The 2008 Turkish GP Preview

Despite problematic access, the Istanbul circuit is a recent favourite with the teams and drivers. The layout is challenging, and allows drivers to make a difference - in particular when their bravery is tested through the quadruple-apex turn eight, and their technical skills are deployed for the slow complex that ends the lap.

That this is the first visit of the year to an anti-clockwise circuit will show up any driver who has been neglecting his fitness, as he will struggle to keep his head up for the whole race!

Despite the collection of slow corners, a good high-speed aerodynamic package is most important, not only to lend performance through the sweeping curves opening the lap, turn eight and the kink on the back straight, but to ensure plenty of speed in a straight line - this is a circuit where overtaking is possible, so being vulnerable on the long straights is likely to backfire.

Even though the temperatures for the weekend are not expected to be too high, the long corners are punishing on tyres, so the drivers will have to look after them well. Pursuit of a good balance will therefore be a prerequisite for a good race, even at the cost of outright qualifying pace.

Lewis Hamilton limps back to the pits in the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix © XPB/LAT

Flashback

In 2007, the usual suspects filled the first ten spots on the grid: McLaren and Ferrari were intermingled as Felipe Massa led Lewis Hamilton to the front row, with Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso filling the second.

Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld made it a BMW Sauber third row, whilst Heikki Kovalainen and Renault held off Nico Rosberg's Williams for eighth ahead of Jarno Trulli for Toyota and Giancarlo Fisichella in the other Renault.

When the race started, Raikkonen passed Hamilton for third, whilst the BMW-Saubers made short work of Alonso. Behind them, Fisichella caused Trulli to spin, sending the midfield scrambling to avoid accidents.

As the opening laps unwound, Hamilton drifted three seconds off the Ferrari duo, whilst Alonso lost a second per lap behind the BMW Sauber pair - he was fortunate that Kubica short-filled, and the Pole stopped on lap 12.

He passed Heidfeld during their respective stops on laps 17 and 18 - which is when the Ferraris came in; they rejoined behind the longer-running Kovalainen.

On lap 37 a lock-up from Massa allowed Raikkonen an attempt at a pass, but then he stopped a lap before his team-mate and the chance was lost.

Hamilton, meanwhile, had an extra five laps and was looking like he might provide an interesting challenge, until his front-right tyre failed. The trip back to the pits cost thirty seconds and two places, effectively elevating Alonso to the podium.

Pos  Driver      Team              Time
 1.  Massa       Ferrari           1h26:42.161
 2.  Raikkonen   Ferrari           +     2.275
 3.  Alonso      McLaren-Mercedes  +    26.181
 4.  Heidfeld    BMW Sauber        +    39.674
 5.  Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes  +    45.085
 6.  Kovalainen  Renault           +    46.169
 7.  Rosberg     Williams-Toyota   +    55.778
 8.  Kubica      BMW Sauber        +    56.707

Fastest race lap: Raikkonen, 1:27.295
Qualifying best: Alonso, Q2, 1:26.841

Weather

Temperatures are only expected to hit 16 degrees, making this the coolest race of the season so far, though sunny conditions will cause track temperatures to rise noticeably higher.

The wind is expected to be a moderate 16kph, blowing fairly consistently from the north-east. There is a chance of rain, in which case it is likely to be heavy but brief, but the odds strongly favour a dry weekend.

Strategy

Typically a two-stop circuit, there is some scope for a single stop approach from those who qualify further back than their performance usually warrants (though they have to be careful about bottoming out in turn eight when the tanks are full).

Although three stops is unlikely to work out well, it can pay to run a light stint at the front, though it commits the driver to passing traffic on track once they get out of sync with the rest of the pack.

Conclusions

Ferrari arrives in Turkey as clear favourite to win, though its performance advantage over McLaren is decreasing and BMW is clearly closing the gap too - all three teams are capable of putting drivers on the podium if their rivals make any mistakes.

Behind the three leading outfits, Renault is resurgent, if unreliable, so the battle for 'best of the rest' is really heating up.

Trulli and Toyota are going to be hard to displace, but Alonso is tenacious: both drivers will be expecting to score points. Williams and Red Bull both continue to show great race pace with mixed qualifying performances, whilst Renault and Toyota are quick on Saturday but struggle to keep those places on race day ...

Overtaking may be possible in Turkey, but with performance differences of only a tenth or two covering half the midfield, it seems that qualifying well remains critical for a decent chance at scoring points.

A lap of Istanbul with Honda's Alex Wurz

"Istanbul Park is a challenging track from a set-up point of view because of the variation in corner speeds and grip levels.

"There are the very fast changes in direction at the start of the lap, there's a long straight and then some slower stuff at the end of the lap, which makes set-up a compromise.

