F1 drivers banter over World Cup

The 24 Formula 1 drivers face a barrage of serious questions at each grand prix - how to rein in Red Bull, the pros and cons of an f-duct and the art of tyre management - but every now and then the media conferences throw up an entertaining rogue theme.

With two weeks to go until the opening game of the World Cup, football's premier global championship provided such a diversion in Turkey.
Surely the Socceroo's chances in South Africa were preying on the mind of Australian Mark Webber more than his own hopes of a hat-trick of race wins in Istanbul?

Not according to Michael Schumacher, who turned to the Red Bull driver at his side during the official driver interview session and muttered, "Did you even qualify?"
"Australia? We've qualified, yeah," Webber grinned back to the German. "We are there and we're playing you guys in the first match. We hope we can get a draw against the Germans.
"If we finish second and England win their group, we play England and of course we want to kick their butts."

Schumacher, who is a mean midfielder on occasion for Swiss side FC Echichens, accepted the gauntlet laid down by Webber and coolly replied: "Naturally, after some good results in past championships, we still hope to do a little better now and maybe win a final.
"It's very optimistic to say that especially with the sad happening to one of our most important players [the injured Michael Ballack] but nevertheless I'm sure they will keep trying and we cross our fingers.

"I'm sorry for you Mark, but..."
Cue an interjection from the Brazilian at the back.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for both of you," beamed Rubens Barrichello, already tasting the glory of a possible record sixth World Cup win for his home country.
"It's a great time for me and a great time for Brazil."

At least there was no chance of divided football loyalties spilling over into F1 in the McLaren motorhome, where Englishmen Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are united on the terraces.
"We're going to win," was Button's initial, optimistic assessment on England's chances.
But hang on...
"First of all, I haven't got a clue," revised Button, who admitted he wasn't very good at ball sports in his youth.
Webber and Schumacher wish each other well for the World Cup. Not. Barrichello (centre back) can afford to be smug

"I'm not a massive football fan but when it comes to the World Cup we're all very interested."
Could Hamilton, a close pal of France star Thierry Henry, shed any more light on England's chances in the group games against the USA, Slovenia and Algeria?
"The US - well they're American footballers and not really soccer guys," cheekily began Hamilton, who spends a lot of time in the States with pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger.
"Actually they've got some good footballers but don't forget we've got some incredible players.
"I've no doubt England will be strong but I don't make predictions. I'll put some money on it and hopefully come back to you with a wad of cash."
And with the diversion over it was back to nail-biting over just when anyone would match Red Bull's pace.
The odds might be smaller - and the taste much more sour - but the harsh reality is that, right now, Hamilton is more likely to get a return on his investment by backing Webber to win three in a row (at 12-5) than England lifting the World Cup (at 6-1) on 11 July.

By Sarah Holt - BBC F1

Barrichello Wins European Grand Prix in Valencia

Brawn's Rubens Barrichello beat McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to win the European Grand Prix after the world champion suffered a pit-lane mix-up.
Hamilton, who led from the start, was engaged in a tight battle with Barrichello when he was delayed at his final pit stop because his tyres were not ready.
But the mix-up did not cost him the race - an analysis of lap times suggests Barrichello would have beaten him anyway.
Jenson Button was seventh and team-mate Barrichello is now his closest title rival.
The Brazilian's victory puts him 18 points adrift of the Englishman with 60 remaining in the final six races of the season.
Red Bull's Mark Webber slipped to third in the championship 20.5 points behind Button, after finishing only ninth. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel, lying fourth, failed to finish following an engine failure.

Kimi Raikkonen finished third for Ferrari, ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, with Williams's Nico Rosberg fifth from Renault's Fernando Alonso, Button and the improved BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.
Barrichello dedicated his victory to fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa, who is recovering at home after suffering a fractured skull in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"I had two wishes," Barrichello said, "first that he would be the same guy, and he is, and second that he will be the same driver, and I think he will be better.
"We knew if everything went to place we could win the race. You don't forget how to do it, even though it's five years.
"They were telling me push, push, push. You want to do it for yourself, your team, your family, your country. So there was a lot going through my mind."
Barrichello was third on the grid behind Hamilton and Kovalainen, but was fastest of all on fuel-corrected qualifying times.
He held on to third place off the start and settled in behind the McLarens for the duration of the first stint.
He stayed within touching distance of Kovalainen and leapfrogged the Finn by using his larger fuel load to stop three laps later, during which time he set a succession of fast lap times.
Once the field had settled down after the stops, Barrichello was slightly more than three seconds adrift of Hamilton and the gap see-sawed between three and four seconds until Hamilton's final pit stop on lap 37.
The McLaren pit wall were late in asking their mechanics to bring Hamilton's tyres into the pit lane, and that delayed the world champion by about five seconds.

