2011 Turkish Grand Prix Results
For the fourth race of the season, teams moved from Asia to Europe. The Turkish Grand Prix was held at the Istanbul Park racing track in Istanbul and starts the European leg of the 2011 F1 season. Sebastian Vettel’s run for the Turkish Grand Prix looked grim, after his crash in practice on Friday, but Vettel came back to take the win on Sunday. Vettel won his third race this season, followed by teammate Mark Webber in second place and Fernando Alonso in third place. A great weekend for Red Bull, with their 1-2 finish.
Vettel was looking shaken, after his fifth lap crash on the wet Friday practice session. However, unharmed, Vettel went on to take pole position the following day and the race the day after. He is the first F1 driver to take four successive pole positions, for the first four Grand Prix races in a season, since Mika Hakkinen did so in 1999. He was followed by team mate Mark Webber on the grid, then Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Kamui Kobayashi almost didn’t qualify for the Grand Prix, as he was unable to set a qualifying time, due to fuel pump problems. However, the race stewards allowed him to start, because he had consistently set lap times that were within the 107% qualifying margin during practice. Driver, Jerome d’Ambrosio was given a five-place grid penalty, because he ignored yellow flags after Pastor Maldonado’s accidence during the free practice.
Vettel drove a strong race, seemingly unaffected by his accident. He finished the race a full eight seconds ahead of his team mate, making it look all too easy. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg looked strong during practice and qualifying and were touted to give the Red Bull drivers a run for their money, but it wasn’t meant to be. They finished 4th and 5th, respectively, although not bad, not a winning position. The best driving was probably done by Kamui Kobayashi and Vitaly Petrov during the race. Kobayashi crawled his way up the pack, from last place on the grid, to take the last point awarded finish of 10th place. Petrov started 16th on the grid and managed an 8th place finish, giving him 4 points.
The race itself was uneventful. With only two of the 24 drivers not finishing the race. Paul di Resta retired with wheel problems on lap 44 and Timo Glock never made it out of the start with gearbox problems. Overall, the Turkish Grand Prix was full of action, with plenty of overtaking and an amazing 82 pit stops! Teams were playing with the 2-, 3- or 4-stop strategies, but that didn’t detract from the race.
The Turkish Grand Prix results put Vettel way in the lead, with 93 points in the Driver’s Championship standings. With a 34 point lead, Vettel is followed by Lewis Hamilton in second place with 59 points. Mark Webber’s second place finish in Turkey allows him to take 3rd place with 55 points, overtaking Jenson Button, whose 6th place finish only gave him 8 points. However, 4th place Fernando Alonso is still in the game, with 41 points.
For the Constructors’ Championship standings, the 1-2 finish in Turkey adds nicely to Red Bull’s lead, with a solid 148 points. They are followed by McLaren-Mercedes with 105 points – a good weekend for them, with 4th and 6th place finishes. Ferrari remains in third place with 65 points. Felipe Massa’s 11th place finish hurt them, as he was just out of reach of points. Four teams still remain with zero points this season: Lotus, Williams, Virgin and HRT-Cosworth.
Full Race Results
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) 1:30:17.558s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +8.807s
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +10.075s
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +40.232s
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +47.539s
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +59.431s
- Nick Heidfeld (Renault) +1:00.857s
- Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +1:08.168s
- Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1:09.394s
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) +1:18.021s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +1:19.823s
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) +1:25.444s
- Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap
- Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) +1 lap
- Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus-Renault) +2 laps
- Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +3 laps
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT-Cosworth) +5 laps
- Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) retired, lap 44
- Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) retired, lap 0