F1: Turkish GP in six words

By Andy Darley

CalendarSunday, May 11th, 2008

 
 

The perfect antidote to processional racing – today the lead swapped hands and raw speed was traded against strategy for a gripping race at the Istanbul circuit. You’d venture out to put the kettle on at your peril – but at least no drivers were felled by hitting stray dogs, as happened to Bruno Senna in the GP2 race…

For anyone short of time, patience or attention, here’s our six-word summaries of race, teams and drivers:

Overall race report

Massa’s fast driving beats fancy strategies

Drivers

Felipe Massa
Who could begrudge this splendid win?
Lewis Hamilton
Overcame recent troubles, back in hunt
Kimi Raikkonen
Visibly uncomfortable with rear-gunner role
Robert Kubica
Valiant start, plus good points haul
Nick Heidfeld
Scored points with usual metronomic regularity
Fernando Alonso
Wished he’d made a bigger impression
Mark Webber
Finally starting to fulfil his potential
Nico Rosberg
Sound drive brought team valuable point
David Coulthard
Avoided trouble for a straightforward drive
Jarno Trulli
Proved again he’s one-lap specialist
Jenson Button
Huh? Did he drive at Istanbul?
Heikki Kovalainen
Deserved better after his stellar qualifying
Timo Glock
Kept nose clean, held up Kovalainen
Rubens Barrichello
Past meant more than present today
Nelson A Piquet
Took part in entertaining midfield battles
Adrian Sutil
Probably pleased to not go backwards
Sebastian Vettel
Valuable experience of full-length race
DNF: Sebastien Bourdais
Felled by reliability of car again
DNF: Kazuki Nakajima
Vulnerable from poor qualifying: suffered accordingly
DNF: Giancarlo Fisichella
Tried too hard and went airborne

Teams

Ferrari
Good points haul, failed to dominate
BMW
Outclassed in qualifying, still brokered points
McLaren
Controlled 2008 race for first time
Williams
Failed to make impression at Istanbul
Red Bull
Finally their money follows their mouth
Toyota
Slipping back at expense of others
Renault
Car improvements appear to have stuck
Honda
Need solid progress, not landmark anniversaries
Toro Rosso
Insiders have written them off already
Force India
Drivers’ mixed fortunes didn’t produce much

Thumbnail image from http://wordle.net

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