F1 review: Turkish Grand Prix 2010

We are now well into the 2010 F1 season and the Turkish Grand Prix is the seventh race so far. It also proved to be one of the more exciting.

Red Bull again
It was a familiar story in qualifying as Red Bull took pole position with Mark Webber ahead of Lewis Hamilton, which was the Australian’s third successive race starting from the front of the grid. Vettel and Button start third and fourth respectively with Alonso way back after another disappointing display in qualifying.

Top four dominate
The lights turn green and Vettel storms straight into second place ahead of Hamilton. The McLaren instantly retakes the German, while Schumacher rolls back the years and takes Button, only for the British driver to immediately reclaim fourth place. Lots of drama on the first lap, but when the dust from the tyres has settled, it is Red Bull, McLaren, Red Bull, McLaren in what promises to be an intriguing battle up front.

Pitting against each other
Hamilton is all over Webber in the quest for the lead, but there doesn’t seem any way through. It looks like McLaren will wait for the Red Bull to pit and then put in a few storming laps which should leave Hamilton in front once the pit stops have been completed. Unfortunately for McLaren, Red Bull shrewdly follow Hamilton when he finally comes into the pit, therefore maintaining the upper hand and coming out in front. This strategy is so effective that even Vettel manages to slip into second behind his team mate.

It is now a Red Bull one-two with the two McLarens in chase. That should be it for the pit stops, so it is now solely down to driver skill and all about overtaking. Unless someone makes a mistake of course, however unlikely this may seem. With only 2.5 seconds separating the top four it is anyone’s race and Hamilton demonstrates this by almost forcing his way past Vettel straight after the pit stops.

Rain expected
Suddenly a large dark cloud looms overhead. This isn’t a metaphor, rain is threatening to have an influence on the race. It’s been almost 50 degrees centigrade on the track most weekend and now rain is imminent. With all eyes on the impending downpour, the two Red Bull’s astonishingly collide into each other. Vettel is out. Webber needs to pit. It is now a McLaren one-two. Initially it seems that the German tried to get past his team mate and then veered to the right slightly, causing the coming together. Not good for team morale and a disaster for Red Bull. Thankfully the potential rains doesn’t seem all the exciting anymore.

Thanks to the dominance of the top four cars, Webber manages to rejoin the race in third position, still well ahead of Schumacher who is cruising in fourth place now.

Battle royale
There must be something in the air! Now Hamilton and Button are at it. Jenson snatches the lead away from Lewis, then Hamilton storms back and retakes his team mate. This is what we’ve been waiting for. The two most recent World Champions, both British, both McLarens fighting it out to claim the win. No team orders. This is just raw driving. One man trying to beat another man. Glory awaits one of them.

Ham the man
Fortunately they seem far more adept at this than the Red Bull drivers and after a bit of a tussle, things calm down without any further incidents. The two McLarens coast home and it’s Lewis Hamilton who takes the chequered flag and wins the Turkish Grand Prix. It is a British and McLaren one-two, with a despondent Mark Webber in third place. Schumacher finishes in fourth.

This is Hamilton’s first win of the season, but Webber still leads the World Championship, no thanks to his over exuberant team mate. It is getting closer though.

Next stop. Canada.

Watch the race highlights here.