Formula One: McLaren Stops Red Bull Charge at Turkish Grand Prix

At the start of the race the Red Bulls raced off leaving McLaren's Hamilton lagging behind. Even Michael Schumacher squeezed ahead of Jenson Button. The race seemed like going the usual way, with the Red Bulls likely to take the top two slots. But an unnecessary tangle by the Red Bulls while trying to outdo each other on lap 41 left Vettel with a right rear tire puncture, and the McLarens obliged and went into the lead.

One can say that the race was handed to McLaren by the Red Bulls, and Vettel and Webber just continued blaming each other for the incident. Adrian Newey, technical boss of Red Bull just could not believe what was going on and was seen shocked with his hands on his head. Nevertheless, McLaren's 1-2 propelled them to the top of the table in the team standings, pushing Red bull down to second. This was Hamilton's maiden win of the 2010 Formula One season, and Michael Schumacher's 4th place finish was also the best for him this year. Schumacher seems to be getting better with every race and is slowly inching his way up the grid with every passing race. Surprisingly, the Ferraris looked way under the average pace at Turkey, and their team surely needs to catch up in terms of speed.

Race Classification

1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) 25 pts
2. Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes) 18 pts
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 15 pts
4. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes Benz GP Ltd) 12 pts
5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes Benz GP Ltd) 10 pts
6. Robert Kubica (Renault) 8 pts
7. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 6 points
8. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 4 points
9. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 2 pts
10. Kamui Kobayashi (BMW Sauber-Ferrari) 1 pt

Driver Standings

Position	Driver	Team	Points
1	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	93
2	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	88
3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	84
4	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	79
5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	78
6	Robert Kubica	Renault	67
7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	67
8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes Benz GP Ltd	66
9	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes Benz GP Ltd	34
10	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	22
11	Vitantonio Luizzi	Force India-Mercedes	10
12	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	7
13	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	6
14	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	3
15	Sabastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	1
16	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	1
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	1

Constructor Standings

Position	Team	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	172
2	Red Bull-Renault	171
3	Ferrari	146
4	Mercedes Benz GP Ltd	100
5	Renault	73
6	Force India-Mercedes	32
7	Williams-Cosworth	8
8	STR-Ferrari	4
9	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	1
10	Lotus-Cosworth	0
11	HRT-Cosworth	0
12	Virgin-Cosworth	0

A 1-2 for McLaren has done them a world of good, and put them right ahead in the constructor's championship for the ongoing Formula One season. Red Bull will be only ruing their missed chance, and there will surely be some heated talks in their boardroom.

See you in a couple of weeks time for the Canadian Grand Prix.