonso under massive pressure now.

Edit: He's gone!

 

[navanman]

OMG Alonso is gone. That is massive!!

 

[kharma45]

Wonder what the hell is wrong with Alonso

 

[Deadman]

Guarantees a bit of fun tomorrow as he tries to work his way up from 12th.

Can't understand why he was sat in the pits for so long, its Q2, go out and do your easy banker lap and then sit in the pits like everyone else.