Massa's Masterpiece

Compared with the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago, last Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix was a mere procession.

To the disappointment of many, there was no rain, and the Ferrari team once again dominated qualifying, with both cars occupying the front row of the grid. And one of its drivers led from start to finish, without being challenged by the rest of the field. Nothing surprising about that.

But what is surprising is that the victor was not Michael Schumacher. It was Brazilian Felipe Massa, who won the first Formula One race in his career. He did it the Schumi way: Total domination.

In qualifying, Schumi was the fastest during the first two of three sessions, and it looked as though he would grab his fifth pole position of the season. Yet Schumi uncharacteristically lost his nerve in the final crucial session and ran wide on a couple of times, ruining some of best lap times. It was Massa who picked up the pieces and secured his first ever pole position.

With both Renaults on the second row, an electric start was expected. And the fans were not disappointed. Massa got off the line very well, and Schumi swerved to the back of Massa, trying to fend off Fernando Alonso on the outside. But Giancarlo Fisichella found a gap on Schumi's inside and it looked like Fisi would either overtake or crash into both Schumi and Alonso. Being the considerate driver as ever, Fisi did the sensible thing: He braked VERY hard trying to avoid a collision with the two Championship leaders, which he succeeded. Unfortunately, Fisi spun under heavy braking and was stranded in the middle of the track in the wrong way, and several cars crashed into each other as a result. Fisi managed to keep going and pit for a new front wing, dropping him all the way to the back of the field.

Incidentally, the Renault team praised Fisi for his generosity in sacrificing himself for the sake of his teammate.

The two Ferraris built a commanding lead on Alonso, but it all changed on lap 13 when Vitantonio Liuzzi spun at exactly the same spot as Fisi but couldn't get going. The safety car was summoned and both Ferraris were called into the pits at the same time. The problem was, there was only one pit slot for each team, and so Schumi had to queue up behind Massa for new tyres and fuel, thereby enabling Alonso to take second place for the re-start.

Massa though, was having the best day of his life. His lead was never threatened and he had never put a foot wrong. To the surprise of many, it was Schumi who committed a couple of mistakes, including running wide at the fascinating four-apex turn eight, which cost him time in his pursuit of Alonso. Alonso seized the opportunity to pick up valuable seconds and when he rejoined the race after the second pit stop, he was still in front of Schumi.

But the day belonged to Massa, a new-comer to the Ferrari team. He took his first victory of his career, five seconds ahead of Alonso who had Schumi all over him. Massa's win made him the second first-time winner in as many races, following Jenson Button's triumph in Hungary. And it's the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 that saw two drivers picked up their first career win in consecutive races.

By finishing in front of Schumi, Alonso extended his lead in the Championship by two points to 12. And despite the spin, Fisi fought all the way back to sixth and managed to protect Renault's lead in the Constructors' Championship. However, the on-form Ferrari is now only five points adrift with four races to go.