
The precedent dates back to 2003. Then, too, Ferrari was coming back from a tiring weekend in Budapest. And even then, president Luca Montezemolo decided that it was time to interrupt his holidays and head back to Maranello. A few punches on the table, a peremptory invitation to increase work and concentration, to double their efforts, not to give up and at the end of the season, albeit by only two points, Michael Schumacher managed to beat McLaren (at the time driven by Kimi Räikkönen) and to win his fourth consecutive world title. Whether it is superstition or a real need, Montezemolo decided to repeat himself and on Wednesday, August 8, 2007, saying goodbye to his holidays, he will be back in Maranello. A day spent with his men, to motivate them, to invite them to persevere in the battle, to still believe in the World Championship, and to not repeat certain mistakes, as the ones seen in Budapest, the pit box losing contact with the wall, Felipe Massa changing tyres but not refuelling, the engineers being forced to call him back, his qualifying disaster. Luca Montezemolo demands that Ferrari does not give up, he considers that this World Championship is still open, he thinks that McLaren (with the last six circuits that are almost all favourable to Maranello’s car) is still reachable. He will make his voice heard and order them to think only about the races, not to be conditioned by the ongoing court battle with their English rivals. He will take care of that, with the lawyers and top managers. These things have to be split, is his thinking, no more distractions. Only in this way can you hope for two victories. On track and in court. A battle on all fronts.
"And Ferrari must always win, with its usual determination".
Everyone must do their part. They need to believe in it, and they cannot give up. This is the summary of Montezemolo's message to the entire team. The Ferrari president arrives in Maranello mid-morning and stays with the leaders of the team for almost four hours. Long discussions followed, where there was no shortage of calls for order and even greater commitment. A few punches on the table, the last performances have been disappointing, motivation was necessary, but also the conviction that the World Championship is not over, that the McLaren has not yet won, that a comeback is possible.
"We can win all the races that remain, the six remaining circuits are favourable to us, we can do it. The team must not give up, but persevere. The important thing will be not to repeat certain mistakes and to improve reliability".
Enough with the misunderstandings. And enough with the DNFs, those breakdowns that are becoming the main problem this year, all too frequent inconveniences for Ferrari, which until the previous season had a car that was almost indestructible. But also, and here lies the second focal point touched on by Luca Montezemolo in his blitz, the battle of Paris with McLaren must no longer affect the men on track.
"I have always said that we will get to the bottom of this, that we will not accept any compromise, that we demand justice and I’m convinced we will get it. But Todt and I, together with our lawyers, will take care of the judicial front, the team must stay out of it, concentrate only on the development work on the car and on the management of the race weekends".
The goal is to impose themselves across the board, to overcome McLaren on both fronts, sporting and legal, and to achieve it, according to Montezemolo, it is necessary to split the two things. The battle on track must be intense, just as no backtracking on the spy story is allowed. Ron Dennis, McLaren’s boss, launched a peace proposal. Rejected with disdain by Jean Todt, and also rejected by Luca Montezemolo.

"What happened is of unprecedented gravity and we have no intention of stopping. The legal battle will continue with the ongoing proceedings in Italy and in England, on a sporting level we are anxiously awaiting September 13, when the FIA Court of Appeal hearing will take place in Paris. For Ferrari it is essential that the whole truth about this ugly story can appear clearly in the eyes of the world".
Truth that for the Maranello team has only one direction: there is a team that has suffered a great injustice, the other (the McLaren) must be severely punished. Montezemolo thundered. And there are those, like Kimi Räikkönen, who show that they have received the message.
"The next six races are favourable, with a bit of luck we can always win. Now Massa and I are going to enjoy the holidays. But after that, only one-two finishes".
Friday, August 24, 2007, saw the first day of practice for the Turkish Grand Prix. But very few people seem to be interested in free practice. Capturing the attention in the paddock once again is McLaren, with a new chapter in the cold war between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The clarification that was supposed to take place has taken place, the British driver says.
"We didn’t see each other".
