Vettel takes dominant win in Turkey

Red Bull scores a one-two

Sebastian Vettel took a dominant win in Turkey on Sunday ahead of his teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Alonso.

This Red Bull one-two was in stark contrast with what happened one year ago at the Istanbul Park.

Alonso was their sole challenger in the race and finished only 10 seconds behind the winner. In comparison, fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton crossed the line 40 seconds behind Vettel.

How the race unfolded :

Vettel took a clean start from pole position while Rosberg easily passed Webber for 2nd place as the Australian struggled on the dirty side of the grid. Behind them, Alonso moved up to 3rd place in front of the McLarens of Button and Hamilton.

Sauber’s Sergio Pérez was the only casualty of the first lap and had to pit for a new nosecone. Petrov and Schumacher tangled on lap 2 as the Russian pulled a move on the German at the exit of Turn 12. The Mercedes driver had to pit with a damaged front wing.

As Vettel set on to break away at the front, his teammate Webber reclaimed 2nd spot on lap 5. Rosberg lost another place to Alonso on lap 7. In the meantime, the battle was raging on between the McLaren teammates. Hamilton passed Button for P5 on lap 7 but Button repassed him one lap later.

Massa and Hamilton made their first stop on lap 10. Webber, Alonso and Rosberg followed suit one lap later. Race leader Vettel stopped at the end of lap 11, thus handing the lead to the yet-to-stop Button. The Red Bull driver dispatched him on lap 12… and the McLaren driver pitted at the end of this lap.

After the first round of pitstops, Vettel was leading from Webber, Alonso, Hamilton and Rosberg. Button was down in 7th place but seemed to be on a different strategy to his rivals.

On lap 17, Massa started to put pressure on Rosberg for 5th place. The Brazilian made his move on lap 20 and made it stick, but the Mercedes driver responded and reclaimed his place a couple of turns later. Button joined in on the fun in the following lap and Rosberg couldn’t hold on to fifth place as both Massa and Button passed him.

While it was all-action between those three, Hamilton and Webber made their second stop of the afternoon. Having been given a hard time by his rivals, Nico Rosberg pitted on lap 23. Alonso pitted from P2 on lap 24, as race leader Vettel upped his pace.

Button then passed Massa for P4, after the Ferrari driver locked up badly. He immediately pitted for a fresh set of tyres.

Vettel stopped on lap 25 and rejoined comfortably in the lead. Behind him, Webber came under some pressure from Ferrari’s Alonso but managed to keep him at bay for a couple of laps. Button was the last of the front runners to pit and stopped on lap 27. He was slightly delayed by a problem with his left rear and rejoined just ahead of Rosberg.

Lap 29 saw Alonso making his move and claiming 2nd place. In the meantime, his teammate Massa came under attack from Button. The two of them soon find themselves stuck behind Petrov’s Renault.

In the lead, Vettel seemed to be pacing himself and simply managing the gap to Alonso. Rosberg kicked off the third round of pitstops for the frontrunners on lap 34. Hamilton, Petrov and Massa stopped in the next lap. The McLaren driver’s stop was not flawless and he lost some valuable seconds.

Webber stopped on lap 36, Alonso on lap 37. Just like he had done earlier in the race, Vettel upped the pace in the few laps preceding his tyre change. He was slightly slower than his pursuers though and eventually stopped at the end of lap 40.

At this point, he had a 7.1s margin over Alonso who in turn had a 3s margin over Webber. Fourth-placed Hamilton was 32s behind the Australian. Rosberg was fifth ahead of Button and Petrov.

But it was not all done and dusted as Alonso, Webber and Hamilton were expected to stop once more while Vettel, Rosberg and Button were not. Surprisingly though Rosberg pitted on lap 45.

More expectedly, Webber and Alonso stopped on laps 46 and 47. Hamilton, Heidfeld and Massa also came in for fresh tyres on lap 47. Race leader Vettel also stopped, probably wary of being caught up in the latter part of the race like it happened in Shanghai.

He had a 6s lead over Alonso. The Spaniard had his hands full as Webber closed rapidly on him. Behind them, Button and Hamilton engaged in another close battle for fourth place. Hamilton had no problem overtaking his teammate has he had to nurse his tyres to the finish – as a remainder Button was a three-stopper.

Webber attacked Alonso on lap 51 and reclaimed second position. The Ferrari driver tried to fight back but in vain. Further down the order, Schumacher, Massa and Alguersuari battled it out for 11th position. The Brazilian came out on top.

On lap 55, Rosberg passed Button for P5.

Vettel cruised to his third win of the season while Webber took 2nd place to make it a Red Bull one-two.
Alonso took third place for Ferrari. Hamilton was fourth ahead of Rosberg and Button. Heidfeld, Petrov, Buemi and Kobayashi – who started last on the grid – completed the top ten.

Paul di Resta retired. Timo Glock didn’t start the race – he had a gearbox problem on his way to the grid and his team was unable to change it before the start.

Race classification: