Turkish Grand Prix: 21 August

iveco SG

Race Track: Istanbul Park

Location: Istanbul

Raceday: Sunday, 21 August 2005

Time: 2000 (race) [Local time]

Turkey makes its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track is designed by famed German architect Herman Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns eight lefts and six rights with the cars expected to reach speeds of up to 320 kph.

An unusual feature of the venue is that the lap will run anti-clockwise, making the Turkish Grand Prix only the third race on the calendar to do so (San Marino and Brazil are the other two). It possesses a wide variety of corners, and while perhaps not as technical as, say, Shanghai, it should definitely provide the drivers with real challenge, especially given the reduced downforce available in 2005.

The character of the circuit should be further enhanced by plenty of gradients the track is built on four different ground levels. There look to be fewer obvious overtaking opportunities than at some other Tilke circuits it doesn't feature the long straights followed by tight hairpins that characterise the likes of Sepang and Shanghai but no doubt the drivers will find plenty of their own once they get used to the track.

As you'd expect from a new venue, spectator facilities should be impressive organisers know they have to rival the very high standards set by Bahrain and China in 2004. Planned seating capacity is 155,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking will be available for 20,000 cars. Dominating the circuit's skyline will be two seven-floor VIP towers built at either end of the paddock.

iveco SG

Schumacher looks to experience in Turkey
Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:38 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Ferrari's Michael Schumacher says his years of experience should stand him in good stead for Sunday's first Turkish Grand Prix.

"I'm trusting in the fact that I usually adapt well to new circuits," the seven-times world champion said.

"I haven't seen much of it (the new Istanbul circuit) but I know that it's quite hilly and apparently has long fast turns. And that sounds good for a start," he told his Web site.

The 36-year-old has seen a string of circuits come and go since he made his debut with the Jordan team in 1991, including the latest additions of Malaysia, Bahrain and China.

"The race in Istanbul is going to be a premiere that will surely be very interesting for all of us," he said.

Champions Ferrari have had a troubled season after dominating 2004, when Schumacher won 13 of the 18 races.

This year, the German has won just once -- the six-car U.S. Grand Prix fiasco at Indianapolis in June that could barely be called a race.

However he finished a strong second at the last Hungarian Grand Prix on July 31.

"You're really eager to start driving again after a break," said Schumacher. "Many of the others may have needed this short break but if it had been up to me, I could have done without it. I'm happy to continue now."

The German said he had spent time with friends on a motorcycle tour of Norway and in the south of France to celebrate the birthday of Michelle Yeoh, the Malaysian fiancée of team boss Jean Todt. - Reuters

SBS9828X SG

Zonta steals McLarens thunder

Toyotas Ricardo Zonta banged in the quickest time of the weekend so far in the closing minutes of Friday afternoons practice for the inaugural Turkish Grand prix, but overall it has been McLaren who have set the pace on day one at Istanbul Park.

Zontas lap of 1m 25.583s was a fine performance, however, as the Brazilian, and McLarens Pedro de la Rosa, edged ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 26.196s, while the deposed Colombian had taken his MP4-20 round in 1m 26.525s. He was running different specification tyres to Kimi Raikkonen, who was fourth fastest on 1m 27.274s. Interestingly, Montoyas best lap came just as an overcast sky deposited some drizzle on the new track, which has drawn rave reviews from all of the drivers. Jacques Villeneuve typified their comments when he said: This is a great track! It has a really nice flow, a variety of different corners and is really good to drive.

Jenson Button was close to Raikkonen with 1m 27.346s for BAR, and then came the star of the afternoon, Vitantonio Liuzzi. Despite running an earlier aerodynamic specification to team mates David Coulthard and Christian Klien, the Italian whirled his Red Bull RB1 round in 1m 27.578s to push ahead of series leader Fernando Alonso who lapped his Renault in 1m 27.579s. Giancarlo Fisichella on 1m 27.673s for Renault and Jarno Trulli on 1m 27.964s for Toyota completed the sub-1m 28s runners.

Takuma Sato rounded out the top 10 with 1m 28.081s to beat Mark Webber, whose late improvement moved his Williams up to 11th on 1m 28.120s. Coulthard was next on 1m 28.235s, followed by Michael Schumacher (1m 28.293s), Villeneuve (1m 28.404s), Rubens Barrichello (1m 28.460s), Ralf Schumacher (1m 28.641s), Felipe Massa (1m 28.681s), Klien (1m 28.828s) and Nick Heidfeld (1m 28.959s).

Friday is the day when teams conduct long and short runs and try both tyre options, so it is difficult to draw too many conclusions just yet, especially as the track remained dirty as it was only the first day it had been used in anger. Just as there were this morning, there were numerous incidents as drivers explored and sometimes exceeded the limits. Massa spun in the tight Turn 9 left-hander that leads to the start of the back straight, while Schumacher Snr, Webber, Raikkonen, Montoya and Liuzzi all ran wide in the Turn 10 right-hander that immediately follows. Turn 8 claimed both Klien and Barrichello, the former twice running way off the track and on to the tarmac run-off area there.

Tiago Monteiro once again set the pace for Jordan with 1m 30.626s, but Robert Doornbos got his Minardi flying to hound him with 1m 30.628s and to pip team mate Christijan Albers who recorded 1m 30.730s. Nicolas Kiesa once again saw off Jordan team mate Narain Karthikeyan, with respective laps of 1m 30.88s and 1m 30.899s. At the back, Enrico Toccacelo continued his acclimatisation to Formula One in the third Minardi with a best lap of 1m 33.813s.

