McLaren Bounced Back in Turkey

McLaren 1-2 after Red Bulls crash
McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, right, and McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button of Britain steer their cars during the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix.

McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, right, and McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button of Britain steer their cars during the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton led a McLaren 1-2 at the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday after a run-in between teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel denied Red Bull a sweep.

The Red Bull pair touched as Vettel looked to pass along the Istanbul Park Circuit's fastest section, causing the German driver to spin out of the race. Webber, who had led for the entire 40 laps to that point, recovered for third behind Jenson Button as Red Bull's pit-lane team looked on in astonishment.

The McLaren team also tensed up near the end as its drivers exchanged the lead but Hamilton eventually earned his first win of the season by 2.6 seconds after rain had sprinkled the circuit.

"It was quite an exciting race," said Hamilton, the 2008 champion.

Webber leads Formula One's driver standings with 93 points, while Button moved into second with 88 points - four more than Hamilton. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari finished eighth to improve to 79 points and Vettel stayed on 78.

The race was filled with excitement following the dramatic incident between the Red Bull drivers.

Vettel moved inside Webber as the two raced down the last straight but appeared to try to close his teammate off early. The pair touched wheels, sending Vettel sliding into the gravel as bits of his car - including his rear left tire - went flying off. Vettel raised his hands at Webber, who returned to the track but lost ground on the McLarens after pitting to repair the damage.

Webber had won the last two races from pole but finished 24.2 seconds back this time.
Button and Hamilton battled along the same stretch a few laps later. Button got past by the start of lap 50 before Hamilton retook the lead around the first set of corners to deny his teammate a second straight win at the "Otodrom."

Vettel's accident allowed the rest of the field to move up one spot as Michael Schumacher finished fourth ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Robert Kubica of Renault was sixth ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Vettel jumped ahead of Hamilton out of the start to sit behind Webber but Hamilton quickly regained his place soon after, as did teammate Button by the last corner of the first lap after Schumacher had got ahead.

Hamilton tried in vain to pass Webber on the anticlockwise track but the Australian driver held him off until the 16th lap, when the front two pitted. Hamilton re-emerged behind Vettel, who had changed tires one lap earlier.

Hamilton, with Button behind him, pressured Vettel throughout but could not get past as the German driver kept him at bay until the late drama.

While the two leading teams battled for podium order, Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault fought behind them as Alonso worked his way up from 12th.

Adrian Sutil of Force India was ninth while Kamui Kobayashi picked up Sauber's first points of the season with a 10th-place finish. - AP
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1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 58 laps 1hr 28m 47.620s
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 02.6s
3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 24.2s
4. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 31.1s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 32.2s
6. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +00m 32.8s
7. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 36.6s
8. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 46.5s
9. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +00m 49.0s
10. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.6s

11. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari +01m 05.9s
12. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +01m 07.8s
13. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
14. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
15. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +1 lap
16. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
17. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
19 Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
20. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth +6 laps

Rtd Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 46 laps completed
Rtd Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 39 laps completed
Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 33 laps completed
Rtd Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 32 laps completed

Webber conquers Monaco

Mark Webber leads from start-to-finish to win the Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull
Just a week after winning the Spanish Grand Prix, Mark Webber ruled the roost on the streets of Monte Carlo with a dominant victory in the Monaco Grand Prix – moving him into the lead of the F1 drivers' standings in the process.

The Red Bull ace qualified on pole position and led the race from start to finish, establishing an advantage early on that he would retain throughout despite a race hit by no fewer than four Safety Car periods.

When the lights went out, Webber made the perfect start to lead into turn one, but behind, team-mate Sebastian Vettel was able to jump ahead of Robert Kubica. Further back, Rubens Barrichello jumped up to sixth from ninth but Jenson Button went the other way and slipped down to eleventh.

Although the pack made it through the opening corner unscathed, the Safety Car was soon deployed when Nico Hulkenberg – who had dropped to the rear of the field with a clutch issue – went off going through the tunnel.

There was further drama behind the Safety Car when points leader Button then stopped with smoke pouring from the rear of his McLaren – possibly down to the team failing to remove a blanking plate from the sidepod as the Briton headed round to the grid.

The Safety Car period allowed Fernando Alonso – who had started from pitlane due to his practice accident – to make an early stop for medium tyres and it would prove to be a key call for the Ferrari man as the race wore on.

