Turkish Grand Prix
The Turkish Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race held at Istanbul Park, designed by Hermann Tilke. The race was part of the Formula One World Championship between and, and to, the latter two being due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Felipe Massa and Ferrari are the most successful driver and constructor respectively, having won the race three times each.
History
Despite the major challenges involved including completing part of the journey by boat, teams drove their equipment from their European factories to the track for each meeting except the 2020 race.The nature of the circuit resulted in the inaugural 2005 Turkish Grand Prix weekend seeing exciting on-track action, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend due to pushing too hard, particularly at Turn 8 where Juan Pablo Montoya ran wide with two laps to go following a tangle with the Jordan of Tiago Monteiro. This allowed Fernando Alonso to take second place behind Kimi Räikkönen, an event which had a significant bearing on their battle for the World Championship headed towards its culmination.
A year later, Felipe Massa took his first pole position and victory at Tuzla. The Ferraris were 1–2 in early stages of the race, with Massa ahead of Michael Schumacher. Vitantonio Liuzzi's spin brought out the safety car and the Ferraris had to pit on the same lap. Alonso was able to get past Schumacher and the order stayed until the end of the race. Massa repeated in 2007 ahead of his new teammate Räikkönen.
In 2008, the race was held in May. Two-stopping Massa won the race ahead of three-stopping Lewis Hamilton, although Hamilton had passed him during the race.
For 2011, the race was put in doubt because Bernie Ecclestone wanted to double the fees for hosting the race. Ecclestone later confirmed, however, that it would feature on the 2011 calendar, which would expand to twenty races with the addition of the Indian Grand Prix.
On 30 July 2011 it was announced that the Turkish Grand Prix would not be on the calendar from 2012 due to a lack of agreement on the annual cost. The race organisers claimed that the hosting fee was too high, while Ecclestone blamed poor promotion for the race's lack of profitability. On 9 January 2013 the government chose not to approve the Formula 1 deal that would have held the race in Tuzla in 2013.
The project, set to cost Turkey around 20 million dollars in total, needed to receive 13 million dollars of state funding.
The government, however, did not give its approval, and the project fell through.
2005
The winner of the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix was Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso came in second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya.The fastest race lap was achieved by Juan Pablo Montoya in 1'24.770, a time which is yet to be surpassed.
2006
The 2006 Turkish Grand Prix was won by Felipe Massa, who led from start to finish, Fernando Alonso came in second and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in third.The fastest race lap was achieved by Michael Schumacher in 1'28.005.
As part of the podium ceremony after the 2006 race, the winner's trophy was presented by Mehmet Ali Talat, who was introduced to television viewers via the captions as the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a state which is recognised only by Turkey. The FIA announced they would be investigating this incident, as a possible breach of the organisation's political neutrality. The identity of the person who would present the winner's trophy was left to the last minute, leaving the FIA no time to veto the choice. Some commentators feared this incident could jeopardise the future of the Turkish Grand Prix, and possibly also Turkey's round of the World Rally Championship, another FIA-sanctioned series. It was concluded with a 5 million dollar fine, which was later reduced by half.
2007
The winner of the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix was the Brazilian Felipe Massa, who won the race for the second year in a row having qualified in pole position. During the press conference following the race, he commented that "the Istanbul Park was the track where he made his career turn-around, and finally began winning races." He also praised the track as well as the city.The fastest race lap was achieved by Kimi Räikkönen in 1'27.295.
2008
The winner of the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix was the Brazilian Felipe Massa, who won the race for the third year in a row, also starting in pole position.The fastest race lap was achieved by Kimi Räikkönen in 1'26.506.
2009
The winner was the British Jenson Button of Brawn GP, with Australian Mark Webber and Germany's Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing completing the podium.The fastest race lap was achieved by eventual winner, Jenson Button with a 1'27.579.