Race 1 in Istanbul

Russian claims first win of the season

Vitaly Petrov has continued his Barwa Addax team's outstanding form this season by dominating today's first race in Istanbul, brushing off the scorching conditions to claim victory by 6.5 seconds from Luca Filippi and Davide Valsecchi.

The win was set up on the second lap when Filippi bravely threw his car inside race leader Nico Hülkenberg  at  the  final  corner:  the  pair  narrowly  avoided  touching  but  both  slid  wide,  giving Petrov a narrow but clear line through and into the lead by the end of the front straight, with the Italian slotting in behind him.

The  front  two  made  their  excuses  and  left  the  rest  of  the  field  to  their  madness,  with  cars overtaking each other constantly up and down the remainder of the field who were running side by  side  throughout  the  race. 

Andreas  Zuber  looked  to  be  the  only  other  driver  to  be  able  to escape  the  melee  when  he  slid  past  Hülkenberg,  handing  the  German  a  large  problem  in  the shape of Alvaro Parente. Ultimately   the   Portuguese   driver   pushed   too  hard,  spinning  into  retirement  at  turn  8  and prompting a safety car period just after Filippi and Zuber had narrowly avoided each other as they escaped from the pits:

Petrov was given a free pass in the pits and held on to the top spot ahead of the pair as he set about rebuilding his lead once again. Behind him the second half of the race was less enjoyable for Zuber, who dropped like a stone over  the  last  laps  to  fall  out  of  the  points:  with  Filippi  holding  on  for  a  strong  second  place, Valsecchi  took  advantage  of  a  safety  car  pitstop  to  leapfrog  from  tenth  on  the  grid  to  push  his countryman all the way to the flag for third, while Alberto Valerio drove a mature race to slot into fourth  place,  one  ahead  of  a  disappointed Hülkenberg, while Pastor Maldonado, Giedo van der Garde and Javier Villa rounded out the points.

But Petrov's win, along with his fastest lap, was enough to propel the Russian to second place in the  championship  table  with  29  points,  just  two  behind  his  championship  leading  teammate Romain Grosjean who retired from today’s race, while Jérôme d'Ambrosio clings on to third on 18 points ahead of Maldonado, Hülkenberg and Filippi.

Istanbul – Race 1 Driver Team

1. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team

2. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing

3. Davide Valsecchi Durango

4. Alberto Valerio Piquet GP

5. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix

6. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix

7 Giedo van der Garde iSport International

 8. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing

9. Lucas di Grassi Fat Burner Racing Eng.

10. Andreas Zuber FMSI

11. Davide Rigon Trident Racing

12. Diego Nunes iSport International

13. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Eng.

 14. Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology

15. Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing

Fastest lap time: Karun Chandhok (Ocean Racing Technology) – 1:36.679 on lap 14

Not Classified

Driver Team

 Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP

 Romain Grosjean Barwa Addax Team

Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden

Nelson Panciatici Durango

Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology

Giacomo Ricci DPR

Luiz Razia FMSI

 Jérôme d’AmbrosioDAMS

Michael Herck DPR

 Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International

 Kamui Kobayashi DAMS