Istanbul Park, Istanbul

Laps: 57

Circuit length: 5.34 km (3.32 miles)

Race length: 309.72 km (192.45 miles)


- The Turkish Grand Prix made its Formula 1 debut in August 2005 after the 3-week summer break. It was designed by regular F1 track designer Herman Tilke and was different to his previous designs, whereby the long back straight had a kink in it.

- The circuit was well received on its debut. All the drivers raved about its layout and compared Turn 8 – the 4-apex left-hand turn was demanded full commitment from the drivers and punished the smallest of errors

- Kimi Raikkonen in the McLaren took the first win at the circuit, after overtaking pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella at the end of the first lap. His championship rival, Renault’s Fernando Alonso, finished second after Raikkonen’s team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya, went off on the penultimate lap at Turn 8 after damaging his tyres when he collided with Tiago Monteiro when trying to lap him.

- Felipe Massa took his first ever F1 win at the circuit last season after starting the race from pole position. Michael Schumacher finished third behind his championship rival Fernando Alonso after having to queue behind Massa in the pits during an early safety car period. Alonso managed to jump the German into second place and was able to withstand the pressure put on him to tighten his grip on the championship lead.

- This will be the last time for a while that Turkey will be the first grand prix following the mid-season summer break. From next year the Turkish Grand Prix will be held in the middle of May following a shake-up of the calendar to facilitate

Previous Winners:

2006 – Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari
2005 – Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren Mercedes