Catching up 2 - Turkey, always great racing

So then Turkey two weeks ago.. I'm recollecting the race after one more viewing of the race on my PVR and looking at the stats from Autosport. Obviously I've already seen today's Monaco GP as well, but am attempting to cover this with the mind-set I had two weeks ago..

Its a great race track, and it seems Massa owns the track. I really like the racing at this track; I'd only hope we'd see even more overtaking, although Hamilton passing Massa on the track for the lead near mid-race, that is what we fans really want in racing. Overtaking!!

Conventional wisdom suggests that if you're one of the front-runners and can run significantly longer than the others, you should win.. Hamilton came in for his first pit-stop at lap 16; Massa and Kubica came in at lap 19; Kimi ran till lap 21. This would suggest Kimi should have turned that into a win. But no chance. Massa held easily to win, and Hamilton took his 3-stopping strategy to the second sep of the podium. The champion seemed very ordinary at this track where he has won before.

I wasn't aware of it during the race - and I wondered why Hamilton on a 3 stop strategy - but afterwards I read in Autosport that Bridgestone insisted Hamilton make 3 stops to prevent blowing up his tyre like last year. So the true pace of the McLaren car in general, and Hamilton in particular, was probably better than what we saw in Istanbul.

As to Kovalainen, very unlucky guy, a puncture killed his chances and he fought hard in mid-field to now points at the end. Kubica was well in the mix for the race, but eventually ended up fourth. Perhaps the true pace of the BMW, but I would have wished for him to do better. Alonso showed some promise with Renault, but he may be getting more out of his car, at this demanding circuit, than there really is in the Renault this season.

The best part is that we are having a nice tightening of the season, with Kimi only 7 points ahead of Hamilton and Massa. And even Kubica is well in the frame only 11 points behind. Yes, of course I'd want Kimi to win the championshiop again this season, but I do love the racing, and I'd hate for the season to be one of total domination by one car, even if that was the car of "my" fave driver.. So yes, this is very good for F1.

Catching up 1: Barcelona - boring...

I've been quite busy at work last month, so quick follow-up postings.

First Barcelona. Boring.

I don't think we need more. A processional race, no fun.