Pre-GP Stats Analysis: Turkey

5x5?

Kimi Raikkonen was the fourth pole-sitter of the season in Spain. A fifth different pole-sitter in the fifth race would equal a record, as in the history of Formula One this has only happened twice.

In 1958 the first five men on pole were: Juan Manuel Fangio (Maserati), Tony Brooks (Vanwall), Stuart Lewis-Evans (Vanwall), Dick Rathmann (Watson/Offenhauser at Indy) and Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari).

The following year the first five poles went to Stirling Moss (Cooper), Johnny Thomson (Lesovsky/Offenhauser at Indy), Joakim Bonnier (BRM), Tony Brooks (Ferrari) and Jack Brabham (Cooper).

Approaching record range

After Spain the sequence of consecutive Ferrari/McLaren wins reached 22 races, and one more win by either of these two teams we will equal the longest streak ever set by two car manufacturers in the history of Formula One.

In the 1987-1989 years there was a string of 23 wins by two teams, from Japan 1987 to USA 1989. Guess who they were? Ferrari and McLaren. The distribution however was very different- at the moment Ferrari counts 13 wins and McLaren nine; in 1987-1989 there were 19 McLaren wins and only 4 by Ferrari.

Jenson going for 100

Jenson Button is only one race short of 100 races completed (races in which he was classified, completing at least 90 percent of race distance).

If Jenson completes the Turkish Grand Prix, he will be the 17th driver in the history of Formula One to complete at least 100 races. The ranking is led by Michael Schumacher, who completed 197 races out of 248 starts, followed by Rubens Barrichello, 169 out of 253, and David Coulthard, 159 out of 232.

Moments to remember in the Turkish Grand Prix

2005 - Eventful Juan Pablo!

The first edition of the Turkish Grand Prix was an easy win for Kimi Raikkonen, while Alonso continued to contain the damages and scored a second place that left his championship advantage almost untouched.

But the interesting factor in the race was Juan Pablo Montoya, who suffered one of his memorable unlucky afternoons - first he ran over a mechanic during his first stop when the lollipop was raised too soon.

Then with three laps to go he was involved in a misunderstanding while lapping Tiago Monteiro (Jordan): Montoya passed while him braking very late into turn 12 and placed himself in front of the Portuguese driver, who locked up and rammed the McLaren.

After this accident Montoya was still second, but Fernando Alonso came up behind him. After only a handful of turns Montoya messed up things again, went wide at turn eight and with a clear track in front of him, Alonso simply passed him and finished second.

2006 - The first one for Felipe

The Turkish Grand Prix was the 14th race of the season and Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) was trying desperately to catch Alonso (Renault), who was ten points in front of him in the world championship standings.

After qualifying the perfect scenario for Ferrari was set, as Felipe Massa took his maiden pole with Schumacher alongside him and Alonso behind. After the start the red cars soon pulled away from the rest and seemed set for a one-two finish, but then an incident involving Tonio Liuzzi prompted the intervention of the safety car, which changed the shape of the race.

The front runners all came in, and with Massa in front of Schumacher, the German had to wait for the Brazilian to be serviced before refuelling and changing tyres, losing vital seconds that cost him his position to Alonso.

Schumacher was still in the position to challenge Alonso with his faster car, but an off-track excursion at turn eight on the 28th lap blew his chances, for after the final pit-stop he came on track just behind Alonso. Massa in front was clear and dutifully won his first Grand Prix, but the finishing order was a serious hit to Schumacher's title hopes.

Lewis Hamilton's damaged tire in the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix © LAT

2007 - A crucial puncture

After qualifying, Massa and Raikkonen in the two Ferraris were first and third, on the clean side of the track, while their main rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Alonso on the McLarens, were second and fourth on the dirty side.

This was crucial at the start, because with a better traction Massa approached the first turn in the lead, while Raikkonen overtook Hamilton and Alonso was passed by both BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

The Ferraris controlled the race rather easily, with Massa in front of Raikkonen as Hamilton faded slightly in the second stint and then suffered a puncture to his right front tyre that cost him the chance of stepping into the podium as he had to crawl back to the pits.

The beneficiary was Alonso, who disposed of the BMW.Saubers after his first pit stop and came home third. Hamilton managed to finish fifth, behind Nick Heidfeld.

Turkey personal scorecard

• Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have been the only polesitters and winners in the brief history of the Turkish Grand Prix. Raikkonen set pole and won in 2005, while Massa recorded pole and the win in 2006 and 2007. They dominated the previous three editions, together amassing 167 laps in the lead out of 174 laps run in the three races held so far.

• Nick Heidfeld only made it to the points last year when he finished fourth. Robert Kubica scored points in Turkey last year when he finished eighth out of two race starts.

• Fernando Alonso is the only driver to have been on the podium at every attempt in Turkey. He was second in 2005 and 2006, and third last year.

• David Coulthard has only made it to the points in 2005, when he was seventh. Since then he has finished 15th and tenth. He has never made it inside the top ten in qualifying. His best grid position in Turkey was a 12th in 2005.

• Mark Webber has only made it to the finish once, in 2006 with a tenth place. In 2005 and 2007 he retired due to mechanical failures.

• Jarno Trulli has only made it to the points in 2005 with a sixth place.

• The Honda drivers were not able to make it into the top ten in 2007, with Jenson Button classified 13th and Rubens Barrichello 17th.

• Giancarlo Fisichella spun at the first corner to avoid other drivers in both 2006 and 2007.

Lorenzo Bandini © LAT

Anniversaries on the race weekend

10th of May, 1967: Lorenzo Bandini died from burns he suffered in an accident in the Monaco Grand Prix three days earlier.

The 10th of May is also the date of a memorable Monaco Grand Prix, the 1970 race. As in many races of the 1970s, there was plenty of drama - after the start Jackie Stewart pulled away from pole position, while Jochen Rindt, only eighth in grid, was sixth.

Stewart retired after 27 laps with an engine failure and then Jack Brabham took the lead, with Chris Amon behind him, followed by Denny Hulme, Henry Pescarolo and Rindt. The Austrian managed to pass Pescarolo and Hulme, and when Amon retired for suspension failure at the 61st lap he moved into second.

Brabham at this point had a comfortable lead, around nine seconds, but three laps before the end he encountered problems while lapping Jo Siffert and his advantage went down to five seconds. Rindt went on a charge and managed to close the gap, coming onto Brabham's exhaust pipes at the last lap.

Brabham had only one more obstacle between himself and the win: lapping Piers Courage. He got it all wrong at the Gasworks hairpin and went up the straw bales. Rindt then had only to turn round the Gasworks to take an unexpected win. Black Jack managed to extricate himself and came second.