Its still too early to predict final form, but McLaren have got off to a great start, BAR are currently matching Renault, Toyota seem strong, and Ferrari are where they were on Friday in Hungary.

iveco SG

Results from yesterday's qualifiers:

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points

1 9 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.797

2 6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:27.039

3 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:27.050

4 10 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.352

5 16 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:27.501

6 8 Nick Heidfeld Williams-BMW 1:27.929

7 7 Mark Webber Williams-BMW 1:27.944

8 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:28.419

9 17 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:28.594

10 15 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing 1:28.963

11 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:29.369

12 14 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1:29.764

13 3 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:30.063

DSQ 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:30.175

15 18 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota 1:30.710

16 21 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth 1:32.186

17 20 Robert Doornbos Minardi-Cosworth

18 11 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas

19 19 Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota

20 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari

Notes: Sato stripped of his time for impeding another car on his slowing-down lap

SBS9828X SG

4 cars didnt made it Shocked

ditzy SG

Tyre punctures. Michael is a big bully, pushing cars off the track booooooo. Laughing

ditzy SG

Most of the cars rear right tyres using michelin failing at the longest hardest corner. Flashback Indianapolis. Laughing

SBS9828X SG

Kimi won Mr. Green

2nd is Colombian Montoya

and French Alonso in 3rd

SBS9828X SG

Lucky no boycott this time Laughing

ditzy SG

One of the fuel handlers fell down and broke his crown. Stupid lolipop man. Laughing

Gedanken SG

Jumped the gun a bit there, did we? Mr. Green JPM screwed the pooch on the second-last lap and Alonso scooped up 2 more points.

This is the advantage of Alonso that I'm talking about - when something happens in front of him, he's almost always there to takde advantage of it. It's something that also happens for MS, but not so regularly for Kimi.

Nonetheless, damn, those McLarens are fast! And what's up with the Renault fuel stops? Was Renault fuel consumption that high?

Gedanken SG

Nope - problem was specific to Williams.

iveco SG

Results from the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul:

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points

1 9 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:24:34.454 1 10

2 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +18.6 secs 3 8

3 10 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 58 +19.6 secs 4 6

4 6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 58 +37.9 secs 2 5

5 3 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 58 +39.3 secs 13 4

6 16 Jarno Trulli Toyota 58 +55.4 secs 5 3

7 14 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 58 +69.2 secs 12 2

8 15 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing 58 +71.6 secs 10 1

9 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 58 +109.987 secs 20

10 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 11

11 11 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas 57 +1 Lap 16

12 17 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 57 +1 Lap 9

13 20 Robert Doornbos Minardi-Cosworth 55 +3 Laps 17

14 19 Narain Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota 55 +3 Laps 18

15 18 Tiago Monteiro Jordan-Toyota 55 +3 Laps 14

Ret 21 Christijan Albers Minardi-Cosworth 48 Retired 15

Ret 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 32 Retired 19

Ret 8 Nick Heidfeld Williams-BMW 29 Tyre 6

Ret 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 28 Engine 8

Ret 7 Mark Webber Williams-BMW 20 Tyre 7

Fastest Lap: Juan Pablo Montoya 1:24.770

Drivers' standings after the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul:

Pos Driver Nationality Team Points

1 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 95

2 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 71

3 Michael Schumacher German Ferrari 55

4 Juan Pablo Montoya Colombian McLaren-Mercedes 40

5 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 39

6 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 35

7 Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 32

8 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Ferrari 31

9 Nick Heidfeld German Williams-BMW 28

10 Mark Webber Australian Williams-BMW 24

11 Jenson Button British BAR-Honda 23

12 David Coulthard British Red Bull Racing 21

13 Felipe Massa Brazilian Sauber-Petronas 8

14 Tiago Monteiro Portuguese Jordan-Toyota 6

14= Alexander Wurz Austrian McLaren-Mercedes 6

14= Jacques Villeneuve Canadian Sauber-Petronas 6

17 Narain Karthikeyan Indian Jordan-Toyota 5

17= Christian Klien Austrian Red Bull Racing 5

19 Christijan Albers Dutch Minardi-Cosworth 4

19= Pedro de la Rosa Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 4

21 Patrick Friesacher Austrian Minardi-Cosworth 3

22 Takuma Sato Japanese BAR-Honda 1

22= Vitantonio Liuzzi Italian Red Bull Racing 1

Constructors' standings after the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul:

Pos Constructor Points

1 Renault 130

2 McLaren-Mercedes 121

3 Ferrari 86

4 Toyota 71

5 Williams-BMW 52

6 Red Bull Racing 27

7 BAR-Honda 24

8 Sauber-Petronas 14

9 Jordan-Toyota 11

10 Minardi-Cosworth 7

SBS9828X SG

Btw wat happen huh? Was he too close or Kimi too fast? Laughing

iveco SG

Tyre enquiry complete, say Williams

Team cannot pinpoint cause, but confident of cure

Williams have concluded their investigation into the tyre incidents in Turkey, which saw Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld forced to withdraw from the race after each suffering two right-rear failures.

With no other Michelin teams experiencing similar problems, attention immediately focussed on the FW27 and now Williams have determined as far as possible that a set of conditions spanning mechanical set-up, bodywork configuration and tyre deflections caused the failures.

To address the tyre incidents that we experienced in Istanbul, we have worked through all the possible variables, such as pressure and camber, with Michelin, said Williams technical director Sam Michael. In the Williams R&D labs at Grove we also performed some loaded tyre tests to check what type of deflections the tyres would have seen during the lap. Finally, at the test in Monza this week, we went through various trims of the bodywork to ensure that there is no possibility for the tyre to touch anything on the car.

Williams also confirmed that although the FW27s specification in this area had raced without incident in previous Grands Prix, a number of precautionary changes have been made to the car ahead of next weekends Italian Grand Prix and engineers are confident there will be no repeat of the Istanbul problems. - formula1.com