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The Turkish GP was an event that received a lot of pre-race hype and post-race praise, which given the fact that it was the inauguration of a circuit that was built in the city renowned for being the border between Asia and Europe, East and West, may seems justified.
The task of learning about a new track is very exciting for all parties of the sport. Not just for the teams and drivers, but for us journalists and photographers too. Ultimately, the question was whether or not the several hundred million dollar project was a success and the answer could not have been clearer on race day. The Turkish GP played out to be one of the most exciting races of the season. On-track action and excitement as was seen last Sunday is attributable to the verity that the new track was very demanding. The difficulty of the layout ensured that no driver could claim an error-free weekend, and those whom made their mistakes on Sunday knew very well that the new circuit had triumphed over them. Kimi Raikkonen was one driver who could claim otherwise. McLaren was very strong all weekend, and when race day showed that the Finn was carrying fuel for as much as ten laps more than his archrival Fernando Alonso, Saturday’s pole position performance became even more impressive. Of course nobody expected Montoya to make the risky overtaking maneuver he did just two laps before the end of the race. That cost McLaren a 1-2 finish, and gave Alonso two more points, something that was completely unnecessary. Both Montoya and backmarker Monteiro carry partial blame for the incident. In a poll conducted by Formula 1 Review readers were likewise unable to pinpoint the blame. With only five races to go, Raikkonen’s title chances are becoming less and less. If Alonso continues to finish in the points regularly, it will be extremely difficult for Raikkonen to turn things around. But McLaren will still have a lot to say, and most importantly, to prove in the constructors championship race. One thing’s for sure, it will be an exciting season showdown. |
