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Turkish GP: F1 facts and figures

ISTANBUL. Turkey - Facts and figures for the Turkish F1 Grand Prix May 6-8, 2011

Circuit:
Istanbul Park, 58 laps of 5.338km (309.396km)
2010 pole position: Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull - 1min26.295
Race lap record: Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) McLaren 1min24.770 (2005)
Start time: 2pm (SA time)

Previous races:

2010 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Hamilton led a McLaren one-two after the Red Bulls collided 18 laps from the finish while fighting for first place. Webber, who had started on pole, finished third while Vettel retired. The McLaren drivers also flirted with disaster, banging wheels in their own battle for the lead.

2009 - Jenson Button (Brawn)

Button celebrated his sixth win in seven races and, ultimately, his last victory with Brawn. Afterwards, he hailed his 'monster' of a car. Vettel started on pole, but lost out to Button at turn 10 on the opening lap and then made three stops to Webber's two. Only 36000 tickets were sold for the weekend.

2008 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

Massa won from pole for the third year in a row, with McLaren's Hamilton slowing because of concerns about wear of his front tyre. Honda's Brazilian Rubens Barrichello made a record 257th race start.

2007 - Massa, Ferrari
Massa won from pole position again. Kimi Raikkonen was runner-up in Ferrari's second one-two of the season.

2006 - Massa, Ferrari
Massa followed up his first F1 pole position with his first Grand Prix victory. Renault's Fernando Alonso beat Ferrari's Michael Schumacher to second place by barely half a car's length after a nose-to-tail duel over the closing laps.

CIRCUIT DETAILS

The undulating anti-clockwise layout has been likened to Spa in Belgium. It has 14 turns, six of them right-handers, and four straights. About 69% of each lap is spent at full throttle with about 46 gear changes per lap.

The left-handed triple apex turn eight is a real test, taken at around 250km/h and generating some of the highest G-forces of any circuit. The Hermann Tilke-designed circuit is on the Asian side of Istanbul.

WINS

Ferrari has won 215 races, McLaren 170, Williams 113 and champions Red Bull 17.

Lewis Hamilton's victory for McLaren in China on April 17 was the 15th of his F1 career, lifting him above champions Jack Brabham and Emerson Fittipaldi in the all-time rankings.

Michael Schumacher holds the record for victories by a driver, with 91. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has the second most among current drivers (26). One more by the Spaniard would take him level with Britain's Jackie Stewart.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has won 12 races, McLaren's Jenson Button nine.

Hamilton's success in Shanghai ended Vettel's hopes of a fifth win in a row, and third in three this season.

POLE POSITION

Vettel has been on pole position for the last four races. His pole in China was the 18th of his career, the same number as Hamilton.
The record for successive pole positions belongs to the late Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna, who chalked up eight in a row in 1988/89.

QUALIFYING


Red Bull's Mark Webber, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Mercedes' Michael Schumacher, Force India's Adrian Sutil, Team Lotus' Jarno Trulli and HRT's Narain Karthikeyan have been outqualified by their team mates in every race so far in 2011.

TURKEY

All six Turkish Grands Prix to date have been won by a driver starting on the front row. On four of those occasions, the man on pole won.

Button (winner with Brawn in 2009) and Hamilton in 2010 both started in second place. Red Bull have started the last two races at Istanbul Park on pole but have yet to win there.

Two of the races have ended in one-two finishes (Ferrari 2007, McLaren 2010).

Ferrari's Felipe Massa has the best record at Istanbul Park, with three wins in a row between 2006-2008.

The safety car has been deployed twice in the past, giving a 33% probability that it will be required again this year.

POINTS

Team Lotus, Hispania (HRT) and Virgin Racing have yet to score a point in F1 since their debuts in Bahrain last year. Former champions Williams are still seeking their first point of 2011.

MILESTONE

There were 23 classified finishers in the Chinese GP, the largest number in any race yet. The previous record was 22 in Brazil last year.

Stay with Wheels24 for the F1 weekend.
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