Turkish Grand Prix: Massa, Hamilton Battle for Driver of the Day

Alot of really good performances out on the track today its very hard for me to decide this one.

Its between Massa and Hamilton for sure so let me assess both of their drives today.

Massa got a faultlesss start off the grid and had a great first couple of laps when Hamilton starts to peg him, Hamilton got a great start from 4th himself into second and kept him very honest but Massa didn't crack under the pressure and kept his pace very consistent, the gap between him and Hamilton staying about the same until the first pit stop. Hamilton was really on it after the pit stop and performed a superb move on Massa, there was hardly any room but he made the space and dived down the inside and pulled away at a fast rate. When Massa has been passed in the past he has often sunk and fallen back but considering the fuel difference his pace was still good and did enough to get back into the lead with a good enough gap and from there on in never looked back and and kept on the pace. Hamilton did close the gap to 5 seconds but Massa kept it like that.

Hamilton had to push very hard to ensure he stayed ahead of Kimi but those last two in-laps before the 3rd stop were his fastest, he very impressively managed to stay ahead of him for the rest of the race and never let Kimi get near enough to have a go.

Two winning performances by two very fast drivers and a great day for both of them.

Who do I pick though? Hamilton who overtook someone for the lead which is something which the leading drivers never ever bother to try and for defying the odds by splitting the Ferraris despite being on the unfavourable strategy. Massa on the other hand was always very quick and despite being under pressure alot of the time never made an error ro cracked and took it all in his stride whereas at other times he may well have cracked under the pressure.

I have been criticised for looking past Massa before and in Bahrain I made the mistake of giving Kubica and Davidson as the drivers of the day when I should have given it to Massa I admit but today I am giving driver of the day to HAMILTON, I think at the end of the day both drives were brilliant but the overtaking move won me over and Hamilton had the harder job from his grid position and tyre problem which mclaren said they had.

Heikki should also be given praise for coming back from dead last and doing some great daring overtaking manoevres, in the end another bad tactical call for mclaren in my opinion cost Heikki a points finish. Alonso and Webber both did good jobs to get solid points too and Rosberg battled well for that last point in the Williams.