Once the 20 cars lined up for the stationary start for the 2008 Formula 1 Petrol OFISI Turkish Grand Prix, after what seemed like an eternity, the four red lights slowly came on one by one, and once they went out, all hell broke loose as Ferrari’s Felipe Massa holeshot the field and led the fray out onto the 5.378-meter (3.33-mile), 14-turn (eight lefts and six rights) Istanbul Park circuit to begin the 58-lap affair. Concurrently, at the back of the wailing pack, Force India driver and Formula 1 veteran Giancarlo Fisichella made a major mistake, overcooking the first turn and running straight over the top of the Toyota-powered Williams FW30 Kazuki Nakajima Williams. Out came the safety car for a short spell until the chaos subsided. When the safety car left the track, the race resumed, and Massa took off like a bat out of hell, hounded by Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso initiated the initial pit atop sequence on lap number 15, duly followed by Hamilton who got in and out of his pit box in an astonishingly fast six seconds. Massa came in on lap 19 and was able to make it back out onto the track before Hamilton. Hamilton gave chase, smartly passing Massa on lap number 24. From that point, the Englishman led Massa, Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber and Honda’s Jenson Button. Hamilton would hold the point until lap number 32 when he hit pit lane once again. Massa made his final pit stop on lap number 40, leaving teammate Raikkonen to cross swords with Hamilton. Hamilton then came to the its for the third and final time on lap 46.

In the twilight stage of the 58-lap race, Raikkonen pushed up on Hamilton, but never quite generate enough speed to make a pass. With the checkered flag being waved frantically, it was Massa winning the Turkish Grand Prix over Lewis Hamilton by 3.70 seconds. Third, and only 0.40 seconds behind was Raikkonen. The BMW Sauber F1.08s of Kubica and Nick Heidfeld placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Alonso, Mark Weber and Nico Rosberg claimed the final point paying positions in Turkey.

"Today was a very difficult race," Massa told the global media. "Lewis was pushing me hard a lot for the whole race and I thought he was very light at the beginning because he was pushing me so heavily. And when I did my pit stop I thought he was straight away there so I thought maybe had less fuel, and the team told me he was on three stops and for sure that was a help. He was strong and I could not hold him on track so he passed me. I knew I still had a big chance to win the race as three stops was quite optimistic. But anyway I created a reasonable gap to be at the front after the pit stops. It was difficult but we made it and third time in Turkey was fantastic. I think I can get a passport here already.”

Added Lewis Hamilton of climbing right back into the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship title fight: “"I am thrilled," he admitted. "We knew it was going to be tough to challenge the Ferraris and were hoping to get points – a top five would have been great - but the balance was great. On hard tires I was able to keep up with Felipe and overtake him. I was able to keep pushing. At the end the softer tire was definitely the worse tire so I am much happier."

Raikkonen, too, seemed please with his result, adding, "We had a difficult weekend and I'm happy to be third," he said. "I didn't lose too many points. We'll see what we can do in the next few races. The next two last year were not so strong for us, so we will see what we can do."

In the race for the 2008 F1 World Championship, Kimi Raikkonen leads the way with 35 points. Teammate Felipe Massa is second, tied at 28 points with Hamilton. Next up: The Monaco Grand Prix in two week’s time..