"The asphalt also changes a lot around the lap: it feels very slippery in the last sector and then you have a lot of grip in the first sector.

"People talk a lot about the long Turn 8. For me, it's just bumpy and a neck-killer; it's not a place where going haywire gives you a lot of lap time because that's never the case in fast corners.

"Our minimum apex speed is about 250kph (155mph), and if you get it right, the biggest reward you have is showing the data to your engineer. The flip side of going too hard through here is that you might destroy your right-front tyre over a long stint.

"For me, the biggest challenge of Turkey - apart from the traffic going into Istanbul - is the last section of the lap. The last three corners are very slow, all about 80kph (50mph) in second gear, and they're all inter-linked.

"If you make a tiny mistake under braking for the third-to-last corner, your track position for the entire complex is wrong, and that can affect your speed as you accelerate onto the start-finish straight. You also have to be disciplined because it's very easy to over-drive.

"Istanbul itself is a cool city. I've been there a few times and there are amazing places to go out, and great things to see. The Bosphorus is spectacular; if you're going to the race, you should make a point of looking at it and feeling its history."

Team by team

Felipe Massa © LAT

Ferrari

Turkey 2007: It was a near-perfect weekend for Ferrari, which took home pole, fastest lap and a convincing one-two finish. This strong result - combined with a puncture that took Hamilton off the podium - set up the team's assault on the championships in the closing races.

Two weeks ago: Ferrari spent almost the entire weekend in a perfect one-two formation, comfortably winning in Spain.

There is no doubt about it, Ferrari is confirmed in its spot as favourites after having shown such convincing form at the start of the European season. Considering the improvements from the midfield, it is going to miss out on points any time its drivers make a mistake, but the onus is clearly on the competition to catch them now.

1. Kimi Raikkonen: Very quick in Turkey last season, Raikkonen put his second place finish down to a small mistake in qualifying, and will be looking for a reversal of fortunes this year.

2. Felipe Massa: Winner of both the previous events in Istanbul, Massa is going to have his hands full when he tries to contain his team-mate - something he is capable of doing, provided he makes no mistakes!

Objectives: Win the race.

BMW Sauber

Turkey 2007: The team filled the third row in qualifying, but an aggressive strategy for Kubica did not pay off as the Pole spent much of the race in traffic. Heidfeld was unable to contain the slow-starting Alonso, but capitalised on Hamilton's puncture to finish fourth.

Two weeks ago: BMW Sauber put in another solid display, with Kubica just missing out on a podium finish. Heidfeld struggled in qualifying before being forced to pit for fuel under the safety car and incurring a penalty that dropped him from a probable fifth place finish to ninth.

The team has proclaimed itself to be on a par with McLaren, which is hard to refute after the last couple of races. However, it needs to continue to push the development pace and produce another strong race or two before being confirmed in that position.

A strong combination of speed and reliability has paid dividends so far this year, but this weekend is an important measure of how they stack up alongside the Woking outfit.

3. Nick Heidfeld: Struggling compared to last year, Heidfeld looks like he is having trouble matching his team-mate. The German has been working hard, but always seems a fraction off the pace he set a year ago, with poor luck also hampering his efforts. A strong race this weekend would go a long way to restoring Heidfeld's star.

4. Robert Kubica: With a blistering start to the year, Kubica is only a point behind Hamilton in the drivers' championship, and apparently intent to reverse that order.

The Pole has been particularly impressive in qualifying and will probably be looking to break in on the action again this weekend - though pole position would certainly require a short-fuelled opening stint in the race.

Objectives: At least one driver on the podium.

Nelsinho Piquet and Fernando Alonso © LAT

Renault

Turkey 2007: This was one of the better showings for Renault last year, as Kovalainen was able to perform strongly when Fisichella faltered. Despite having already moved resources to this year's car, they ran on the pace of BMW Sauber on race day.

Two weeks ago: Renault turned up in Barcelona with a comprehensive overhaul of its car, which delivered a significant performance boost. Alonso just missed out on pole at his home event, but was only three laps lighter than his contemporaries, who had expected to find even less fuel in the car. An engine failure eliminated the chance of a fifth place finish, but the message was clear.

It would be no surprise to see the team maintain its improved form, so it will be expecting to get both cars in to the final qualifying session and aiming for points.

Last year, it struggled a little to get both cars set up, then put its drivers on different strategies for the race. It would be no surprise to see Alonso running a more aggressive approach than his team-mate this year.

The team need to consolidate its new status as the 'front of the midfield' team, so a double points finish has to be the target.

5. Fernando Alonso: Back in a car that seems capable of scoring points, Alonso is quite likely to be seen again this weekend as he works to enhance the tally for the team. This was far from his best race last year, but there is always the chance he will do something exceptional whenever he is in the car.

