Ferrari Looking Fast
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The 2007 Formula 1 season returns to racing action this weekend as the Turkish Grand Prix is set to run at The Istanbul Racing Circuit in Turkey. This circuit is one of my favorites in the F1 calendar mainly because of turn 8 in sector 2. A big sweeping left hander with 4 apexes. Sector 3 is then a very fast straight away with a finishing set of tight corners prior to entering sector 1 again. The 3.32 mile long track is one of 3 on the current calendar in which the race is run counter-clockwise. Some history here; the fastest lap ever recorded was set by current NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya at 1min 24.770 sec in 2005. This is the third running all time of the Turkish Grand Prix the previous winners are now Ferrari teammates, Kimi Raikkonen (2005) and Felipe Massa (2006).
In practice sessions this week both Raikkonen and Massa have been the fastest. Raikkonen was the fastest so far clocking in with a time of 1 minute 27.988 sec. Massa had the second best practice time followed by the McLaren 's of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren Team apparently did take some time during the break period from the Hungarian Grand Prix to clear the air between the teammates after some quite bizarre behavior at the Hungaroring.
The best of the rest of the pack is led by Renault 's Heikki Kovalainen. The biggest disappointment in Istanbul so far has to go to the struggling team at Spyker. The team was set to unviel their new B model car in Turkey. The unvielling though will have to be delayed at least until September 9 at the Italian Grand Prix held at Monza. The new Spyker car failed a strict rear impact test thereby delaying the debut.
So qualifying will be held on Saturday and the race itself will be held on Sunday. With Ferrari looking fast in the test sessions this could be an opportunity for the team to gain ground on the leaders at McLaren.