When the Safety Car peeled in, Webber led from Vettel and Kubica with Felipe Massa slotting into fourth and Lewis Hamilton and Barrichello rounding out the top six. Michael Schumacher had jumped Nico Rosberg for seventh at the start with Tonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil rounding out the top ten.

Those positions would remain unchanged as Webber eased away at the front of the field with all eyes on Alonso at the back as he set about making up places. Although Lucas di Grassi in the Virgin made it difficult, Alonso soon cleared the backmarkers and when Hamilton became the first runner to stop and rejoined just ahead of Alonso, it became clear that the early stop had put him right into contention.

By the time all the stops had taken place, Webber continued to lead from Vettel, Kubica, Massa and Hamilton, but Alonso had now jumped to sixth ahead of Schumacher, Rosberg, Sutil and Barrichello – who was one of the big losers during the stops.

Monaco Grand Prix – Race results

Mark Webber heads Red Bull 1-2 on streets of Monaco.
1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 78 laps 1hr 50m 13.355s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 00.4s
3. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +00m 01.6s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 02.6s
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 04.3s
6. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 06.3s
7. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 06.6s
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +00m 06.9s
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +00m 07.3s
10. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 08.1s

11. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 09.1s
12. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 25.7s
13. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +5 laps [DNF]
14. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth +8 laps [DNF]
15. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth +8 laps [DNF]

Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 58 laps completed
Rtd Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 58 laps completed
Rtd Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 30 laps completed
Rtd Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 26 laps completed
Rtd Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 25 laps completed
Rtd Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 22 laps completed
Rtd Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 21 laps completed
Rtd Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 2 laps completed
Rtd Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 0 laps completed

Fastest lap:

Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.192s lap 71

Webber takes Spanish Grand Prix with ease

Mark Webber cruised to victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, as his pursuers hit trouble in Barcelona.

Mark Webber confirmed the Circuit de Catalunya's reputation for rewarding polesitters by becoming the first driver to win from the front of the grid in five races in 2010.

While the poleman struggled to find the top step of the podium during the four 'flyaway' races, Webber lived up to the Spanish circuit's record by becoming the tenth man to lead from lights to flag, claiming a comprehensive victory to open his account for 2010.

The Australian held his hard-earned qualifying advantage off the line and then pulled comfortably away from Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Likewise Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso held station in third and fourth, leaving the action to the rear of the field, where Sebastien Buemi clipped Pedro de la Rosa, forcing both to pit for repairs - and, ultimately, head into retirement.

Bruno Senna also departed the fray, on the opening lap, while Heikki Kovalainen didn't even make the start, after gearbox problems hobbled his Lotus. Karun Chandhok completed the casualties making it a bad day for 'home' team HRT.

As well as continuing to crown polewinners, Barcelona also lived down to its reputation of providing a largely uneventful race, with only the pit-stops and unreliability helping to shuffle to order. Vettel suffered with a slow stop, allowing Hamilton to vault him for second as the pair came across Lucas di Grassi entering turn one, while Michael Schumacher was also able to swap places with Jenson Button after the Briton similarly suffered during his tyre change.

Neither Hamilton or Vettel was able to claim the reward their grid position suggested, however, with the Briton suffering a penultimate lap rim failure that sent him into the turn three tyre barrier, and Vettel's brakes gave out, forcing the Red Bull team to urge the German to calm his pace after a precautionary second pit-stop.

The late drama promoted home hero Alonso to second place, with Vettel soldiering on to complete the podium in third. Schumacher also benefited, confirming his best result since returning from retirement in fourth place, one ahead of a frustrated Button, who was unable to find a way past the Mercedes.

Felipe Massa overcame a damaged front wing for sixth, coming home ahead of Adrian Sutil, Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello - despite the Brazilian's poor qualifying - and Jaime Alguersuari, who ensured two point-scorers for Spain.

Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona – Race results 2010

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 66 laps 1hr 35m 44.101s
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 24.0s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 51.3s
4. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +01m 02.1s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +01m 03.7s
6. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +01m 05.7s
7. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +01m 12.9s
8. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +01m 13.6s
9. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
10. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap

11. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +1 lap
12. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
14. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2 laps [DNF]
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +2 laps [DNF]
16. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +2 laps
17. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth +3 laps
18. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
19. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth +4 laps

Rtd Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 42 laps completed
Rtd Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth 27 laps completed
Rtd Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 18 laps completed
Rtd Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 0 laps completed

Dns Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth


Fastest lap:

Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 24.357s lap 59