We have watched a great race today in Turkey, which ended with Hamilton on top.
Mark Webber started from the pole and managed to stay in first place for the biggest part of the race. However, this time, staying there has not been an easy task for him. Lewis Hamilton put a lot of pressure on him during the first part of the race until the pit stops. After the pit stops took place the positioning changed a bit on top, with Webber on the lead, Sebastian Vettel in second and Lewis Hamilton in third place, followed by his fast teammate Jenson Button.
During the pit stop, Mark Webber gained almost 2sec against Hamilton, due to a problem in the rear right wheel of the McLaren. Vettel gained one more second and so Hamilton lost his place. However the battle seemed to have just started, as all four of them were racing at the same pace, about a second faster than the pace of the second group of drivers led by Michael Schumacher.
They have been racing within 2.5sec (1st to 4th place) for almost 30 laps, when the unpredicted(?) happened. Sebastian Vettel made his move on his teammate just before T12, they drove side by side for a few meters and as Vettel tried to get a better line for braking, he smashed his rear right tyre on Webber's left side. Sebastian Vettel retired the race, while Webber only lost two places (by the two McLarens), and continued till the end, after a pit stop for a front wing change, to take the third place.
Vettel was obviously surprised by what had happened, and looked as if he was trying to say something to his mechanics. At first sight, it looks that it has been his mistake, but then again Webber did not leave any space for Vettel. Of course nobody can blame the Australian as he was racing and defending his place.
After the incident, the two McLarens took the lead, with Hamilton on top, while Jenson Button increased his pace to get right behind him. A few laps later, at the same point of the track, Button made his move to pass Lewis and he achieved in his effort, only to be passed again by his teammate right on the first turn after the finish line.
The battle ended there as McLaren ordered Button to "save fuel" right after this. Jenson obeyed the team's order and fell back, giving the victory to Lewis Hamilton. It is obvious that McLaren did not want to risk having its cars crashing on eachother, like their rival team did. Also after the race had finished, everyone clearly heard them saying over the radio, that Lewis deserved the victory, in a try to explain things to Button.
Further behind, Michael Schumacher took a good fourth place, in front of his teammate Nico Rosberg, while Kubica took sixth, followed by the two Ferraris of Massa and Alonso. Sutil and Kobayashi completed the top ten finishers.
The race results are as follows :
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h28:47.620
2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.645
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 24.285
4. Schumacher Mercedes + 31.110
5. Rosberg Mercedes + 32.266
6. Kubica Renault + 32.824
7. Massa Ferrari + 36.635
8. Alonso Ferrari + 46.544
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 49.029
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.650
11. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.944
12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:07.800
13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
Did not finish
Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53
Senna HRT-Cosworth 47
Vettel Red Bull-Renault 40
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 34
Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 33
