Turkish Grand Prix 2011: Raceday - Formula One Highlights (Part 3)
The Red Bull 1 – 2 was finally restored as the race headed to Lap 5.
A lap later, Lewis Hamilton was still frantically trying to get past his teammate Jenson Button while Fernando Alonso set his sights to a relatively slow moving Nico Rosberg for a pass. Moments later, Hamilton finally got all four wheels ahead of Button’s
car in the esses after turn 12. However, it looked to be temporary as the Briton got loose coming onto the back front stretch but still managed to hold off the second McLaren in the end.
Alonso tried yet again to get a run outside Rosberg as both cars headed into turn 7 but had to hold back as the Mercedes took the inside line heading out of the corner. Immediately after, the Spaniard employed the Drag Reduction System and managed to overtake
the young German on the straight – Quite similar to Webber’s pass on the Mercedes a few laps earlier. Rosberg had effectively lost two positions in a relatively short span of time; perhaps the car was struggling for straight line speed?
As the race headed to Lap 8, Jenson Button, apparently evenly matched with the car in front, made his move on Hamilton as the latter headed out of the last turn of the lap and passed him going into turn 1. However, it appeared that Hamilton backed off a
little as he planned on making his first pit stop after the next series of corners.
Soon after, the pit lane finally saw its first series of scheduled stops as Vitaly Petrov came in for a tyre change outside the Renault garage. The Russian was shortly joined by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. It was a close call between
them that involved quick hands during the tyre change. Shortly after, it was Hamilton who led the scarlet car as the duo exited the pit lane. The Briton and the Brazilian rejoined the track in 12th and 13th position respectively.
The Ferrari pit crew decided to stay out and with Fernando Alonso making his way off the racing line and towards pit lane, their reluctance to take a seat finally made sense. The Spaniard made his way back on track soon after with a fresh set of soft compound
Pirellis.
Who would pit next?
To be continued in part 4...
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