The Turkish Grand Prix - team and driver preview quotes

The historic Monaco Grand Prix is a tough act to follow, but it’s clear that Istanbul Park, which will host next weekend’s Turkish race, is more than up to the challenge. State of the art, and featuring one of the most challenging corners on the calendar, the already legendary Turn Eight, it’s no wonder the drivers can’t wait to get started...

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
2008 Qualifying - 3rd, 2008 Race - 2nd
“I love racing in Turkey: it’s a real challenge because you need to attack the lap to get a good time, but you also need to be careful with your tyres - if you push too much, particularly through Turn Eight, then your tyres are going to suffer. It’s all about finding the perfect balance in practice and being disciplined in the race so you don’t overdo it. I also love the fact that it’s a new circuit that has really captured the flavour of some of the older, classic tracks - it’s got a bit of everything and is fantastic to drive. Also, as it’s anti-clockwise, it gives your neck a bit of a workout - but you just need to make sure you’ve exercised the left side of your neck a little more than usual before getting in the car.”

Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
2008 Qualifying - 2nd, 2008 Race - 12th
“Turkey is all about Turn Eight - the high-speed, four-apex left-hander. On a good day in qualifying, it’s flat-out - and that’s a pretty good feeling when you get it right. It’s also very important to look after your tyres through Turn Eight - you put a lot of load through the tyres, particularly the fronts, so it’s a good idea to look after them during the race. The best place to overtake here is into Turn 12, the corner at the end of the back straight. You can get a good tow and slipstream past - with KERS we should hopefully see some exciting racing.”

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“The Istanbul Park circuit is one of the most challenging modern circuits - for both teams and drivers. Firstly, it’s a real set-up challenge - you need to find a handling balance between the high-speed corners, the slower, infield section and the long straights. In addition, tyre-wear - particularly to the heavily loaded front-right through Turn Eight - is a crucial factor in determining overall strategy. For the drivers, a combination of multi-apex and blind corners adds to the challenge. We go to Turkey in the knowledge that the track characteristics are a bit less likely to suit our package than Monaco, but we are improving all the time, have several minor upgrades for MP4-24 and look forward to assessing our competitiveness against our rivals.”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President
“The layout of the circuit is challenging and, in Turn Eight, comprises the longest and fastest corner on the calendar as well as very slow corners where good braking stability and good traction are needed. KERS should again be a good support to improve our lap times, but nevertheless the Turkish Grand Prix will be a demanding challenge for us.”

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying - 9th, 2008 Race - 5th
“I hope our dismal performance in Monaco proves to be a glitch and that it was down to that particular circuit being unsuitable for our car. After all, there were signs of a forward trend at the previous race in Spain, and the next update is ready for Istanbul - also including a double diffuser.

"The Istanbul circuit has some extremely good sections, particularly Turn Eight, of course, which is quite a challenge - very long, fast and with several apexes. For the long straight with the right-hand kink you need a good top speed. It’s a vast city, very international and fascinating.

"I’ll be there on Wednesday already for an event with our partner Intel. I’m staying at a hotel on the European side again and will take a motor scooter to carve my way through the congestion over the bridge to Asia.”

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying - 5th, 2008 Race - 4th
“The track in Istanbul is totally different to Monaco. It is a very modern race track with a couple of high-speed corners. The most famous high-speed corner there is the left-hander Turn Eight. Of course, we hope to perform better in Istanbul than in Monaco.”

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
“Ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix our results are quite sobering. Nobody in the team expected the season to pan out as it has so far. After taking a forward step in Spain, we were clearly off the pace in Monaco. To regain our competitiveness we will have to ramp up our development speed significantly. In Istanbul we will have the next step of our development ready and will be using a multistage diffuser for the first time. After three successful years, this phase is our first setback. We can deal with it. After all, it was the same team in Munich and Hinwil that ensured our progressive advancement since the BMW Sauber F1 Team was founded. We are all determined to get ourselves back among the front runners again.”

Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering
“We’ll be lining up in Turkey with a new development package, which also features a double diffuser. Since the F1.09 concept was not designed for this, we had to make a number of aerodynamic adjustments. There are modifications to the front wings, side bargeboards, rim shields and the rear part of the engine cover. We expect this to take us a step forward, although we know that our rivals are not standing still. After the race in Monte Carlo we also had an in-depth look at the tyre problems. For the race in Turkey, Bridgestone is providing the soft and hard compounds, which are hugely different. The harder of the two compounds in particular will pose a challenge for the engineers. The Istanbul Park circuit is run in an anti-clockwise direction and it’s as varied as it gets. It has slow sections where good traction is crucial, but there are also fast parts such as the spectacular Turn Eight with its four sections, which has to be taken in a single line at around 250 km/h. Overall, the track makes stringent demands on the car’s balance. After the disappointing outcome in Monte Carlo, we hope to come away with a positive result here.”