Turkish Grand Prix

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**Turkish Grand Prix**
Istanbul Park

Laps	57
Circuit length	5.34 km (3.32 miles)
Race length	309.72 km (192.45 miles)
Most wins by single driver	Kimi Räikkönen,Felipe Massa (1)
Most wins by single constructor	McLaren-Mercedes,Ferrari (1)
Last race (2006):
Winner	Felipe Massa
Winning team	Ferrari
Winning time	1:28:51.082
Pole time	1:26.907
Pole driver	Felipe Massa
Pole team	Ferrari
Fastest Laps	1:28.005
Fastest lap driver	Michael Schumacher
Fastest lap team	Ferrari

The Turkish Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that debuted on August 21, 2005 as part of the 2005 Formula One season. It is held at the newly built Istanbul Park Circuit, constructed by famous German civil engineer Hermann Tilke. The circuit is only the third anti-clockwise circuit on the Formula One calendar after the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Brazil.

Tilke has stressed how the track follows the contours of the land, which dips and falls. This is in contrast to some of his other recent tracks, the topography of which did not allow such variation. It takes an influence from many of the worlds best race tracks. Corner 1 is very similar to corner one in Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Brazil and has also been compared to the "corkscrew" at Laguna Seca. There is a flat-out kink on a hill similar to Eau Rouge corner at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps; fans have jokingly referred to this as "Faux Rouge."

Turn 8 is probably the best corner on the track. It is a quadruple apex corner with a load of 5G (5 times the force of gravity) for 4 seconds. It is actually 4 corners joined together. Many drivers have found this a very tricky corner of the circuit.

Because of the nature of the circuit the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix weekend saw exciting on-track action, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend due to pushing too hard, particularly at Turn 8. Juan Pablo Montoya memorably lost it at Turn 8 with two laps to go, following a tangle whilst trying to lap Tiago Monteiro. This allowed Fernando Alonso to take second place behind Kimi Räikkönen, an event which had a significant bearing on their battle for the World Championship headed towards its culmination.

[edit] 2006 podium controversy

As part of the podium ceremony after the 2006 race, the winner's trophy was presented by Mehmet Ali Talat, who was introduced to television viewers via the captions as the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a state which is only recognised by Turkey. The FIA announced they would be investigating this incident, as a possible breach of the organisation's political neutrality. The identity of the person who would present the winner's trophy was left to the last minute, leaving the FIA no time to veto the choice. Some commentators feared this incident could jeopardise the future of the Turkish Grand Prix, and possibly also Turkey's round of the World Rally Championship, another FIA-sanctioned series. [1] In the end, the punishment was a $5 million fine. [2]