27.08.2007

BACK TO WORK

Formula 1’s annual summer break gave most team members a short chance to catch their breath in the midst of a tiring season. Both Ralf and Jarno made the most of the opportunity to spend time relaxing with their families - a rare luxury during the season. Jarno said: "I didn't do too much during the summer break. I didn’t want to travel away because we do so much travelling anyway with my job. I visited my parents in Pescara and spent time with my family which was very good. We spent a lot of time enjoying the sun and relaxing while I also did some sport, mainly cycling to keep up my fitness." But when the Turkish Grand Prix came around, both drivers were firmly back at work and focused on the task in hand.

BOSS FOR US

Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli, as well as Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina and President John Howett were guests at a lavish Kingfisher Airlines party on Saturday night in the pulsating city of Istanbul. Traffic is always a problem in Turkey and we’re not talking about the kind that hampered Ralf in qualifying! The party-goers escaped the worst of it by enjoying a fine venue on board a lavish yacht on the Bosphorus - the Indian Empress owned by Kingfisher Airlines’ Dr Vijay Mallya.

NEWS FROM OUR RIVALS

The championship fight heated up as a result of the Turkish Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton now leading the title chase on 84 points, to the 79 of his double reigning world champion team mate Fernando Alonso. Alonso found himself in sixth place after the start when he was beaten off the grid by both BMW Saubers. “After that my race was basically on hold,” Alonso said, “and by the time I passed Nick Heidfeld at the first stop I was basically half a minute behind and it was just a case of waiting for the miracle - which only happened with Hamilton.”

Hamilton’s championship hopes took a small knock when, running third, he suffered a right front tyre problem and finished fifth, behind BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld. Heikki Kovalainen finished sixth with the first of the Renaults, ahead of Nico Rosberg's Williams-Toyota and Polish driver Robert Kubica, who claimed the final point.

Amazingly, in one of the most even world championship contests, all four championship contenders now have three victories apiece. Massa’s win moves him onto 69 points, one ahead of Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

RACE REPORT

Jarno looked well set to challenge for points after qualifying ninth fastest at Istanbul Park, but his race was compromised when he was an innocent victim of the first-lap scramble into Turn 1, with Giancarlo Fisichella hitting him in the rear to leave Jarno at the back of the field.

“We had the opportunity to get a better result but that is racing. The start went well but unfortunately at the first corner Fisichella hit me at the back and I lost a lot of positions,” Jarno said. “These things can happen. It was a shame because the car was well balanced throughout the race and this is thanks to the hard work back at the factory.”

Jarno chased down the cars ahead and passed five in six laps, including an impressive pass on Jenson Button's Honda, but ultimately could only finish the race in 16th position.

For Ralf the race was an uphill struggle after Saturday qualifying when he did not make it out of Q1 and started the race from 16th position on the grid. A one-stop strategy helped him move up the field but a fuel-heavy car early in the race made life difficult.

“I am not really happy with the result," he said. “I think we had the speed, but I couldn't really push early in the race and the car was not ideal with the hard tyres, so I lost a bit of time. My lap times got better towards the end of the race and they were actually quite good. If our result in qualifying had been better we would have been able to score points.”

The race saw a 1-2 finish for Ferrari with pole position man Felipe Massa scoring his third win of the season ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso was third for McLaren-Mercedes.

“We expected a much better result this weekend because we had some new parts on the car thanks to the hard work of the team at the factory,” said Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina. “The weekend started quite well and should have finished quite well but our cars spent most of the race in traffic. In these hot conditions both drivers got to the end of the race and that is the only thing we are happy about. We must analyse what happened over the weekend. For the next race, at Monza, we will push hard again and hope for a better result.”