Turkish GP: Bridgestone Race Review

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling and dramatic Turkish Grand Prix where Bridgestone's Potenza tyres took on the challenge of Turn Eight and enabled a wheel to wheel dice for the entirety of the 58 lap race in searing hot temperatures at Istanbul.

Hamilton led team-mate Jenson Button across the line with pole-sitter and long time race leader Mark Webber finishing third after an additional pit stop following contact with his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says
"This was a very exciting race so congratulations to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Red Bull for such good performance. The Istanbul Park circuit enables fantastic racing, with difficult corners and interesting gradient. We have been able to prove the strong performance of our tyres in front of a world audience and I think anyone who watched the race will agree about the excitement we saw. Many Bridgestone guests from Turkey and even from South Africa were part of this tremendous spectacle and we are very happy for Bridgestone customers and dealers to have enjoyed this."

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says
"Today we saw a real Turkish delight in Istanbul. The pace at the front was exceptionally close on both compounds of Bridgestone Potenza and this provided exciting racing. Our tyres performed well on one of the toughest corners in motorsport, despite the forces they are put under by this season's ever improving aerodynamics and heavier cars. Our primary concern is always safety and we are proud to have provided safe tyres for this race. We also supply tyres which allow good usage by many competitors. The race's fastest lap set by Petrov's Renault on the soft compound on the penultimate lap, and the Red Bulls and McLarens were so very close all race. This will be one of Bridgestone's many Grands Prix which I will remember for a long time."

Stats of the Day 
Race: 14:00 - 15:36
Driver            Team      	    Time            Strategy
Lewis Hamilton    Vodafone McLaren  1h 28m 47.620s  S-H
Jenson Button     Vodafone McLaren  1h 28m 50.265s  S-H
Mark Webber 	  Red Bull Racing   1h 29m 11.905s  S-H-H

Tyres used: Hard (prime) / Soft (option) 

Temperatures Ambient    Track       Weather 
PM - Race    29C-28C    50C-37C-39C Sunny/Cloudy/Spitting/Sunny