He was just over six seconds clear by the time the two cars emerged from the pits - meaning he had made up four seconds on Hamilton on the track, slightly more than his deficit to the McLaren when it made its stop.
And Brawn brought Barichello in four laps earlier than necessary as soon as it became apparent he had enough of an advantage to make a stop and still retain the lead.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said: "It was clear we weren't as quick in the race as we should have been.
"Rubens was quite a bit quicker than us and we were tying to get an extra lap. That made our call late and we didn't get the tyres out in time.
"We were monitoring the fuel, he was meant to come in on lap 37 and were trying to get him to come in on lap 38, but we didn't have quite enough.
"To have a car arrive and not have the tyres there is an operational error. But had the tyres been ready it wouldn't have made a difference. It only cost us a couple of seconds."
Hamilton said: "We win and we lose together. We had a tremendous effort to get us here so we cannot at all take second place for granted or be disappointed we didn't get the win because we've had extraordinary pace and it was a tremendous effort from everyone.
"These things happen. I've had so many races for this team and this hardly ever happens. It's only the second time, I think. We need to catch these guys up because I believe they are a little but quicker than us but we're pushing all the time."
Button qualified fifth - two places behind his team-mate - on a weekend when the Brawns returned to form. But he slipped down to ninth after a messy first lap.
The Englishman spent the middle part of the race trying to pass Webber, a feat he finally managed during the second and final pit stop period.

Webber lost eighth place to the improved BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica after getting stuck behind slower cars on the lap before his stop and then suffering a slight delay in the pits.
Once clear of the traffic he had got himself stuck behind, Button set a series of fastest laps in the final stages of the race as he attempted to chase down Alonso.
He will nevertheless be encouraged by his pace here - but well aware that he does not know whether Brawn have solved the problems that prevented them from being competitive in the cooler conditions of the preceding three races.
Button will now be anxious to see whether the changes Brawn are planning to improve their performance in cooler conditions than the stifling heat of Valencia work at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardennes mountains next weekend.

By Andrew Benson BBC Sport in Valencia

Sebastien Vettel Grabs Pole Position in Shanghai

Sebastian Vettel (born July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim) is a German race car driver. He drives for Red Bull Racing having replaced former driver David Coulthard.
By taking part in Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days. On Sunday September 30, 2007, during the Japanese Grand Prix Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race. (Mike Thackwell remains the youngest driver to compete in a championship Grand Prix race; Nico Rosberg the youngest to drive an F1 car in private testing) He also became the quickest driver to get a fine in F1, being fined $1,000 nine seconds into his career, after speeding in the pitlane. He went on to become the sixth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix and the youngest driver to score points in a Grand Prix. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to win pole position. He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year.

Junior Series

Vettel demonstrating his Formula Three Euroseries car in 2006
Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup (2001). In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars, and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship's domination by Lewis Hamilton. Despite, this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on September 27 as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.
Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks.

However, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set third fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the Nürburgring next weekend - that's important."

Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race.The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.
He was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007, and also competed in the World Series by Renault Championship, where he had his first win at the Nürburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to F1 permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammermüller.

Formula One

Vettel made his Formula One debut at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, driving for BMW Sauber.

2007: BMW Sauber
Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Robert Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel substituted for him at the US Grand Prix and started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position, thanks to Nico Rosberg's late retirement, to take his first F1 World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button – who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2007-2008: Toro Rosso

2007
On July 31, 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as race driver as of the Hungarian Grand Prix. He earned approximately $165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for STR in 2008. His team-mate would be Sébastien Bourdais.

Vettel struggled to keep up with Liuzzi's pace at Budapest, Istanbul, Monza and Spa, and never managed to progress amongst the lower-midfield pack (Toyota, Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri). In the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman “It’s kids isn’t it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they fuck it all up.” Vettel was caught on camera crying after the incident. He was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car, which Hamilton was also cleared of.

However, Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the Chinese GP having started 17th in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Vettel will be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential ! He is fast, intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."

According to some sources, at the end of the 2007 season Vettel was contacted by McLaren in order to replace Spanish two-time world champion Fernando Alonso who left the British team for Renault in the same period. The talks between McLaren chief Ron Dennis and Dietrich Mateschitz failed however, the Red Bull boss refusing a multi million Euro deal for the young German driver.

