“I’m in the fight,” Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa’s bid to become world champion gained momentum Sunday after the Ferrari driver won the Turkish GP for his second victory in three GP’s and became the first driver since his former Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher to win three consecutive races at the same circuit.

Of Massa’s 7 career wins, almost half of them have been secured in Turkey leading the Brazilian to joke in the after-race presser; “Its fantastic to have got the hat trick here in Istanbul: “It might really almost be worth asking for a Turkish passport.”

Massa’s Ferrari teammate, although maintaining his drivers championship, didn’t fair as well Sunday. Kimi Raikkonen’s third place finish closes his championship lead to Hamilton, and now Massa, to 7 points. Carrying wing damage after a first corner tap with compatriot Heikki Kovalainen, he narrowly missed beating Hamilton to second place at the end of a lackluster weekend, although he did set the fastest lap of the race.

McLaren-Mercedes Glamor Boy Lewis Hamilton was done in by three-stop pit strategy apparently ordered by Bridgestone and designed to avoid the tire problems the Brit experienced in last year’s GP near the Bosporus Straits.

“I think this is the best race ever for me,” Hamilton said, clearly happier with his performance in the race. “I really think we have closed the gap to Ferrari.” Kovalainen’s first front row start quickly turned to disappointment, after the early tag from compatriot Raikkonen forced an early pit stop, and he finished a lap down and out of the points.

BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica had another strong race albeit nearly a third of a minute behind third place Raikkonen. Nick Heidfeld converted his poor 9th on the grid to 5th at the checkered flag, but he was a long way behind his teammate at the finish.

ING Renault again was the best of the mid-pack. Nelson Piquet compounded his poor grid position with a bad start, and finished 15th although he showed some fight during a battle with Kovalainen.

“At the moment yes,” Fernando Alonzo answered, when asked if sixth place was the best he could have achieved in Istanbul. “It’s been two races with the new aero package and this is what we are aspiring to.

“The three teams in front are way ahead of the rest, but let’s hope the next step that we take can bring us closer to them.”

Finishing Order:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one hour 26 minutes 49.451 seconds
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 3.779 secs
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +4.271
4. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber +21.945
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +38.741
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +53.724
7. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +1:04.229
8. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +1:11.406
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault +1:15.270
10. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +1:16.344
11. Jenson Button (GB) Honda one lap behind
12. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes one lap
13. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota one lap
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap
15. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault one lap
16. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari one lap
17. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari one lap

Not Classified:
Giancarlo Fisichella - lap 1 - crash with Nakajima
Kazuki Nakajima - lap 2 - damage from crash with Fisichella
Sebastien Bourdais - lap 26 - spin

Technorati Tags: Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Mclaren, F1, Formula One, FIA, F1 Rage!

Tags: F1, F1 Rage, Felipe Massa, Ferrari, FIA, Formula One, Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Mclaren