Felipe Massa wins 2006 Turkish Grand Prix

Topics:  Turkish Grand Prix, Felipe Massa

Wikinews
August 27, 2006

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, driving for Ferrari, won the Turkish Grand prix at Istanbul Park on Sunday, marking his first Grand Prix victory. Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher placed second and third respectively in a close finish.

Massa began at pole position and capitalised on an incident right at the start, when Renault's Alonso braked hard, causing team mate Giancarlo Fisichella to lose control as he attempted to avoid contact. The incident disrupted much of the initial grid behind them, with multiple contacts involving Nick Heidfeld, Pedro de la Rosa, Ralf Schumacher, Scott Speed, Kimi Raikkonen, Takuma Sato, Tiago Monteiro and Jarno Trulli, forcing many of them to take a pit stop at the end of the lap.

Massa's Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher lost the second position to Alonso while the German was awaiting Massa on the pit-lane. On the dying laps of the race Schumacher pushed hard on Alonso until the finish line. They finished together, with the official timing unable to split them, and Alonso won by protecting his line into the final corner.

Jenson Button, one of Honda's drivers, finished fourth.

Once again Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish, quitting the race not long after after the start incident and McLaren-Mercedes teammate Pedro De La Rosa replaced him in his position.

Nick Heidfeld, the BMW-Sauber team driver finished last.

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