Turkish Grand Prix

The Turkish Grand Prix (Turkish: Türkiye Grand Prix'si) was a Formula One motor race that was first held on 21 August 2005 as part of the 2005 Formula One season and last held on 8 May 2011 as part of the 2011 Formula One season. It was held at the Istanbul Park Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke. The circuit is an anticlockwise circuit.

Contents

• F1 onboard highlights f1 2006 r14 turkish grand prix
• 2010 turkish grand prix mystery science theater f1
• 2006 podium controversy
• Sponsors
• Winners of the Turkish Grand Prix
• References

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 where Juan Pablo Montoya ran wide with two laps to go following a tangle with the Jordan of 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.

A year later, Felipe Massa took his first pole position and victory at Istanbul. The Ferraris were 1-2 in early stages of the race, with Massa ahead of Michael Schumacher. Vitantonio Liuzzi's spin brought out the safety car and the Ferraris had to pit on the same lap. Alonso was able to get past Schumacher and the order stayed until the end of the race. Massa repeated in 2007 ahead of his new team-mate Räikkönen.

In 2008, the race was held in May. Two-stopping Massa won the race ahead of three-stopping Lewis Hamilton, although Hamilton had passed him during the race.

For 2011, the race was put in doubt because Bernie Ecclestone wanted to double the fees for hosting the race. However Ecclestone confirmed that 2011 would have a 20-race calendar; no races would be taken off and there would be the addition of the Indian Grand Prix.

On 30 July 2011 it was announced that the Turkish Grand Prix would not be on the calendar from 2012 due to a lack of agreement on the annual cost. On 9 January 2013 the government chose not to approve the Formula 1 deal that would have held the race in Istanbul in 2013.

The project, set to cost Turkey around 20 million dollars in total, needed to receive 13 million dollars of state funding. The government, however, did not give his approval, and the project fell through.