That is instead the Spaniard’s version. Then partly rectified. All cleared up according to the British team. Turkish truce but the coldness remains. On track the fastest in the morning are the Ferrari. In the afternoon Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time, followed by Kimi Räikkönen. Fernando Alonso is further behind. Tension in McLaren’s house. One wanted to clarify, the other could not find the time. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton reunite the day after their absence from the paddock and the meeting behind closed doors in a hotel in the Turkish city. But the return to normality is one of apparent peace. Despite the efforts of Ron Dennis’ team, the clashes between the two drivers do not seem to end. The first hint of this nervousness is in how the day unfolded. McLaren is keen to let it be known that the two drivers talked to each other. Those directly involved give differing versions.
"Yes, we talked".
Says Hamilton, before the start of free practice in the morning.
"No, we haven’t seen each other".
Alonso replies. The Brit had asked the Spaniard for a meeting to clarify the facts of Budapest and the World Champion's consequent grid penalty. But Fernando Alonso gracefully dodged the invitation.
"Many things have been said, the truth is that Lewis Hamilton called me for a meeting, but we couldn’t find a day. I told him that we could find five minutes in Turkey. I have nothing against him. They want to turn us against each other, but it’s not like that".
In the afternoon the official version is given. Lewis Hamilton says:
"I called him after Hungary saying that we should talk, he said that we would do it after the holidays and we did. We relaxed and we talked about the holidays, the car, so it was a nice conversation".

A story to which the Spaniard is also aligned:
"I talked with him, I have nothing against him and he has nothing against me. He is a good guy, he has passion. A flaw? I don’t know, of course in Hungary he messed up with the team".
Everything is the same as before but the truce is holding for the time being. And there is no peace. There cannot be. At McLaren they want to say that Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are meeting, talking, hugging. But the fact of the matter is that if the meeting took place on Thursday, it was cold and fleeting, just the time for a greeting, anything but a clarification after the Budapest storm. And Friday was no better, with the Spaniard and the Brit forced to attend a joint briefing in the morning, they are still drivers of the same team, but then good at ignoring each other for the rest of the day, also avoiding close contact in front of the TV, as separate was the conversation in an Istanbul hotel on Thursday with Ron Dennis.
"We met the two drivers, we worked it out, they understood our needs, the desire to win the two championships, in the same way that we understand their eagerness to excel due to their competitiveness".
Clichés, obvious reasoning, frankly there would be no need for an official note (circulated in the morning) to tell these things, if it were not the outline of the internal war, that McLaren just cannot seem to stop. The much trumpeted peace photo was never taken and at this point it would be better to throw away the film. But to represent well the climate inside the team, a sentence by Fernando Alonso also becomes symptomatic:
"Yes, it’s true, Hamilton called me after Budafest for a clarification. But I had so many things to do, I didn’t find a day off to meet him. So I answered him: let’s do it in Istanbul, maybe we'll find five minutes".
Five minutes. A blink to bury a rivalry that has lasted since the start of the season, a battle that in Hungary turned into hate, with Lewis Hamilton penalising Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard vowing not to speak to him again until the end of the year. The very busy Alonso (maybe to find a new team, Ferrari is starting to think about it, but Jean Todt should go, maybe replaced by Ross Brawn) did not find a moment to draw a line on the poisoned Saturday of Budapest: to say that there was the stop, two Sundays without Grand Prix. At McLaren they feel like throwing water on the fire, but Lewis Hamilton himself does nothing to deflect the incandescent reality:
"We talked, but on the telephone, because he had no time".
Think of it in this way: maybe they would have made a better impression ignoring each other, with complete disregard of McLaren and the interested eye of Ferrari, which hopes to benefit from this feud for its comeback. Yesterday, the first reflection on the track was not the most exciting. It is true that Kimi Räikkönen was the fastest of the day, with the best time of the morning, but during the second session Lewis Hamilton set the best time, and this could be a bad sign. Felipe Massa (second in first practice, fifth in the afternoon) swears not:
"Ferrari is very strong here".
Kimi Räikkönen is a little less optimistic:

"I'm worried about the second round, but in the first session the car was fantastic".
And Alonso himself blesses the Maranello cars:
"For now we are behind, it will take a big effort to win".
But in the meantime Lewis Hamilton ended the last tormented session (a stop of 25 minutes for the failure of a stretch of asphalt at Turn 8) at the top of the ranking. Saturday, August 25, 2007, Felipe Massa took the pole position at the Turkish Grand Prix, twelfth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. The Brazilian will start ahead of the leader of the World Championship, Lewis Hamilton. Followed in third position by the other Ferrari driver, Kimi Räikkönen. Fourth, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. First of the Italian is Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, with the ninth place, ahead of the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella. Massa takes the fifth pole of the season and the eighth of his career. The Brazilian mocks the leader of the World Championship, Lewis Hamilton, on the last lap of qualifying
"We were all very close, I had to work hard for this pole. I hit the target with an amazing last lap, I was looking forward to it, especially after a disappointing weekend in Hungary three weeks ago. Starting at the front is always important".
