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Fernando Alonso has urged McLaren to find the extra speed needed to keep Ferrari at bay in the Championships
Ferrari claimed the 1-2 at Istanbul with Felipe Massa leading home his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, while third place was the best Alonso could have hoped for.
However, the Spaniard didn't only finish behind the Ferraris on the track. He was also behind them in pace. While Raikkonen's fastest lap during the 58-lap grand prix was a 1:27.295, Alonso's best was 0.775s slower. The McLaren driver, though, wasn't too fazed by the blistering pace shown by Raikkonen. "Well, we more or less knew that, because we are coming from some races where we saw their potential: in Magny-Cours they were very very quick, in Silverstone they were very quick again," Alonso said. "The only race where we were back on the pace was maybe Hungary and that was not a surprise because it's a very slow circuit and something like Monaco. "We know that that type of circuit is quite good for us, but coming to a normal circuit like Turkey, they are on top again. We know that we need to improve but next race will be better." With five races to go McLaren have an 11-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, while Lewis Hamilton is five points ahead of Alonso in the Drivers' standings.
source: planet-f1
pic: automobilsport
Although it did appear as if Kimi Raikkonen backed off from Felipe Massa in Turkey on Sunday, Jean Todt insists his drivers are free to race each other
The two Scuderia drivers were tail-to-nose in the laps prior to their second pit stops, which saw Raikkonen blink first and pit. Massa came in a lap later and emerged in front of his team-mate on the track.
The Finn therefore backed off and Massa went on to claim his second successive Turkish GP victory.
The win meant the Brazilian moved ahead of Raikkonen in the Drivers' standings, although just one point separates the two Ferrari men.
And because no driver has a clear advantage over the other, Todt insists that Massa and Raikkonen are free to race one another.
"No. It will be something that will be inappropriate for drivers like Felipe and Kimi, doing such a good job, after 12 grands prix with just one point difference. Most of them have had problems because of some mistakes that we did," Todt told Autosport.
"They made some mistakes, but that is normal. We are human beings, and at the moment there is not any plan to make any kind of strategy between one or the other one."
source: planet-f1
pic: piaggioaero.com
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