Turkish GP - A great debut victory
 Felipe
Massa scored a great debut victory in winning the Turkish
Grand Prix on the outskirts of Istanbul on Sunday. He led
almost throughout the 58 lap race, held in 36 degree heat
to establish himself in third place in the championship, and
move Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to within two points of the
championship lead.
But teammate Michael Schumacher was beaten into third place
by championship rival Fernando Alonso, the pair finishing
just 0.081s apart as Michael made a late lunge for the finishing
line. The seven time World Championship had been overtaken
by Alonso when the leading cars all pitted for fuel and tyres
when the safety car came out after 14 laps. Massa came in
first, requiring Michael to wait for service which allowed
Alonso to overtake. His deficit to the Spaniard in the championship
grew by two points to 12.
At the start, Michael's fears of the dirtier inside line
were realised in the charge down to the first corner, allowing
Massa to lead although Michael just grabbed second from Alonso
who was pincered by the Ferraris. He backed off which surprised
teammate Giancarlo Fisichella who spun causing chaos. The
Renault driver, Ralf Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen
were among those who had to pit at the end of the lap for
damage, which allowed Webber up to fourth from ninth on the
grid, Jenson Button up one place to fifth, Nico Rosberg up
from 14th to sixth, Tonio Liuzzi up from 18th to seventh and
Robert Kubica who remained eighth.
During the opening stages, Massa opened up a 3.2s lead by
lap three but there it stayed, until dropping to 1.9s on lap
13. Michael remained consistent in second place, but Fernando
Alonso dropped away in fourth. Button had disposed of Webber
to claim fifth place, the Honda driver briefly catching Alonso,
while Webber was soon challenged by Kubica until his challenge
faded, having overtaken Rosberg.
On lap 14, the safety car came out after Liuzzi, who had
also faded, spun at the first corner and his Scuderia Toro
Rosso needed to be removed. All the leaders dived for the
pits, the Ferraris arriving in race order: Massa ahead of
Michael. While the German driver waited, Alonso swept passed
into second place, and when the safety car went in a few laps
later, Alonso was on Massa's tail, if only briefly.
Michael was back in third place now ahead of Button, with
Rosberg, who didn't stop, in fifth place. Christian Klien
was soon to be overtaken for sixth by Pedro de la Rosa, both
non-stoppers. Then came Jarno Trulli having a massive battle
with Rubens Barrichello.
During the next 20 laps, Massa gradually eased away from
Alonso, while Michael wasn't far behind until he ran wide
at turn eight and lost four seconds. Button was now close
behind Michael, but not quicker. De la Rosa was next after
Trulli, Klien and Barichello all pitted. De la Rosa pitted
on lap 30 as did Fisichella close behind him.
The first four were in a class of their own, with three of
them making another pit stop on lap 39, leaving Michael ahead
for three laps before he came in on lap 43. When he emerged,
he was now just behind Alonso and the pair of them ran nose-to-tail
for the remainder of the race, Michael hoping that Alonso
might make a tiny mistake, but he was to be disappointed.
Massa led the pair by 13s but he eased up in the closing stages
to win by 5.5s. Alonso was just ahead of Michael, with Button
in a safe fourth place.
Fifth place eventually went to de la Rosa, 33s further back,
but he was pushed by Fisichella in the closing stages and
then came Ralf Schumacher just winning his Japanese battle
from Barrichello. Trulli was ninth, again pushed hard by Webber.
Alonso now leads the Drivers' championship by 108 points
from Michael's 96, while Renault are two points ahead of Ferrari,
160 to 158 pts.
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