| 2007 Turkish Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 12 of 17 in the2007 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 26 August 2007 | ||||
| Official name | 2007 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Istanbul Racing Circuit,Tuzla,Turkey | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.338 km (3.317 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 58 laps, 309.396 km (192.250 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny | ||||
| Attendance | 65,000 | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:27.329 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:27.295 on lap 57 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2007 Turkish Grand Prix (officially the2007 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix)[1] was the twelfth race of the2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. Won byFelipe Massa, it was held on 26 August 2007 at theIstanbul Park inTuzla. It was the third time aFormula One race had been held here. The two previous winners of the race wereKimi Räikkönen in2005 and Massa in2006, both of whom race forFerrari in 2007.
It came following considerable controversy after the 2006 event, where the organisers were fined $5,000,000 forpolitical bias, due to their choice ofMehmet Ali Talat to present the winner's trophy. Talat is President of theTurkish Cypriot state, which is not an internationally recognised government. This was seen by thegoverning body ofFormula One as having compromised their neutrality.
Lewis Hamilton came into the race with a 7-point lead overMcLaren teammateFernando Alonso after Hamilton's controversial victory in the2007 Hungarian Grand Prix. McLaren ledFerrari in the constructors' championship by 19 points despite not being allowed to score points in Hungary. However, the Ferrari had looked strong in recent weeks, and their two cars ultimately dominated the race from start to finish, Massa and Räikkönen taking first and second places respectively. A late puncture dropped Hamilton to fifth place and cut his championship lead over Alonso to five points.
During the press conference following the race, Massa commented that "the Istanbul Park was the track where he made his career turn-around, and finally began winning races." He also praised the track as well as the city.[2]
Felipe Massa'sFerrari led from pole from teammateKimi Räikkönen who had jumpedMcLaren'sLewis Hamilton off the grid to take second place.Reigning World ChampionFernando Alonso's start from fourth was even worse than teammate Hamilton's as he fell behind bothBMW Saubers ofRobert Kubica andNick Heidfeld into sixth. However, BMW's early stopping strategy led to Alonso taking both places back after the first round of pit-stops.At the first round of stops it seemed that Räikkönen could pass Massa if he stopped later, as he did at theFrench Grand Prix. However, Massa stopped after Räikkönen to retain the lead. Hamilton stopped later than both Ferraris and caught several seconds up to them, but could not pass Räikkönen for second, as he gradually fell away. Meanwhile, Kubica's strategy had not only dropped him behind Heidfeld and Alonso, butRenault'sHeikki Kovalainen too.Massa stopped later than Räikkönen again at the second pit stop, and therefore retained the lead as Ferrari called the race between teammates off at this point. Hamilton may have emerged ahead of Räikkönen, but a puncture in hisfront tyre dropped him to fifth behind Heidfeld and Alonso. Damage to his front wing led to Kovalainen catching him, but theFinn was unable to pass Hamilton. Kubica lost a place toNico Rosberg through strategy finishing eighth.Massa eventually won his secondconsecutive Turkish Grand Prix, and his fifth Grand Prix win overall, all of which came from pole position. He had secured his eighth pole in qualifying.Mark Webber ofRed Bull Racing was the only non-classified car, with a hydraulic failure. All the rest were classified includingAdrian Sutil who retired with a fuel pressure problem.Scuderia Toro Rosso driverVitantonio Liuzzi ended a run of 9 consecutive retirements stretching back to theBahrain Grand Prix in April.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 58 | 1:26:42.161 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 58 | +2.275 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | 1 |  Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | +26.181 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | 9 |  Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 58 | +39.674 | 6 | 5 |
| 5 | 2 |  Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | +45.085 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | 4 | Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 58 | +46.169 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 58 | +55.778 | 8 | 2 |
| 8 | 10 |  Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 58 | +56.707 | 5 | 1 |
| 9 | 3 |  Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 58 | +59.491 | 10 | |
| 10 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 58 | +1:11.009 | 13 | |
| 11 | 17 |  Alexander Wurz | Williams-Toyota | 58 | +1:19.628 | 14 | |
| 12 | 11 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 57 | +1 Lap | 16 | |
| 13 | 7 | Jenson Button | Honda | 57 | +1 Lap | 21 | |
| 14 | 23 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 57 | +1 Lap | 11 | |
| 15 | 18 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 57 | +1 Lap | 15 | |
| 16 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 57 | +1 Lap | 9 | |
| 17 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 57 | +1 Lap | 22 | |
| 18 | 22 |  Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 57 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 19 | 19 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 57 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
| 20 | 21 | Sakon Yamamoto | Spyker-Ferrari | 56 | +2 Laps | 20 | |
| 21 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Spyker-Ferrari | 53 | Fuel pressure | 19 | |
| Ret | 15 |  Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 9 | Hydraulics | 12 | |
Source:[6] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2007 season | Next race: 2007 Italian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2006 Turkish Grand Prix | Turkish Grand Prix | Next race: 2008 Turkish Grand Prix |
40°57′20.5″N29°24′29.7″E / 40.955694°N 29.408250°E /40.955694; 29.408250