A very balanced session, for a race that promises to just as close, according to the opinion of Felipe Massa:
"In this last week we tried many solutions that proved to be useful on this circuit that is highly technical. The McLarens have proven to be very competitive, the race will be very intense: the fans will enjoy it".
Lewis Hamilton is also quite satisfied:
"It went well, I’m happy. In the first two rounds of qualifying I didn’t have the right rhythm, but we managed to make a good lap that will allow us to start from the first row".
And for the race he has no doubts:
"The car is fast, we worked hard and had few vacation days. We are quite competitive".
Positive sensations also for the other Ferrari driver, Kimi Räikkönen:
"I made a small mistake, but the car is fast. I feel I can have a good race".
Fernando Alonso remains in fourth position. The Spaniard could not put in a fast lap at the end. At the end of the practice sessions, the reigning World Champion does not want to talk much, after yet another controversy with Lewis Hamilton, he has also decreased communication with his own team. The Spaniard complains about the lack of consideration at McLaren and also fears that his technical solutions could be copied by his teammate-rival. The qualifying round is in favour of Lewis Hamilton, but this time Fernando Alonso not only does not make controversies, but he even takes a step back and he also closes (barring any sensational surprises) his market.

"There are not many options for next year. Then I have a contract with McLaren, a winning car, and I’m happy to stay here".
In Turkey, the Spaniard celebrates his hundredth Grand Prix and he will try to improve on his fourth place start. As a gift, from his team, he received a replica of the 1954 Mercedes Silberpfeil W196 C, a car that belonged to Juan Manuel Fangio. More refreshed, the World Champion tried to explain once and for all his reasons, namely the recognition of his contribution to improving McLaren performance:
"During the winter I tried to give advice, we worked together and worked hard to improve the car. I knew that the team had potential, but it’s also true that certain things did not go in the right direction, and I told everyone that, for this, I would have offered them my winning experience of the last two years".
This is what Fernando Alonso cannot accept,seeing that it is his young teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who enjoys the fruits of his labour. But he has also realised that he will have to put on a brave face:
"The team's approach to racing is that everyone should have an equal chance, and that is a decision that deserves respect and I will do that".
The relationship with Lewis Hamilton is another thing, after the controversy of the start of August: the battle, on track, will be non-stop. Both drivers believe that they can catch up with Ferrari, starting from Lewis Hamilton:
"My qualifying was very good. The car has been developed well and the proof of that is that we are competitive. I feel optimistic, I will have a good race".
The same thought as Fernando Alonso, more or less:
"I’m fourth because of my tyre choice, which I still don’t think was wrong. In fact, on the last lap I found myself in traffic. But I think that this Grand Prix will be exciting, because we are gonna see a lot of overtakes".
Forty-four thousandths. They are enough to make Felipe Massa smile, to blow up his joy, to sanction his redemption after the terrible Saturday in Budapest. A small gap, as fine as the eye of a needle, where, however, his enormous desire to impose himself can easily pass, to repeat last year's happy Istanbul, pole on Saturday, triumph on Sunday, the two heady firsts (of his career) to be framed. Massa did not forget. He had his sights set on Turkey:
"And now I’m ahead of everyone, with a great chance to win the race, to bounce back for the World Championship".
While McLaren is forced to look, with Lewis Hamilton, still second and more serene than ever in the comfortable position of leader of the World Championship standings, decidedly more serious for Fernando Alonso, fourth, on the second row, with the start on the dirty side of the track, penalised on the lap that counts by traffic that in Istanbul, home of traffic jams, may be habitual, but on a track that does not allow you to hit the coveted pole position. Massa gloats, looking with satisfaction at his two rivals behind him.
"I was perfect, especially at Turn 8, the most difficult of the track. It's exciting, I can always take it at great speed, it was crucial. Like the third sector, the last one before the finish line. Making a mistake there is very easy, that did not happen to me. Not a single mistake, that’s where I built my Saturday as a leader".

