F1 Turkey GP: Lewis Hamilton and Mclaren eat up the Turkey!

On Sunday, in perhaps the most exciting race of the season so far, Mclaren came out victorious with a one-two on the podium. Lewis Hamilton who had been unfortunate and out-of-form in the season so far picked up his first victory at Istanbul. The 58 lap track at Turkey is arguably the most challenging in the whole of F1, a victory here will boost the morale of the Mclaren team and especially of Lewis Hamilton.

Chequered Flag

However, the race was not won only because of Mclaren’s controlled performance and brilliant racing skills; it was partly due to the Red Bull. Red Bull have had a scintillating season so far with both their drivers doing great with a car that is the fastest on track. Mark Webber who came to Istanbul with two victories in a row at hand, mourned what happened on lap 41 in Turkey in a post-race FIA press conference. The two Red Bull drivers were caught in confusion and collided. As a result Vettel had to retire with a punctured rear tyre whereas Mark Webber gave way to the two Mclaren cars.

Till the coming of lap 41, it seemed that the two red bull cars were in complete control and would once again snatch the top positions with just 17 laps to go. But it is the uncertainty of F1 that makes it so amazing and captivating. Even after the disastrous accident at lap 41, there was drama left in the race.

Victorious!

Mark Webber said after the race, “Seb had big top speed advantage and went down the inside and we went side-by-side and then it looked like he turned pretty quick right and we made contact. It happened very fast. It is definitely a shame for the team. Not an ideal day, but the McLarens were solid today. It was a good race between all four of us up until then and obviously neither of us wanted to make contact with each other but it can happen sometimes. Unfortunately when we are both at the front it is never ideal but it happened.”

The contest was now between the two Mclaren cars. Button followed team-mate Lewis Hamilton, covering every inch between the two. It started to rain and the driving conditions became all the more difficult. At one stage, across the finishing the line the time gap between the two was 0.0s. But ultimately it was Lewis Hamilton who grabbed the initiative and went full throttle in-spite of the warning to save fuel. He made the finishing line and took the chequered flag.

After Turkey, the drivers standings stand wide open. Webber who took the third place here is at the top with 93 points. Just behind him is Jenson Button who is followed by a resurgent Lewis Hamilton at the third place. Fernando Alonso stands at at fourth followed by Sebastian Vettel.

01 Mark Webber 93

02 Jenson Button 88

03 Lewis Hamilton 84

04 Fernando Alonso 79

05 Sebastian Vettel 78

06 Robert Kubica 67

07 Felipe Massa 67

08 Nico Rosberg 66

09 Michael Schumacher 34

10 Adrian Sutil 22