6. Nelson Piquet Jr: The youngster has little to prove alongside his team-mate, but this is the fifth race, and about the time people start to look for rookies to begin stepping up their game and closing any gap to their team leader. That said, making it to Q3 and aiming for a points finish would be a decent weekend for Piquet.

Objectives: Both cars in the points.

Williams

Turkey 2007: It was a relatively decent outing for Williams, with Rosberg qualifying eighth and finishing seventh after passing Kubica in the pits and then holding him off in the closing laps. Alexander Wurz had a disappointing weekend, unable to recover from another poor qualifying performance.

Two weeks ago: Despite a disappointing qualifying session, after which the drivers lined up 12th and 15th, the team ran strongly on race day. Rosberg retired from seventh with an engine failure, leaving Kazuki Nakajima to inherit the place and score points.

There is no doubt about the race day credentials of the team, which continues to surprise its better-funded rivals with strong performances. However, without getting a little more out of the package in qualifying, it is going to continue to struggle on the edge of the final points-paying positions.

7. Nico Rosberg: Something of an off weekend by Rosberg in Spain (where he went the wrong way in setting up the car) should be rectified in Istanbul, where he went very well a year ago.

8. Kazuki Nakajima: The rookie is coming along noticeably, getting on top of understanding the car and improving his performance continuously. Though unlikely to challenge his team-mate in the next few races, the Japanese is starting to look like a threat for Q3 and points finishes himself!

Objectives: At least one car in Q3 and the points.

Mark Webber and Dietrich Mateschitz © LAT

Red Bull Racing

Turkey 2007: Reliability problems continued to dog the Red Bull outfit, with David Coulthard losing practice time to a fuel-leak induced spin and fire, and Mark Webber retiring early with a hydraulic leak. Coulthard was unable to contain Fisichella, giving up ninth place in the stops.

Two weeks ago: Despite missing final practice, Webber qualified seventh before racing to a decent fifth place. Coulthard had a very different weekend, getting stuck in Q1 then earning a puncture from a collusion with Glock when he threatened to climb in to contention for points.

As the team predicted, its car is not as fragile as its opponents had hoped, and it is capable of a fair turn of speed. Still a threat for the 'best of the midfield' honours, it will be interesting to see what the team is going to make of the weekend ahead.

Should it get the car dialled in to Webber's liking, he is particularly likely to make his presence felt in qualifying, which would make the race interesting, at least until the pit-stops.

9. David Coulthard: Coming from a disappointing start to the season, Coulthard is starting to look vulnerable. His qualifying sessions are leaving him lower down the order and exposing him to higher likelihood of contact with rivals. The Scot is in serious need of a decent outing.

10. Mark Webber: Despite being a qualifying specialist, getting the car dialled in to Istanbul Park is a tough challenge, so his scintillating hot lap may be just a little off the usual pace. Assuming that he makes it in to Q3, a points finish is a reasonable goal.

Objectives: Score points.

Toyota

Turkey 2007: Despite being lightly fuelled, Trulli was only able to qualify ninth, which became near-last once Fisichella caused him to spin on the opening corner. Poorly fuelled to race from the back, he languished. As did Ralf Schumacher, who never really looked like putting in a decent weekend.

Two weeks ago: Trulli was disappointed with eighth on the grid, and missed out on sixth place after a miscommunication sent him through the pits unnecessarily. Glock had a relatively invisible weekend, excepting his collision with Coulthard!

Toyota seems to have lost some ground to its immediate competition, but it still has every reason to expect to get at least one car into Q3 and fighting for points this weekend.

11. Jarno Trulli: Qualifying specialist Trulli will be looking for a spot in the top six on Saturday if all goes well. Defending it on race day will be harder, but he remains optimistic for points.

12. Timo Glock: The rookie has not really made much of an impression so far, and he has much to learn if he to qualify on a par with his team-mate. However it is clear that he is not only learning more each weekend, but his consistency is improving too.

Objectives: Score points.

Sebastien Bourdais © LAT

Toro Rosso

Turkey 2007: Both drivers struggled with transmission problems on Friday before failing to make it out of the first qualifying session. Despite a relatively decent show of pace on race day, they are far from contending for points.

Two weeks ago: The team turned out in Spain with a minor update to the car while it awaits its 2008 model. Both drivers qualified poorly and then exited the race very early,Adrian Sutil taking out Sebastian Vettel on lap one and Sebastien Bourdais' suspension giving up on lap six.

The new car is not going to be ready for this weekend, meaning that now Super Aguri is no longer competing, STR is going to struggle to avoid propping up the grid in qualifying and on race day.

14. Sebastian Bourdais: When the car runs, there is no doubt that Bourdais is wringing everything possible from it, even when there is no real prospect of points. More of the same can be expected this weekend.

