Istanbul - Race

By Franz Burgmann

Vettel cruises to win in Istanbul


Perfect race and result for Sebastian Vettel

It was a comfortable wire to wire victory for Sebastian Vettel in Turkey. There was no situation in the race where his victory could have been in doubt. This victory makes it his third race win in the fourth race of the season already. Mark Webber with his second position made Red Bull's Sunday afternoon perfect.
Comeback for Ferrari: Fernando Alonso had a strong race and finished third. For most of the race distance the Spaniard could match the Red Bull's pace and it was not until seven laps to the end that the two time world champion had eventually to give way to the at this stage faster Mark Webber. Alonso's third place is the first podium finish for Ferrari in 2011.

Mark Webber overtaking Fernando Alonso for second place

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton had a few skirmishes on track with the better end for Hamilton, whose four stop strategy proved to be the better choice compared to Button's three stops. But never in the race were the McLarens quick enough to challenge the frontrunners.
Nico Rosberg did a great start and went up into second place. Unfortunately, afterwards Ross Brawn's worry that the team had not been able to find a working race setup for the car came true. Nico Rosberg was much slower than Webber, Alonso and the McLarens and had give way to them. At the end of the race his four stop strategy gave him the crucial advantage over Jenson Button to finish ahead of the Briton in fifth place.

Hamilton (left) making his final move on Button on lap 50

A great drive we saw from Kamui Kobayashi, who after not having been able to run his car in qualifying managed to move from the very back of the field up into the points.
Michael Schumacher's driving style did not carry conviction. Instead of giving way to Vitaly Petrov, who was already past him, the German drove into the Lotus Renault damaging his front wing, compromising heavily his race. He finished twelfth.
Final results of the race

Pos.DriverNat.TeamTime/GapLapsPs

1Sebastian VettelGermanRed Bull584

2Mark WebberAustralianRed Bull+8.807584

3Fernando AlonsoSpanishFerrari+10.075584

4Lewis HamiltonBritishMcLaren+40.232584

5Nico RosbergGermanMercedes+47.539584

6Jenson ButtonBritishMcLaren+59.431583

7Nick HeidfeldGermanLotus Renault+1:00.857584

8Vitaly PetrovRussianLotus Renault+1:08.168584

9Sebastien BuemiSwissToro Rosso+1:09.394583

10Kamui KobayashiJapaneseSauber+1:18.021583

11Felipe MassaBrazilianFerrari+1:19.823584

12Michael SchumacherGermanMercedes+1:25.444584

13Adrian SutilGermanForce India+1L573

14Sergio PerezMexicanSauber+1L574

15Rubens BarrichelloBrazilianWilliams+1L573

16Jaime AlguersuariSpanishToro Rosso+1L574

17Pastor MaldonadoVenezuelanWilliams+1L574

18Jarno TrulliIndianTeam Lotus+1L573

19Heikki KovalainenFinnishTeam Lotus+2L563

20Jerome D'AmbrosioBelgianVirgin+2L562

21Narian KarthikeyanIndianHispania+3L553

22Vitantonio LiuzziItalianHispania+5L534

23Paul di RestaScottishForce India+14L444

RETTimo GlockGermanVirgin4


RET...retired

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