2008
After four races of the 2008 Formula One season Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers. However, at the fifth round at the Turkish Grand Prix, he finally saw the chequered flag, finishing 17th after qualifying 14th. In the next race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel scored his first points of the 2008 Season with a fifth place finish, mainly due to the changing conditions. Vettel also benefitted from the downfall of other drivers, such as Adrian Sutil and Heikki Kovalainen. Vettel scored again at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane and having to fight off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point. Vettel finished 12th in the French Grand Prix after passing Hamilton at the start. Vettel retired on the first lap of the British Grand Prix after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaning into the gravel trap along with the Red Bull driver. He then bounced back from this by finishing eighth at the German Grand Prix by fending off Fernando Alonso and securing the last championship point after Jarno Trulli went off the track. Vettel then became the first retirement of the Hungarian Grand Prix after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. Vettel impressed many at the European Grand Prix by setting the fastest time in the first practice session and fastest time in the second qualifying session, which was also the fastest overall time in qualifying. He qualified 6th on the grid, and finished 6th, 2 seconds behind Jarno Trulli.
At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is".

Alonso, whom Vettel displaced as the youngest Grand Prix winner, said the victory was "deserved" by the whole of the Toro Rosso team. The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement". He then went on to finish fourth at the Singapore Grand Prix and fifth at the Japanese Grand Prix.
In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, after running second for much of the race, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning the Briton the title.

2009 onwards: Red Bull Racing

2009
At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing.
Vettel began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third last lap of the race forced both to retire. He thought that he would be asble to do this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first pole for the Red Bull Racing team.

Race of Champions
Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nation's Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen.

Helmet design

The Bergstraße Coat of Arms that appears on the chin area of Vettel's helmet
Vettel's helmet, like most of Red Bull's drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo. Apart from minor changes and sponsorship differences, it has rarely changed over the years since he has been backed by Red Bull.

Brazil - The Final Showdown

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa go head-to-head in the world championship title decider in Brazil this weekend, and it is still impossible to predict who will triumph.

The odds favour the Englishman, who has a seven-point lead after winning last time out in China. However, that was what he had over rival Kimi Raikkonen coming into this race last year, and still it all went awry at the 11th hour.Technically, Hamilton needs only finish fifth even if Massa wins, in order to beat him by a single point. However, there is an additional complication as McLaren are still fighting Ferrari for the constructors’ championship, in which the red team have 156 points to the silver’s 145. BMW Sauber are third, but out of the overall reckoning now, on 135. McLaren thus have to push hard and need a one-two finish to have any realistic chance of securing both titles, whereas a third and eighth would secure the constructors’ crown (but not the drivers’) for Ferrari.

"I don’t need to win the race, but that won’t stop me from going into the weekend looking to be as strong as possible," says Hamilton, who will benefit from a new rear wing on his MP4-23. "Shanghai was a good example of that: we hit the ground running on Friday morning and never looked back. Our aim wasn’t to push too hard, but we found ourselves in a position at the front and took it comfortably from there. That’s what I am hoping to achieve in Brazil - a straightforward weekend that allows me to just focus on my car and my driving.

"Ferrari have been dominant in Interlagos for the past two years, when Massa and Raikkonen respectively won. If it is dry that may remain the case, though the signs are that McLaren have made good progress in the latter part of the season. If it rains, however, as is forecast, the odds surely favour Hamilton even more given his wet-weather form in Monaco and Silverstone, where the Ferraris struggled.Massa has been keeping his cool and says that the pressure is off him because of Hamilton’s lead.

He must win with Hamilton either scoring sixth or lower or failing to finish at all. In this respect he may be helped by the Englishman’s need to run his engine for a second time after China."Yes it's true I have a tougher job than Lewis in terms of the points situation, but my own objective for the weekend is much more straightforward than his," the Brazilian said. "I only have to focus on winning the race, hopefully with my team-mate second. The only thing I am thinking about is winning. After that, the matter is not in my hands and we will have to wait and see exactly what and how much we have won."For sure, Lewis will try and put pressure on me, but I have zero pressure, because I have nothing to lose.

In the second McLaren, Heikki Kovalainen must play a key role this weekend in support of his team mate, for Raikkonen will undoubtedly back Massa strongly. The Hungarian Grand Prix winner will have a fresh Mercedes engine in his McLaren. "I want to be able to help the team and Lewis wherever necessary," he says, "but the easiest way to do that is to be running at the front. The team knows I will play my part, but we are also targeting the constructors’ championship."While the fight for the crown will inevitably grab all the headlines, there are plenty of other things to be resolved this weekend. There is still a mighty scrap for third place in the drivers' championship between Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen, who have 75 and 69 points respectively. And Nick Heidfeld’s fifth place on 60 could prove vulnerable if Fernando Alonso wins again for the improving Renault team. The Spaniard has 53 points, but may himself fall victim to Kovalainen who has 51.

Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli are battling for eighth with 30 points apiece.Besides the Ferrari-McLaren fight for constructors’ honours, BMW Sauber could still snaffle second from McLaren. Renault are safe in fourth and Toyota fifth, but there is a big fight between Toro Rosso (34), Red Bull Racing (29) and Williams (26) for sixth.

The race will also be notable as David Coulthard’s last. At the same time, venerable race engineer Steve Hallam is also on the last lap as he will be leaving Formula One for NASCAR for 2009.

From a technical perspective, Interlagos poses two main challenges to the teams. It is 800 metres above sea level, so engine power is reduced as a result of the drop in atmospheric pressure. That also has a negative effect on aerodynamic performance.

The other problem has traditionally been the bumpy surface, though a complete resurface for 2007 caught teams by surprise since the tarmac was relatively smooth. However, some bumps remain, particularly in the braking area for Turn 4, Descida do Lago. To avoid bottoming out on these, cars have to run with increased ride heights, which reduces the effectiveness of their diffusers.There are two favoured overtaking points. The first is going into the S do Senna at the start of the lap after a driver has been able to get a good slipstreaming run up the hill from the vitally important final corner, Juncao or Turn 12. The second is under braking for the Descida do Lago left-hander at the end of the back straight.This year Bridgestone are bringing their medium and soft compound tyres after discovering last year that their super-soft was not quite durable enough to suit the track’s unusual characteristics. They are expecting a lot of graining early on thanks to the twisty infield section, and the initial ‘greenness’ of the track before it cleans up and rubbers in.

Redbull's Singapore Virtual Lap

Hamilton rules himself out of drivers' strike

Briton Lewis Hamilton on Friday ruled himself out of joining a possible strike by Formula One drivers at next month's British Grand Prix.
Talk of a strike has escalated this week amid rumours that the drivers are concerned at the rising cost of their super-licences, a mandatory qualification for racing at the top level.
But Hamilton, who on Thursday made comments during a news conference that suggested his support for a possible strike, on Friday clarified his position.
Hamilton said: "In the FIA press conference at Magny-Cours on Thursday June 19, I expressed my support for whatever decisions the drivers may take, on the basis that my support could be critical.
"I am not involved in any strike talks; that is not my position. I am here to race; to do my job for the team, for myself and for the fans of Formula One.
"To put my comment in the correct perspective, another driver said, 'I think it will be difficult to get all the drivers to have the same idea, but we're trying to convince the FIA to reduce the cost.'
"I then responded, 'I've always said that they have my support; and it's something I agree with as well.'
"In any case, I don't believe for one minute that the drivers will take such drastic measures. We have the British Grand Prix in a couple of weeks' time and other Grands Prix to follow, and I'm certainly not planning on missing any of them."
Hamilton, arguably the highest profile driver racing in Formula One, is not a member of the drivers' union, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, though the association has tried many times to persuade him to join.
Earlier this year, also, Hamilton made comments about the steep rise in costs of a super-licence for the drivers.
Two of the GPDA's directors Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Australian Mark Webber played down talk of a strike at Silverstone, but confirmed that they are taking the issue very seriously.
Webber said: "It's absolutely clear that we are not happy with the super-licence situation and how much they charge, but I find it very unrealistic to think that we won't race at Silverstone."
The drivers are angry at the FIA's decision in January to increase licence fees to 10,000 euros plus 2,000 euros extra per point scored. Leading drivers will be paying in excess of 200,000 euros from now on.

Canadian GP Practice two - Hamilton takes his turn at the top

Nobody could get near Lewis Hamilton on the Ile Notre Dame on Friday afternoon as the 23 year-old world championship leader lapped his McLaren in 1m 15.752s to all but match Fernando Alonso’s 2007 pole position time of 1m 15.707s.Robert Kubica pushed Ferrari into third place after lapping his BMW Sauber in 1m 16.023s, and Kimi Raikkonen failed to beat 1m 16.093s on his final runs.

His Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa was left in fifth place on 1m 16.413s after his F2008 rolled to a halt with 15 minutes remaining in the session just past the hairpin.Heikki Kovalainen backed Hamilton with fourth place on 1m 16.331s, failing to improve on Bridgestone’s supersoft tyre. Nick Heidfeld likewise failed to go quicker on the same rubber, and was sixth in the second BMW Sauber on 1m 16.589s.

