Hamilton Capitalizes on Red Bull Collision, Wins Grand Prix
Great Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won his first Grand Prix of the season when his Red Bull rivals drove each other off the track. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was in a celebrative mood when he took the first place podium in Istanbul. The Turkish Grand Prix marks the first win for Hamilton this season and ends Red Bull’s winning streak.
In a dramatic twist to the race at Istanbul Park, Championship leader Australian Mark Webber and his Red Bull teammate collided with each other just 18 laps from the finish while in the first and second position, to gift one-two position to their McLaren rivals. McLaren even had a hair-raising moment of their own at the end of lap 49 and start of lap 50, when Hamilton and Button came side by side in a furious battle for the lead.
Webber, who was heading to his third straight win after starting on pole position, finished third in the end. Webber currently has a five-point lead in the Championship race over McLaren’s Jenson Button. Webber is currently holding the top berth with 93 points while Button and Hamilton are second and third with 88 and 84 points respectively.
For Hamilton, this race ends a disappointing run of nine races without a top spot podium finish. Hamilton’s last victory was in Singapore last season. But the biggest loser of the day was Mark Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel. The 22 year old German paid a heavy price when he tried to overtake his Red Bull teammate on lap 40. Sensing an opportunity to move past Webber down the straight into Turn 12, Vettel pulled along side to his teammate’s left. As a result of this, both cars collided leaving Vettel into retirement while Webber managed to come back to the track. Vettel’s right rear tyre deflated finishing any chances of him making a comeback in the race. Vettel, who started the race level on points with Webber, has now slumped to fifth position and fifteen points behind his teammate.
Disappointment was evident on the faces of Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner and technical head Adrian Newey, when they witnessed the dying of an apparent one-two finish for Red Bull. Red Bull could have easily gotten 43 points if their drivers had swept the two top spots. But in the end they managed to collect only 15, leaving them only a point clear off McLaren in the Constructor’s Championship. Until the collision, Red Bull was heading for a third one-two of the season and second in a row.
Meanwhile, seven times champion Michael Schumacher finished fourth, 31.1 seconds behind Hamilton. Schumacher’s fellow German and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg finished fifth while Poland’s Robert Kubica was sixth for Renault. For Ferrari, it was utter disappointment on their 800th Grand Prix, as Felipe Massa came seventh, while two-time world champion Fernando Alonso came eighth.
Hamilton was in an exuberant mood on the podium and later dedicated his victory to his father who had his 50th birthday on Sunday. Hamilton credited his victory to the rivalry of Red Bull’s duo. “It was great to watch. It was fantastic. It was right ahead of me. I got the best view of it”, the Brit said as he was in perfect vantage point to witness the accident. He further added, “I think it was unfortunate for them, but all I can say is that it was fortunate for us because we have been working hard all year.” (ESPN) Wearing rocket red victory t-shirts, McLaren personnel were in an ecstatic mood when Hamilton was awarded the trophy.
On the other hand, Webber was apparently disappointed on the fact that he broke the cardinal rule of Formula One. Biting his tongue, he described what happened with Vettel. “Seb had top-speed advantage. He then went down the inside, we were side by side, it looked like he turned quick right and we made contact. It’s a shame for the team and not an ideal day”, the Australian said.
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