2011 Formula 1 : Vettel wins Turkish Grand Prix

2011 Formula1 - Turkish Grand Prix Winner : Sebastian Vettel - RBR-Renault

ISTALBUL, Turkey : May 8, 2011 - Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday as Red Bull delighted in a one-two finish after last year's embarrassment and pain.

Vettel's third win in four races this season stretched his overall lead to 34 points over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, a distant fourth on Sunday.

The 23-year-old German led from pole position, his fifth in a row dating back to last year, and never looked in any trouble on a sunny afternoon at Istanbul Park where spectators witnessed a resurgent Ferrari and a disappointing McLaren.

Australian Mark Webber, whose hopes of victory last year evaporated after the two Red Bull teammates collided while fighting for the lead late in the race, finished second after a thrilling battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

"The fight with Fernando was a little unexpected, he drove brilliantly but in the end I had a fresher set of tyres and got the job done," said Webber.

"Seb is obviously on a fantastic run at the moment."

Spaniard Alonso might have hoped for second place but had to settle for third, his team's first podium finish since last November in Brazil.

"We are in the right direction but this is only the first step," he said.

Vettel's 13th career win, and sixth from his last eight starts, was third time lucky for champions Red Bull who celebrated their first Turkish success despite starting the previous two Istanbul races on pole.

Turkish Tradition

"You beauty, Seb," shouted team boss Christian Horner as his driver, who had crashed heavily in Friday's opening free practice, took the chequered flag and whooped in delight from the cockpit.

Vettel has 93 points to Hamilton's 59 and Webber's 55.

The German also kept up a Turkish tradition, with the winner in Istanbul coming from the front row in all seven of the races held here to date.

Germany's Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes with Britain's Jenson Button sixth. He was the only driver in the top six to do three stops rather than four.

The Renaults of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov were seventh and eighth while Sebastien Buemi was ninth for Toro Rosso.

Japan's Kamui Kobayashi, starting from the back of the grid after failing to set a time in qualifying, snatched the final point for Sauber.

Mercedes had a disappointing afternoon after seeming to have made a big step up in qualifying. Seven-times champion Michael Schumacher collided with Petrov and finished 12th and last of the unlapped drivers.

"It was mostly my mistake – suddenly we got together and I lost my front wing," the German told the BBC. "There was lots of fighting and lots of action, but all for nothing."

Race result : 2001 Formula 1 - Turkish Grand Prix

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	58	Winner	1	25
2	2	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	58	+8.8 secs	2	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	58	+10.0 secs	5	15
4	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+40.2 secs	4	12
5	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	58	+47.5 secs	3	10
6	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	58	+59.4 secs	6	8
7	9	Nick Heidfeld	Renault	58	+60.8 secs	9	6
8	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	58	+68.1 secs	7	4
9	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	58	+69.3 secs	16	2
10	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	58	+78.0 secs	24	1
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	+79.8 secs	10
12	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	58	+85.4 secs	8
13	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	57	+1 Lap	12
14	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	57	+1 Lap	15
15	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	57	+1 Lap	11
16	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	57	+1 Lap	17
17	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Cosworth	57	+1 Lap	14
18	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Renault	57	+1 Lap	19
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	56	+2 Laps	18
20	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin-Cosworth	56	+2 Laps	23
21	22	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	55	+3 Laps	22
22	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT-Cosworth	53	+5 Laps	20
Ret	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	44	+14 Laps	13
Ret	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	0	Gearbox	21

2011 Formula 1 : Drivers championship standings

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	93
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	59
3	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	55
4	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	46
5	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	41
6	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	24
7	Nick Heidfeld	German	Renault	21
8	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Renault	21
9	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	20
10	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber-Ferrari	8
11	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	6
12	Sebastien Buemi	Swiss	STR-Ferrari	6
13	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	2
14	Paul di Resta	British	Force India-Mercedes	2
15	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	STR-Ferrari	0
16	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Williams-Cosworth	0
17	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Lotus-Renault	0
18	Sergio Perez	Mexican	Sauber-Ferrari	0
19	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Belgian	Virgin-Cosworth	0
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Lotus-Renault	0
21	Timo Glock	German	Virgin-Cosworth	0
22	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams-Cosworth	0
23	Narain Karthikeyan	Indian	HRT-Cosworth	0
24	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	HRT-Cosworth	0

2011 Formula 1 : Team - Manufacturers' Championship Standings

Pos	Team	Points
1	RBR-Renault	148
2	McLaren-Mercedes	105
3	Ferrari	65
4	Renault	42
5	Mercedes	26
6	Sauber-Ferrari	8
7	STR-Ferrari	6
8	Force India-Mercedes	4
9	Lotus-Renault	0
10	Williams-Cosworth	0
11	Virgin-Cosworth	0
12	HRT-Cosworth	0

[Source : F1, CRASH.NET]