The Ferrari driver won his second consecutive Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday.
"This is becoming a special place for me," Massa said of the Istanbul
Park circuit. The Brazilian won his first Grand Prix victory here in
2006, after gaining pole position, and did exactly the same this year.
"I love the track. This is where my career made a switch and I started winning races," Massa said.
Massa beat teammate Kimi Raikkonen by just over two seconds as the Ferrari pair dueled from the opening turn.
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Two-time defending Formula One champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren was
third and kept alive his chances in the driver's standings after a
mishap for teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton had been in third place but dropped to fifth after a puncture shredded a tire on the 43rd lap.
Hamilton said the tire cost him a place on the podium.
"I was pushing obviously. Without a doubt we would have finished third.
I still had six laps more fuel than the Ferraris. I was hoping in those
six laps I could get Kimi," Hamilton said.
"Then the tire went."
Hamilton finished the first nine races in the top three. But the Briton
has had problems in the last three races, including a crash in
qualifying in Germany to come in ninth, a qualifying incident in
Hungary — before going on to win the race — and now the tire failure.
Alonso was penalized five spots on the starting grid for the Hungarian
GP after delaying Hamilton in the pits in the final minutes of
qualifying, although Hamilton refused to let Alonso pass him earlier,
contrary to McLaren team orders. Hamilton won and Alonso was fourth.
Alonso was the beneficiary of the blowout Sunday.
"If someone told me on lap two you would be on the podium ... I would
be very happy," Alonso said. "At the end, the final result is the best
thing of the weekend."
After the 58-lap race, Massa was 2.2 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, with
Alonso 26 seconds back. Hamilton was 45 seconds behind Massa. Nick
Heidfeld was fourth.
With five races left, Alonso gained on his teammate after being as low as sixth in the early stages of the race.
In the overall standings, Hamilton's lead was cut to five points over
Alonso, 84-79. Massa is third with 69 points and Raikkonen is next with
68.
The Ferraris and McLarens continue to divide the races. In the 12 races
so far, Alonso, Hamilton Massa and Raikkonen have won three each.
Massa made a reversal after his last race. He finished 13th in the
Hungarian GP on Aug. 5 after a disappointing qualifying run that made
him start from the back of the grid.
"Three Grands Prix here, two wins. Can't be better," Massa said.
"Starting from pole, good car, difficult race. I managed to keep my
concentration."
At the start Sunday, the two Ferrari drivers went to the top positions
with Hamilton third. Alonso was beaten to the first turn by the two
BMW-Sauber drivers and was sixth after the first lap. After five laps,
he was more than seven seconds from first and, more important, almost
five behind Hamilton.
"For sure, the start didn't go as we planned," Alonso said. "To be
overtaken by two cars and find yourself in sixth was not great."
At 10 laps Sunday it was still the two Ferraris ahead of Hamilton, with
Alonso about 10 seconds back. Alonso was able to move into fourth past
Heidfeld and Robert Kubica at the first pit stop, but he was still
losing time.
By 25 laps, Massa was back in front of Raikkonen and Hamilton with Alonso fourth, about 18 seconds behind.
Raikkonen closed to within a second.
"I made a small, small mistake and Kimi closed the gap," Massa said. "Just a small mistake made my life difficult."
Raikkonen said the result was predictable after Saturday when Massa was first, two places ahead of the Finnish driver.
"In Formula One these days the race is pretty much decided after qualifying," Raikkonen said.
Things changed on the 43rd lap when Hamilton was flapping rubber from
his shredded front tire while in third place. Hamilton managed to make
it to the pits to change the tire but Alonso moved into third and
Heidfeld was fourth.
"I saw some bits fly off the tire," Hamilton said. "It was lucky I
didn't put the car in the gravel and managed to control it back to the
pits as this meant that in the end I only lost two places."
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Felipe Massa will always remember Turkey.
"This is becoming a special place for me," the Ferrari driver said
after winning his second consecutive Turkish Grand Prix on the Istanbul
Park circuit Sunday.
The Brazilian won his first Grand Prix victory here in 2006 after gaining the pole position, and did exactly the same this year.
"I love the track. This is where my career made a switch and I started winning races," Massa said.
Massa beat teammate Kimi Raikkonen by just over two seconds as the Ferrari pair dueled from the opening turn.
Two-time defending Formula One champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren was
third and kept alive his chances in the driver's standings after
teammate Lewis Hamilton punctured a front tire on the 43rd lap.
Hamilton had been in third place but dropped to fifth.
Hamilton said the tire cost him a place on the podium.
"I was pushing obviously," Hamilton said. "Without a doubt we would
have finished third. I still had six laps more fuel than the Ferraris.
I was hoping in those six laps I could get Kimi. Then the tire went."
Hamilton finished the first nine races in the top three. But the Briton
has had problems in the last three races, including a crash in
qualifying in Germany to come in ninth, a qualifying incident in
Hungary -- before going on to win the race -- and now the tire failure.
Alonso was penalized five spots on the starting grid for the Hungarian
GP after delaying Hamilton in the pits in the final minutes of
qualifying, although Hamilton refused to let Alonso pass him earlier,
contrary to McLaren team orders. Alonso finished fourth in the race.
Alonso, who was as far back as sixth in the early stages Sunday, benefited from the blowout.
"If someone told me on lap two you would be on the podium ... I would
be very happy," Alonso said. "At the end, the final result is the best
thing of the weekend."
After the 58-lap race, Massa was 2.2 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, with
Alonso 26 seconds back. Hamilton was 45 seconds behind Massa. Nick
Heidfeld was fourth.
With five races left, Alonso trails Hamilton 84-79 in the overall
standings. Massa is third with 69 points and Raikkonen is next with 68.
The Ferraris and McLarens continue to divide the races. In the 12 races
so far, Alonso, Hamilton Massa and Raikkonen have won three each.
Massa made a reversal after his last race. He finished 13th in the
Hungarian GP on Aug. 5 after a disappointing qualifying run left him at
the back of the starting grid.
"Three Grands Prix here, two wins. Can't be better," Massa said.
"Starting from pole, good car, difficult race. I managed to keep my
concentration."
At the start Sunday, the two Ferrari drivers went to the top positions
with Hamilton third. Alonso was beaten to the first turn by the two
BMW-Sauber drivers and was sixth after the first lap. After five laps,
he was more than seven seconds from first and, more important, almost
five behind Hamilton.
"For sure, the start didn't go as we planned," Alonso said. "To be
overtaken by two cars and find yourself in sixth was not great."
At 10 laps Sunday it was still the two Ferraris ahead of Hamilton, with
Alonso about 10 seconds back. Alonso was able to move into fourth past
Heidfeld and Robert Kubica at the first pit stop, but he was still
losing time.
By 25 laps, Massa was back in front of Raikkonen and Hamilton with Alonso fourth, about 18 seconds behind.
Raikkonen closed to within a second.
"I made a small, small mistake and Kimi closed the gap," Massa said. "Just a small mistake made my life difficult."
Raikkonen said the result was predictable after Saturday when Massa was first, two places ahead of the Finnish driver.
"In Formula One these days the race is pretty much decided after qualifying," Raikkonen said.
Things changed on the 43rd lap when Hamilton was flapping rubber from
his shredded front tire while in third place. Hamilton managed to make
it to the pits to change the tire, but Alonso moved into third ahead of
Heidfeld.
"I saw some bits fly off the tire," Hamilton said. "It was lucky I
didn't put the car in the gravel and managed to control it back to the
pits as this meant that in the end I only lost two places."
Renault's Heikki Kovalainen was sixth, followed by Nico Rosberg of Williams and Kubica.
The next race is the Italian Grand Prix on Sept. 9, followed by the Belgian Grand Prix a week later.
