Felipe Massa is King of Turkey—Who Will Reign in Monaco Grand Prix?

Finally, Formula 1 returned to proper racing in Turkey at the weekend, with Massa clinching his third victory in a row at the track were he has been practically untouchable.

After the last grand prix—which yielded two passing manouvers in the whole race—F1's avid fans were replenished with a race that felt like Donnington '93 in comparison.  Massa claimed pole, which was hardly surprising considering his superiority at the track.

What confused many people was Hamilton's decision to go with hard tyres in Quali 3, as he was feeling uncomfortable with the softer choice. This made no difference, however, as he lined up behind teammate Kovalinen who had made a quick return to fitness after his very dramatic Spanish GP crash. Kimi Raikkonen had a very unspectacular lap and lined up fourth.

The race down to the first corner contained the usual crash seen at every Turkish GP, involving the same driver as usual—Giancarlo Fisichella, who tried to pass everyone at turn one, but only succeded in flying over the top of Kasuki Nakajima.

Strangely, Giancarlo seemed to be under the impression that "it was not my fault". This brought out the safety car for a couple of laps, slowing the drivers down.

At the end of this period Kovalinen flew into the pits with a puncture. It was later analysed to be contact with Raikkonen's front wing at the first corner which caused the accident. Not only did it ruin Hekki's race, but it also restricted the performace of Raikkonen's car.

Meanwhile, Hamilton's McLaren was surprisingly staying with Massa, who everyone had expected to drive off into the distance. In fact, Hamilton began to close the gap, setting new fastest laps on each tour of the circuit.

However, this impressive pace was soon partly explained when Lewis pitted very early, making it obvious that he was on a three-stop strategy. This strategy, although preventing Lewis from challenging for the win, did let him sneak between the two Ferraris for second place.

Behind the battle at the front, Kovalinen was making up for his puncture and was carving his way through the field pulling off some audacious passing maneuvers—including a four-corner battle with Timo Glock. However, it was not enough to get him into the points, and despite a very good performance he ended up a pit stop off eighth.

So, Massa cruised home to victory in the circuit that he seems to own at the moment—but Hamilton and McLaren should be happy with their performance.

Moving on to Monaco is good news for McLaren, whose car seems to suit the track more that Ferrari's. It is a race Hamilton, enjoys so they'll be looking for a victory. As for Ferrari, they will have to be on the lookout for BMW, who could spring a surprise and even up the title race. However, nothing will be certain until Thursday practice is complete.