More Turkish delight for Massa
Felipe Massa secured a hat-trick of victories at the Turkish Grand Prix as the Ferrari driver beat Lewis Hamilton into second place in Istanbul.The British driver's three-stop strategy helped him pass Massa for the lead at the half-way stage, but he couldn't build enough of an advantage to beat the Brazilian after his additional stop.
Kimi Raikkonen came third, while Hamilton's McLaren team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, was hampered by an early puncture and finished a lapped 12th.
Both Kovalainen and Raikkonen got away slowly at the beginning of the race, allowing Hamilton to leap through from third and challenge Massa for the lead.
The two Finns then came extremely close at the first corner, with Raikkonen losing momentum and being passed by Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso.
The safety was forced into making an appearance to clear up the debris from Giancarlo Fisichella's spectacular first corner crash.
Kovalainen dropped out of contention with a rear puncture just as the safety car came in, leaving Massa and Hamilton to fight for the victory.
On lap 24, Hamilton zoomed past Massa into the final corner and took the lead and pulled away, leading by eight seconds by the time he pitted again on lap 32.
That allowed Massa back ahead, and Hamilton did not have long enough between their respective final stops to overhaul him.
As a result, Massa is now level on 28 points with Hamilton in the Drivers' championship, with Raikkonen holding a seven point lead ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix in a fortnight's time.
Comments
Add a comment
Be the first to comment on this
If you are a Gambling.com member, please login at the top left of this page.
If you are not a Gambling.com member, please complete our sign up form—membership is free and it takes just a minute or two to sign up.