Felipe Massa claimed his hat trick in Istanbul this afternoon and firmly put himself back in contention for the world championship. He had to fight hard for it though. Lewis Hamilton put in a superb performance and kept on biting at the heels of the Ferrari throughout the race.  

McLaren changed tactics for the race opting to give Hamilton a three stop strategy. According to Ron Dennis after the race the idea behind the move was to protect the tyres, presumably being mindful of what happened last year here in Istanbul. The move resulted in an end to Ferrari’s recent run of 1-2 finishes with the Brit splitting Massa and Raikkonen on the podium.  Lewis did briefly look to be chasing for the lead as he made a fantastic move on the Brazilian and overtook him, but through the various pit stops Massa took it back. 

Massa held on to his lead from pole position, but there was plenty of action going on behind him. Hamilton took his team mate’s second place while the BMW of Kubica then went on to reduce Kovalainen’s position to further down the grid at turn one. Then Raikkonen tried to make a move on the McLaren but he got blocked in and Alonso, in his Renault, claimed fourth, leaving the Finn in fifth. 

For the third year in a row Giancarlo Fisichella came out the worst as he made a charge for the first turn. The Force India raced straight in to the rear of Nakajima’s Williams, sending both cars spiralling off the track and out of the Grand Prix. The safety car was deployed for two laps while the debris was cleared away. 

Kovalainen had to take his McLaren in to the pits to replace a left-rear puncture that he had picked up on the first corner, courtesy of Raikkonen’s front wing, leaving him in last place. 

Raikkonen in the mean time had taken fourth from Alonso on the back straight in to turn 12. 

By lap five Massa was enjoying a 1.5s lead but that was the most Lewis would allow him as he began to easily eat in to the Ferrari’s lead. By the time Lewis came in for his first of three pit stops he was extremely close to the back of the F2008. 

And so started a highly exciting second phase of the race. The first of three pit stops McLaren executed perfectly for the MP4-3 of Lewis saw him head off with a lighter fuel load to take on Massa. When the race leader returned to the track after his first pit stop Hamilton had him well and truly in his sights and on the downhill run to turn 12, on lap 22 the McLaren made his move. Using the Ferrari’s slip stream he dived through the space Massa had left on the inside and claimed the lead under braking in to the left hander. 

With clean air ahead of him Hamilton put his head down for eight laps, building a 8.3s advantage as he attempted to keep one if not both of the Ferrari’s behind him. 

Massa was having none of it though. After he made his second and final stop eight laps later he had 11s back on Hamilton and knew he had the McLaren covered. 

So Hamilton turned his attentions to the sister Ferrari of Raikkonen who had moved up to third during the first round of pit stops. The McLaren was hot on his heels with both needing to make another trip to the pits; Raikkonen for his second, Hamilton his third. 

Lewis used his two extra laps to their full advantage as Kimi pitted on lap 43. Another perfect pit stop ensured Hamilton returned to the track with Raikkonen behind him. He was out on the softer tyres though and had to defend his second place to the very end as Raikkonen filled his mirrors every step of the way. 

Kubica and Heidfeld brought the BMW’s in fourth and fifth respectively but their pace was hugely disappointing, with both finishing over 20s off the pace of the front runners. 

It was no Barcelona for Alonso as far as pace performance was concerned and he completed the race in sixth. 

Mark Webber put in another solid showing for Red Bull Racing, coming in seventh, leaving the Williams of Nico Rosberg to pick up the final point of the day. 

Kovalainen had a hard day’s racing. After his tyre change at the beginning of the race he fought his way from 18^th to eighth at one stage but another pit stop after that saw him finish in 12^th.  

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