15. Sebastian Vettel: Despite undoubtedly being a quick driver, Vettel has not really been able to put his team-mate in his place this year. He must be looking forward to the new car and hoping it is a better fit for his style.

Objectives: Avoid being last.

Honda

Turkey 2007: Continuing its year to forget, the Honda duo qualified 14th and 15th, then took penalties for changing engines. On race day Button took evasive action at the opening corner, falling to dead last before racing to thirteenth, whilst Rubens Barrichello had an anonymous race to 17th.

Two weeks ago: The team arrived in Spain with a car that was clearly faster than the one that it used in the three opening races, and consequently was disappointed not to make it in to Q3. However, on race day it was good enough to carry Button to sixth place, so there team's optimism was clearly well placed after all.

Looking forward to Istanbul, the outfit is convinced that the place suits its package, so it is expecting better performances to go with it - the top ten in qualifying is looking very hard to crack into, but the team will be looking for at least one of the cars to make it, and then to pursue more points.

16. Jenson Button: Having demonstrated a good affinity for the circuit, Button should be expected to lead the charge for the team this weekend. Following the points from Spain with more here would affirm the progress made in developing the car, too.

17. Rubens Barrichello: Becoming the most experienced Formula One driver with 257 appearances this weekend, there is some danger that Barrichello is going to be distracted! Assuming that he remains focussed, he is about as likely as his team-mate to breach Q3 and score points ...

Objectives: At least one car in to Q3 and finishing in the points.

Giancarlo Fisichella © LAT

Force India

Turkey 2007: Competing as Spyker last year, Sutil and Sakon Yamamoto propped up the grid, having never looked likely to do much else. It was a better story on race day however, as they comfortably matched Super Aguri for pace, though fuel pressure problems caused both to stall in the pits.

Two weeks ago: The team looked great in practice before qualifying in front of the Super Aguri duo. In the race, Sutil ran into Coulthard, spun into Vettel and retired, but Fisichella had a strong race, despite never looking likely to score.

The team has actually built a car that goes well in race trim. It is just off the pace of its rivals, but is clearly capable of fighting at the back of the pack.

It simply doesn't seem to be able to find any extra pace when lightly-fuelled, so its qualifying sessions are letting the team down. Clearly it is working to resolve this, but the other midfield outfits are too, so it is hard to expect the situation will change until a significant update appears on the car.

20. Adrian Sutil: Having been lauded as a future star after his performances last year, the youngster is struggling to meet the raised expectations of his second year. Improved consistency would help - it would lead to finishing more races!

21. Giancarlo Fisichella: With qualifying the team's bugbear, Fisichella is undoubtedly Force India's best chance of getting into Q2, provided that it can make the car work properly when in low-fuel configuration. Besides that, points are only likely to come from attrition, so racing his team-mate is likely to be the most excitement he sees on Sunday.

Objectives: Avoid being last, get a car in to Q2.

McLaren Mercedes

Turkey 2007: Having been on the pace of Ferrari all weekend, a poor start put both drivers on the back foot before tyre failure robbed Hamilton of a podium finish, though Alonso was perfectly positioned to inherit the position.

Two weeks ago: Despite a significant update to the car, McLaren never really looked like matching the pace of Ferrari. Reliability woes did nothing to help, and qualifying on row three must have been a disappointment.

Kovalainen suffered a tyre rim failure that sent him plunging in to the tyre barrier, whilst Hamilton chased after Ferrari and finished on the podium. As a result of his crash Kovalainen suffered a mild concussion, but is generally expected to race this weekend pending official clearance with the FIA doctor.

The team is somewhat on the back foot. It has not really been able to get back on par with Ferrari, and is now being harried by BMW Sauber for points to boot.

This means that McLaren is really going to have to step up its game if it is to challenge for either title, and minimise the loss of points in the meantime.

Some are anticipating a change of fortunes in Turkey, though there seems to be little evidence to support it. The circuit suited Ferrari more last season and both of its drivers are very comfortable there, so such a reversal would have to come from a definite improvement to the McLaren package. It seems more likely that the Woking outfit remains a very close second.

22. Lewis Hamilton: Having comprehensively out-shone Alonso in Turkey last year, Hamilton has to be looking forward to putting some pressure on his new team-mate over the weekend ahead. That said, the Briton is second to Raikkonen in the drivers' championship, so beating the Finn has to be his main objective for the weekend.

23. Heikki Kovalainen: It was a strong weekend for Kovalainen last year, as he decisively out-qualified and out-raced Fisichella. If he can produce the same form this year, then he is a threat for the front row and a podium finish. It will be interesting to see if there are any effects to the youngster's confidence after the sizeable crash in Spain.

Objectives: Win the race and deprive Ferrari of as many points as possible!