Lewis Hamilton Gains from Red Bull’s Loss at Turkish Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton gained hugely from a collision between the two Red Bull cars, as the 2008 F1 Champion led McLaren one-two ahead of the unfortunate Mark Webber from Red Bull, and Michael Schumacher got his best position for the season finishing 4th. His teammate, Nico Rosberg, got the 5th spot, which capped off a good weekend for Ross Brawn’s team, who have been improving every race, but have just not been able to match the big boys when it comes to out-and-out speed.
It was a disappointing day for Ferrari, as Felipe Massa finished only 7th, while his Spaniard team mate Fernando Alonso (who is a former Turkish winner) could only manage 8th, but the final spot can be considered to be a step up, considering that the two-time world champion started from 12th on the grid.
But regardless of the Ferrari disappointments, the joy of McLaren or the satisfaction of Mercedes, the Istanbul Grand Prix will always be remembered for the extraordinary incident between the 2 Red Bull drivers.
The unprecedented Red Bull domination was not to be seen on Sunday, as even though Webber started from pole, he could not take a significant lead, and Hamilton and Vettel were on his back right until the pit stops came.
The German Sebastian Vettel for a brief moment did manage to take 2nd spot ahead of Hamilton right on the first lap, but the Englishman took his spot instantly at the outside of Turn Three.
But Vettel, determined as ever, took back the 2nd spot after the pits, and started pushing his teammate for the first position, as both McLarens lined up behind the Red Bulls.
The McLarens surprisingly looked to be faster than the impeccable Red Bulls, which prompted Vettel to go for it with 18 laps to go, and looked to steer right a bit too early to gain the entry line, which caused him to lose control of his rear right side of the car, as it impacted with the car of Webber, clipping his left front wheel.
In the team room, the backroom staff, including the team principal Christian Horner, looked at the display screens in shock, as Vettel crashed off the track, and Webber was forced to make his way into the pits to get his car repaired.
After the race Vettel said, "I dived down the inside and I had the corner. I was just trying to get the breaking point and suddenly I lost the car. You can see we touched.
"I'm not the kind of guy who pushes the fault to one guy. We are a team and we have to respect that."
Mark Webber, on the other hand, who was leading the race till his ambitious teammate ran into him, said that Vettel turned right a bit too soon. Webber still leads the driver standings with 93 points, leading Jenson Button by 5 points who is in 2nd position now with 88 points.
Webber said: "He went down the inside. It looked like he turned pretty quick right and we made contact. Not an ideal day. The McLarens were solid today. Neither of us wanted to make contact with each other but it can happen sometimes."
The Red Bull chief Horner was left disappointed, and he was of the opinion that Vettel should not have made the aggressive move:
"They should never have been where they were," he said.
"What we always ask is for drivers to give each other room. And today we handed 43 points to McLaren. We need to sit down, go through it and come back stronger at the next event."
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was the one to benefit from all the Red Bull chaos, and he was the favorite to win the race from then on, with his team-mate Button also closing in as Webber went in for repairs. Button eventually grabbed the 2nd spot.
The McLaren pit crew instructed both drivers to conserve fuel from then on, so that they would not have to make any more pit stops, but Button looked to ignore those instructions, and challenged Hamilton to take the lead for a short period of time, on turn 12.
But Hamilton was determined to get his first win of the season, and on turn one the Brit dived in the inside of Button’s car and took the lead in spectacular fashion, as both cars brushed wheels. Hamilton held on to the lead till the end of the race.
An overjoyed Hamilton after the race said that he always believed in his car’s speed, and knew he would always have a chance if he could somehow match the Red Bulls. It was Lewis’s first win since taking the chequered flag in Singapore last year.
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