Turkish Grand Prix – Istanbul, 27th August 2006
Felipe Massa: 1st 1:28:51.082 58 laps chassis
252
Michael Schumacher: 3rd + 5.656 58 laps chassis
255
Temperatures: air 35/36 °C, track 50/51 °C
Sixth win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the
first from Felipe Massa. This is win number 189 from 737 races.
Felipe took his maiden career win at his sixty seventh participation
in a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Jean Todt: “We are very happy about
Felipe’s win, the first of his career having driven
impeccably. Today, we had the potential to finish first and
second, but the arrival of the Safety Car on lap 14 compromised
ou rchances of achieving this result. The fact we were unable
to use all 100% of our potential takes the edge off the satisfaction
in finishing first and third, but it is comforting to know
that we have everything in place to succeed in the forthcoming
races. In Monza and at the three races outside Europe, we
will have many changes on the car and, thanks to the great
work being done by our technical partners, first and foremost
Bridgestone and also Shell, we will be in the best possible
shape to try and win both championships.”
Felipe Massa: “Today is an incredible
day that I will never forget. To take my first race win, especially
with Ferrari is a historic moment and I am thinking of all
the people who have helped me get here – my family,
my girlfriend and my friends and all those who gave me the
strength to achieve this. The team was sensational and they
gave me a perfect car to win. I am very emotional and very
happy. The race? I had a very good start and the car felt
very well balanced. As we left the grid, I could see Michael
and Fernando fighting but I was able to pull away from them
immediately. After the Safety Car and the pit stop the car
was still working wel land that is how it stayed in all the
stints of the race. It has always been my dream to drive for
Ferrari and totake my first ever Formula 1 with them, makes
this day even more special. It is an amazing dream come true for
me. The championships are still open with four races to go
and both titles are still within our reach.”
Michael Schumacher: “First of all,
I want to congratulate Felipe, who once again today did a
fantastic job, clearly deserving to win. Obviously, this weekend
things did not go my way, either yesterday in qualifying or
today in the race. For some reason, in the second stint, the
car was not going as well as it had done in Friday’s
free practice. It was rather nervous and the fact that it
had a pretty heavy fuel load certainly didn’t help and
neither did my mistake at Turn 8 on lap 28. On top of that,
the set of tyres in this stint did not performas well as the
others and they also blistered. In the end I tried to stick
with my rival in case he made a mistake. Today, I have lost
two points in the Drivers’ championship but I still
believe I can win the title.”
Ross Brawn: “A really fantastic result
for Felipe, who drove exceptionally well all weekend. My complimentsto
him and to his team of engineers and mechanics, who got his
car to work really well. He had great pace and the arrival
of the Safety Car did not really do him any harm. However,
it was frustrating that the Safety Car came out at a time
that really did affect Michael’s race badly, because
today, our cars were fast enough, the Bridgestone tyres were
very good and I think that we could have finished first and
second. We then tried torecover the situation for Michael,
but for some reason which we will need to look into, we picked
up some blisters on his second set of tyres and he was unable
to push in the middle stint, when of course it was crucial
to close down the gap to Alonso. However, we remain confident:
all the elements are in place for us to win both titles and
we will fight right to the very end to achieve that.”
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