Turkish Race, Suprising Results to Come

Qualifying for The Turkish Grand Prix ended with Sebastian Vettel showing the new diffuser on the Red Bull RB5 is working with his pole position.

Substantiated with teammate Mark Webber’s fourth place with him and Vettel bookending the two Brawn GP cars, Jenson Button in second and team mate Rubens Barrichello in third.

The expected Ferrari charge lost on the fast circuit with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa filling the sixth and seventh spots, respectively.

It will be a battle fought out in the Turkish heat between the Red Bulls and Brawn as Ferrari look as they haven’t enough pace to challenge.

An attrition rate will help Ferrari and with Brawn’s weakness, if they have one, shown in the heat of Bahrain it could be all the Italian team can hope for.

Reliability should be measured, although driver fitness will be a key issue with any fatigue spotted towards the end sections and reflected in lap times.

Toyota’s Bahrain front row was cancelled with the team filling the last spots at Monaco. At Istanbul Park, the contrast continued but on this occasion it is within the team with Jano Trulli qualifying fifth and teammate Timo Glock down in 13th.

Trulli is being watched by the Tifosi as the Monza approaches, as he is currently the only Italian hope. Toyota could easily assume the dark horse role this weekend.

With the confusion beginning to appear over next season, Toyota need results to at least justifying their survival.

Nico Rosberg carried out the obligatory top place in first practise in his Williams Toyota. A feat looking justified at Istanbul Park with both drivers ending practise three inside a top ten that was covered by half a second.

Kazuki Nakajima in fourth with Rosberg two tenths slower in eighth. This would have pleased but not surprised Frank Williams but he may have been disappointed with the teams qualifying. Rosberg ninth with Nakajima twelfth.

BMW minus the KERS proved the fast straights and curves of Istanbul Park allowed their cars to show their potential.

Dr. Mario Theissen, nervous with BMW’s stance on world motor sport in the current economical climate, should be happy with his cars mirroring each other to one-hundredth of a second.

Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld are occupying the 10th and 11th positions, respectively, on the grid.   

In recent times McLaren Mercedes don’t seem out of place towards the rear of the grid. With the new rules and regulations for 2009 and testing showing how far McLaren were behind Ron Dennis still chose to handover to Martin Whitmarsh.

An astute Dennis wouldn’t depart a sinking team; therefore, expect some McLaren-sized improvements anon.

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have shown brief instances of McLaren’s 2008 form. Qualifying seen Kovalainen holding out Force India’s Adrian Sutil for the 14th spot. Hamilton will line up in 16th.

Sutil’s 15th spot raises some hopes for Force India, the second FOTA team to lodge an entry into the 2010 competition. Team mate Italian Giancarlo Fisichella takes the 19th spot on the grid.

Commercial obligations forced the team to sign for next season and are expecting to join Williams and be suspended from FOTA. Force India also joins Williams in understanding the FOTA’s decision.

Accompanying Force India and McLaren is the Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Sebastian double with Buemi and Bourdais filling 18th and 20th position respectively. STR like McLaren has shown periods of good form. Both Seb’s this year are scoring points early.

The Ferrari engined cars can create fine results when all the pieces come together. Good results don’t need to equate to podiums for this team.

Renault is experiencing the same fate as Toyota at Istanbul Park with their drivers separated on the grid by experience. Double world champion Fernando Alonso qualified a respectable eighth, six tenths down from pole sitter Massa.

Another non-KERS user this weekend, Renault is embroiled with the authorities over next season's budget cap.

Alonso holding the team up with good results and optimistic views on where the team is heading in terms of wins. Alonso also noting his desire for a breakaway group. His Brazilian team mate Nelson Piquet Jr. is maintaining his struggle, a struggle in its second season and obvious with his 17th position on the grid.  

Team boss Flavio Briatore is searching for a replacement for major sponsor ING, coupled with his dealings with the FIA and FOTA these distractions could be lengthening Piquet’s time with the French team.

It will be a fantastic race with the strategies being played out at Istanbul Park influencing the outcome. It could present opportunities for drivers Vettel and Webber to show the direction Red Bull are heading.

Webber would like nothing better than to break his duck and secure his first win. Vettel to continue his sporadic rise. There is no doubt there will be surprising results at Istanbul Park.