As usual, the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul proved to be an excellent race. There was plenty of action throughout the race and not just the normal midfield action.

Qualifying was good, with Kovalainen putting in a great performance for his first front row position. Massa’s pole was to be expected, but Raikkonen’s performance was not. He did not seem as comfortable with the car as Massa so I suspect he had a poor setup. Hamilton also seemed highly disappointed with his 3rd place. At the time I couldn’t figure it out why he would be, but it all became apparent in the race.

The start of the race saw the clean side of the grid get away far quicker than the dirty side. There was a fairly nasty accident at the back, which brought the safety car out for a few laps, and Raikkonen tagged Kovalainen into turn 1, puncturing the McLaren’s tyre. Kovalainen had to pit and that was unfortunately the end of his podium hopes.

Despite this, Kovalainen put on a spectacular show as he fought his way threw the field. He may have had a significantly faster car, but few of them went easily. The hardest to pass was Timo Glock, who simply would not give up.

Hamilton also gave his fair share of entertainment, pushing Massa hard while on the prime tyre and eventually overtaking him. It was great to see a racing move at the front, rather than the usual pit stop leap frogging that the leaders do. It also became clear why he was disappointed with 3rd on the grid - on the advice of Bridgestone, he was going to be three stopping and therefore was significantly lighter on fuel than Massa in qualifying and easily capable of pole. If he had taken pole I’m sure he could have won, but despite his poor qualifying performance, he drove an excellent race to a well deserved 2nd.

Raikkonen’s race was quiet and while he caught up with Hamilton in the closing laps, he didn’t seem interested in trying to pass him. He blamed a broken front wing, but I feel it is a bit of a (lame) excuse. There were no signs of debris in the replay of Raikkonen tagging Kovalainen’s car so I think any damage would have to be extremely minor and pretty much insignificant. I think this was pretty much confirmed by Raikkonen as he said it was damaged but not enough to need a new wing. I think he simply had a poor setup.

The BMWs weren’t as competitive here as the last few races, but they still came away with a nice points haul. The BMW drivers may not be capable of winning the drivers championship, but they certainly look good for the constructors at the moment.

It looks like the McLaren is closer to the Ferrari than originally thought after Barcelona, so I think it is safe to say they have made up whatever they lost after the first race and are back in business.

Next up is Monaco. Qualifying will be more important than usual as overtaking is impossible. Hopefully we will see the second McLaren win of the season there, or even BMWs first ever win. Either way, it looks like it will be another close championship.