Turkey: Podium and frustration for Red Bull

Red Bull had the upper hand on Turkish GP, seventh round of the season, before a race fact turn a possible double into a deserved podium for Mark Webber

Lewis Hamilton won to his contry mate Jenson Button, but 2008 and 2009 World champions took benefit from the contact btween the two Red Bulls on 40th lap, as Webber and Sebastian Vettel lead the pack. Further investigation showed that Webber was saving fuel when he came under attack from Vettel.

The German had earlier profited from a prolonged stop in the pits by Hamilton to move up into 2nd place. “I'm very disappointed, because the team had done everything perfectly,” remarked team boss Christian Horner, for whom “Red Bull had a better strategy than McLaren, who were very strong today. It was deeply disappointing to see our two cars crash.”

And yet the weekend had begun well. The Red Bulls had once again snaffled pole position, for the seventh time in seven Grand Prix this season. It was Mark Webber who proved fastest, taking front spot on the grid for the third consecutive race. That should have heralded a third consecutive victory following those in Spain and Monaco. Unfortunately, the race scenario decided otherwise. Therein, too, lies the charm of Formula 1.

Kubica alone in the points for Renault

The Renault team did not really have the same worries to contend with. The objective was above all to score points and the team was legitimate in harbouring high hopes following the qualifying round. For the first time this season, Vitaly Petrov accompanied Robert Kubica into Q3 amongst the ten fastest drivers.

This was a fine reward for the Russian driver, who has progressed continuously since the first Grand Prix of the season. He was very nearly in the top ten at the end of the race. Petrov spent a large part of the race in eighth position, doing a fine job in resisting pressure from behind, in the person of Fernando Alonso.

However, four laps from the end, the Spaniard nudged him during an overtaking manœuvre. Petrov suffered a puncture and had to make a pit stop, totally losing his advantage. The only (meagre) consolation for the Russian was that, just before he finished 15th, he drove the Grand Prix's fastest lap in 1'29”165. “All said and done, there were lots of positive aspects, as the car has the speed to punch in the top ten.

I hope we will be equally competitive in Canada,” emphasised Petrov. For his part, Robert Kubica once again ran a serious race from start to finish, and showed that he can perform at least as well as the Mercedes.