"There are not many options for the next year. Then I have a contract with the McLaren, a winning car, and I’m happy to stay here".
In Turkey, the Spanish celebrate his hundredth Grand Prix and he will try to improve his fourth place of the start. As a gift, from his team, he received a replica of the Mercedes Silberpfeil C of the 1954, a car that was of Juan Manuel Fangio. A little soft, the World Champion is trying to explain, once for all, his reasons, namely the recognition of his contribution at the improvement of the McLaren performances:
"During the winter I tried to give advice, we worked together and hard, to grow the car. I knew that the team had the potential, but it’s also true that certain things did not go in the right direction, and I told everyone that, for this, I would have offered them my winning experience of the last two years".
This is what Fernando Alonso does not accept, to see that to enjoy the results of his work is his young team-mate, Lewis Hamilton. But he also understood that he will need to make a good face on it:
"The approach of the team to the races is that everyone must have the same chances, it’s a decision that deserves respect and I’ll do it".
It's different the situation of the relationship with Lewis Hamilton, after the controversy of the start of August: the battle, on track, will be non-stop. Both drivers believe that they can recover the Ferrari, start from Lewis Hamilton:
"My qualify was very good. The car was developed well and the proof that we are competitive. I feel optimistic, I will do a good race".
The same thought of Fernando Alonso, more or less:
"I’m fourth for the choice of the tires, that I still don’t feel wrong. In fact, on the last lap I found myself in traffic. Bu I think that this Grand Prix will be exciting, because we are gonna see a lot of overtakes".
Fourty-four thousands. They are enough to make Felipe Massa smile, to blow up his joy, to confirm his redemption after the bad Saturday of Budapest. A little gap, as the eye of a needle, where, however, you can easily overtake , his huge desire to win, to repeat the happy Istanbul of the last year, pole on Saturday, a victory on Sunday, the two heady first time (of his career) to remember. Massa did not forget. He aimed much on the Turkey:
"And now I’m ahead of everyone, with a great chance to win the race, to bounce back for the World Championship".
While the McLaren is forced to look, with Lewis Hamilton, even if he is second and more serene than ever being in the convenient place of the leader of the World Championship, much more severe for Fernando Alonso, fourth, in second row, with the start on the dirty side, penalized, on the good lap, by the traffic that Istanbul is the home of the congestion, it can be the habit, but on track can’t allow you to do the pole position. Massa gloat, looking, with satisfaction, that his two enemies are behind him.
"I was perfect, especially at the turn 8, the most difficult of the track. It's exciting, I always manage to do it with great speed, it was crucial. As the third sector, the last one before the finish line. Make a mistake there is very easy, that does not happened to me. Not even a burr, that’s where I built my Saturday by leader".

Felipe Massa is glowing. The same cannot be said for Kimi Räikkönen. The grimace on his face tries to hide his disappointment, but after Friday's good times the Finn was expecting more than a miserable third place.
"I will start from the clean side of the track, here it is a great advantage, finishing second would have been much worse".
A small consolation for a man who made many mistakes at crucial moments, losing a probable pole position. A mistake at Turn 1 in the first attempt.
"A simple hesitation, but fatal".
Even two in the last sector, between Turn 12 and 13, the final moments before the finish line, hesitations that dropped him to 0.217 seconds behind Felipe Massa.
"I don’t know if I lost the pole with those hesitations, but I am still confident, because for the race I have a great car. I can win even starting from the second row".
But it is more complicated and this way of the Finn to make everything more difficult certainly does not work in his favor. Massa's promise is quite different.
"It will be a tough race for us, but great for the fans. Four cars that are very close and here you can overtake".