Despite a spin, Mark Webber maintained seventh place with 1m 16.604s for Red Bull, followed by Nico Rosberg for Williams on 1m 16.767s, Sebastian Vettel on 1m 17.019s for Toro Rosso, Jarno Trulli on 1m 17.068s for Toyota, Kazuki Nakajima on 1m 17.242s for Williams, David Coulthard on 1m 17.334s for Toro Rosso, Rubens Barrichello on 1m 17.462s for Honda, Giancarlo Fisichella on 1m 17.508s for Force India, Timo Glock on 1m 17.549s for Toyota and Sebastien Bourdais on 1m 17.559s for Toro Rosso.

It was a disastrous session for Renault, with Fernando Alonso stranded on 1m 17.644s in 17th place after spinning on the exit to Turn One and stalling, and Nelson Piquet down in 20th on 1m 18.076s after a gearbox failure. In between them came Force India's Adrian Sutil on 1m 17.813s and Honda's Jenson Button on 1m 17.842s.

Besides Alonso and Massa, Glock failed to finish the session after crunching his Toyota’s right rear suspension on the exit to Turn Six, and Raikkonen, Webber, Piquet, Bourdais, Barrichello, Kovalainen and Fisichella all had off-course moments.

Felipe Massa makes it Three in a Row in Turkish Grand Prix

A delighted Felipe Massa swept to a hat-trick of Turkish Grand Prix victories from pole position here on Sunday in the Turkish Grand Prix when he delivered another domineering display for Ferrari at Istanbul Park.
The Brazilian triumphed by 3.7 seconds ahead of McLaren's British driver Lewis Hamilton with Finland's reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen less than half-a-second behind in third in the other Ferrari.
"This feels fantastic," said Massa.
"But actually, it was a very difficult race. Lewis pushed me very hard for a lot of the race and I was worried for a while, but I knew he was lighter than me.
"When the team told me he was running on three stops I felt better so I realised that was a help for me and I had a chance. I could not hold him when he passed me, but I knew I could win the race so I just had to wait.
"To win here for a third time is really fantastic for me. Now I think I can already get a passport here!"
Hamilton pulled off the overtaking move of the race on Massa and denied Ferrari a likely one-two despite adopting a three-stop fuel strategy compared to his rival's two stopper.
But there was no stopping Massa who controlled the 58-lap race on the 5.338-kms track which he clearly loves.
Hamilton said: "I am absolutely thrilled to come second here after starting third and after my form yesterday.
"I knew it would be tough to get points but we did it well and I am happy. The balance of the car was great on the hard tyres, but the soft tyre was not so good at the end.
"We chose a three stop strategy for safety reasons after what happened here last year when we suffered a failure. Three stops was the safest way to go, but it left us in a less strong position to win the race."
Raikkonen's lead in the championship was cut to seven points with Massa now second, on countback, from last year's runner-up Hamilton. Raikkonen has 35, Massa and Hamilton have 28.
Ferrari extended their lead in the constructors' championship to 19 points over BMW with McLaren two points further back after Finland's Heikki Kovalainen paid for an early pit-stop to finish 12th having started second.
The Finn suffered an opening lap puncture after a suspected collision with Raikkonen on the opening lap.
Poland's Robert Kubica was fourth for BMW just ahead of team-mate Greman Nick Heidfeld with Spain's Fernando Alonso sixth for Renault. Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber was seventh and German-born Nico Rosberg eighth for Williams.
There was no points finish for Brazil's Rubens Barrichello in his record-breaking 257 appearance as he finished 14th for Honda.
Massa blasted into lead from the start with all the drama happening behind him as Hamilton powered past his team-mate Kovalainen into second spot.
Kubica also overtook Kovalainen in the race for the first corner where the Finn squeezed compatriot Raikkonen who dropped from fourth to sixth behind former two-time champion Alonso.
Further down the field, Force India's Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella drove right over the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima, missing the Japanese driver by inches but sending them both spinning into retirement in the gravel after a collision at the start.
The safety car was immediately deployed, staying out for one circuit as the debris was cleared. Kovalainen was forced to pit at the end of the second lap while on the third lap Raikkonen easily outpaced Alonso to move back to fourth.
Raikkonen took third spot in the first round of pit-stops leapfrogging Kubica as Massa and Hamilton battled it out at the front.
Hamilton, on a lighter fuel load, thrillingly snatched the lead on lap 24 when he darted down Massa's left before forcing his rival to move over as they came up to turn 12 at around 180mph.
The British driver's lead lasted just eight laps before he made another quick pit-stop allowing Massa to regain control of the race. Hamilton regained the lead after Massa, then Raikkonen, made their final stops.
Hamilton made a stop at the end with 13 laps left and although it was not quick enough to deny Massa, he came out just fractions ahead of Raikkonen to snatch second spot from his chief rival.