Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scoreboard - Live Odds - Sporting Events - Live Lines

Massa wins third straight in Istanbul

Sun 11th, May 2008

Istanbul, Turkey (Sports Network) - Ferrari's Felipe Massa was in control for the entire race, winning Sunday's Grand Prix of Turkey Formula One race by 3.779 seconds over Lewis Hamilton. It was his third consecutive win at the Istanbul Autodrom.

The victory was Massa's second of the season, second in a row and seventh of his F1 career to bring him within seven points of championship leader Kimi Raikkonen. It was also the fourth straight win for Ferrari who takes control of the manufacturer's championship by 19 points over BMW Sauber.

"Lewis was pushing me a lot the whole race, he was very strong," said Massa.

Massa, he of the three straight poles in Turkey, brought the 20-car field to the green flag for 58 laps of racing. The group included Rubens Barrichello who with today's start, his 257th, broke the record of Riccardo Patrese for starts in the series.

Massa got off to a great start, but his teammate Raikkonen was squeezed out and fell to sixth. Hamilton jumped to second and Robert Kubica slid into third after the first corner.

Meanwhile, at the back of the field was a collision involving Giancarlo Fisichella, Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Vettel and Adrian Sutil.

The safety car was called out while the track was cleared. One lap later they were at top speed and Massa was setting fastest lap. Raikkonen regained his form and got around Fernando Alonso for fourth as Heikki Kovalainen pitted early with a tire puncture.

And all this happened on the first three laps!

On lap five Massa set another fastest lap, but Hamilton was staying close, within 1.5 seconds. The two were pulling away from Kubica who was 4.7 seconds back. By lap 13 Hamilton set a fastest lap to cut the lead to just over one second.

But Hamilton was apparently on a light fuel load as he was the first of the leaders to pit for fuel and tires on lap 16. Massa and Kubica pitted on lap 19 and Raikkonen inherited the lead until it was time for him to stop on lap 21. The World Champion set a fastest lap before his time to refuel, maybe he would be able to compete with Massa and Hamilton for the win after all. The No.1 Ferrari returned to the track ahead of Kubica and in third place.

On lap 23 Hamilton closed on Massa and overtook him for the lead in Turn 12. Hamilton was obviously faster as he began to pull away after the pass. Within two laps the lead was up to almost two seconds. He was 3.8 seconds ahead on lap 27.

Hamilton was still building the lead (7.5 seconds at lap 31), or was Ferrari letting him go knowing he was on a three-stop strategy to their two-stop schedule?

When Hamilton turned down pit lane on lap 32, everyone knew that indeed he was on a "three-stopper."

Massa inherited the lead when Hamilton pitted with teammate Raikkonen 10.5 seconds back in second place. Hamilton returned in third place, 13.2 seconds back. All three drivers had one more stop to make.

Massa was the first to blink, pitting with 18 laps to go. Meanwhile, Hamilton was cutting into new leader Raikkonen's lead. The gap was 1.6 seconds, but both were only about 14 seconds ahead of Massa - not enough to pit and retain the lead.

Raikkonen pitted with 15 laps remaining and it was up to Hamilton to use the clean air for a fast lap so that he could get in and out of pit lane ahead of Raikkonen on his final stop. Hamilton's lap was a quick one, including the fastest second sector of the race. He came in with 14 laps to go, a 5.9-second stop, and he was gone. Hamilton returned to the track ahead of Raikkonen in second place.

Hamilton was five seconds behind Massa and just 1.2 seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Hamilton, on the softer tire, was not looking so much at Massa, but trying to hold off the World Champion.

Raikkonen could never get close enough to make the pass attempt and had to settle for third place. Kubica, Nick Heidfeld, Alonso, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg completed the points-scoring positions.

"We knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris," said Hamilton.

Raikkonen's third place finish earned him six points and 35 for the season. He will bring a seven-point lead over both Hamilton and Massa to the next event.

The sixth race of the season is set for Sunday, May 25th on the streets of Monaco for the prestigious Grand Prix of Monaco.

Where the players come to play and STAY.

Sports Information you need to win BIG.

Sports Contests – Think you know the game?

Poker Promotion

Find NC State basketball tickets at TickCo and watch the college basketball season wrap up with Final Four tickets!

Contact Us | Help | Site Map| Sport Links

Sportsbook Directory | Casinos Directory | Poker Room Directory | Racebook Directory | Partners Directory