Hapless
Much was expected from several driver pairings this year. With Montoya joining Raikkonen, Fischella partering Alonso, Ralf going head to head against Trulli, and Webber racing alongside Heidfeld, the teammates' battle promised to be frantic. Yet the hype has failed to materialise and, in most cases, one driver has clearly dominated the other. Richard Barnes analyses the teammates' fights that were not to be
Usually, the addition of a new Grand Prix to the Formula One calendar results in much post-race discussion about the relative merits of the new layout, with not much attention given to the racing itself. It is a tribute to Hermann Tilke's new layout that Sunday's inaugural Turkish GP will be remembered not just for the quirks and characteristics of the new track, but as a memorable and exciting race in itself.
The track itself generated much interest and debate as several drivers derailed their qualifying efforts through the trademark four-apex Turn 8 and equally challenging Turn 9. However, come race day, the track proved a more amenable beast, serving the purpose that any good racing layout is supposed to do - forcing the drivers to concentrate and demonstrate their skills for every corner of every lap, while still allowing opportunities to overtake and race against each other.
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