In the hope that no one will try it on him, first at the start and obliged to be first at the end. A few points have to be taken away from Lewis Hamilton. The rest (this is the hope of the Maranello team) will be taken care of by the FIA appeal tribunal on September 13, 2007. Ferrari believes it has new elements in its hands that could influence the judges' verdict. In March, McLaren was in possession of three trade secrets, the variation of car’s ground clearance, the distance of the rear wing elements, the floor, to which a fourth was added in May, the braking distribution. Data that serves to improve a car's performance. Can the judges believe a McLaren that has chosen to ignore them? Sunday, August 26, 2007, at the start of the Turkish Grand Prix Kimi Räikkönen immediately overtook Lewis Hamilton, putting himself in Felipe Massa's slipstream. Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, gets off to a slow start and finds himself behind the two Sauber BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld, seeing his chances of fighting for victory disappear.In the laps following the start, the leading trio increased their pace and broke away from the rest of the pack, while Kubica, fourth, pitted on lap 12 for his first refuelling stop. Fernando Alonso stopped on lap 18, while Nick Heidfeld stopped on lap 19, so the Spaniard could move up to fourth place, 14 seconds away from Lewis Hamilton. Felipe Massa had more fuel at his disposal than Kimi Räikkönen and could comfortably hold the top spot, having refuelled on lap 19. Lewis Hamilton moved into first position only for one lap, before relinquishing the lead to Heikki Kovalainen, who refueled on lap 22, moving up to sixth place, ahead of Robert Kubica. During the second part of the race, the two Ferrari drivers increased their gap to their rivals, bringing the margin over Lewis Hamilton to eight seconds. In the laps that follow Kimi Räikkönen again gets within striking distance of Felipe Massa, but refuelling on lap 41, one ahead of his team-mate, he could do nothing to pass him. On lap 43, Lewis Hamilton, provisionally in first position, had a failure of the front right tyre and he was forced to drive half of the circuit at a slow pace. The Brit slipped to fifth place and, from there on, his pace dropped so much that he had to resist the comeback of Heikki Kovalainen. Felipe Massa won, for the second time in a row, the Turkish Grand Prix, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen who paid for his mistake in qualifying. Fernando Alonso made the most of a bad day, remaining fully in the running for the title.

Nick Heidfeld was fourth, ahead Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. A one-two for Ferrari in Turkey, the second of the season but, above all, the first of many as they hope in Maranello:Felipe Massa beat everyone, taking his third win of the season ahead of an unbridled Kimi Räikkönen who tried his best to spoil the party for his team-mate. And behind? Surprise: Fernando Alonso and then Nick Heidfeld. Yes, the unbridled Lewis Hamilton after being third for the entire race (against the Maranello cars there was really nothing to be done today) ran into a nasty puncture of his right front tyre. In fact, the tyre came off, whipping the body of the McLaren for a long time as the unfortunate World Championship leader tried to return to the pits. The World Championship is then reopened: both in the Drivers and the Constructors Championship. Hamilton is still in the lead with 84 points, but now Alonso has 79 points, while Massa and Räikkönen have 69 and 68 points respectively. Everything, therefore, is possible again, especially considering that Alonso's predictions seem to be coming true:
"Bad luck can’t always only hit me, sooner or later it will also hit Hamilton…".
But there is more: the Constructors' Championship is now really at a turning point because McLaren is on 148 points and Ferrari on 137. Although here it will be necessary to wait for the double appeal in September (that of McLaren to recover the 15 points subtracted from the last Grand Prix) and that of Ferrari that asks for justice on the famous spy story. In any case, controversy and courts aside, one thing is now certain: as at the beginning of the season Ferrari is flying and is clearly superior to McLaren and the other teams. Obviously, so far, both McLaren and Ferrari have accumulated six victories each, but now - at the crucial moment of the championship - Ferrari has a clear advantage: it is very strong at the start and then in the race it is always at ease, both with new tyres (but this it had always done) and with used ones (its historical weak point). In short a F2007 without faults. And if we add to this the fact that the next five races are decidedly favourable for the Maranello cars, the conquest of the World Championship really seems possible. Doing it again has its benefits. For Felipe Massa, for Ferrari, for their Championship hopes. Performing in Turkey like last year, pole position on Saturday, triumph on Sunday. It was the Brazilian's dream, as well as President Luca Montezemolo's order, turned into reality, with a mistake-free qualifying and an exceptional race, to be applauded as Jean Todt loudly demanded a few hours later, during the meeting with the world press in which he reiterated that he had no intention of retiring. Felipe Massa was infallible. At the start, faced with boldness and no fear of Lewis Hamilton; during the race, dominating from start to finish; in the pit stops and even when, in the middle of the straight, at 300 km/h, he pulled a piece of plastic from inside his helmet and threw it onto the asphalt. The Brazilian gave substance to his hopes and proved that Ferrari can choose which driver to bet on this year.
Because what was presented as a new philosophy at the start of the season has turned into an inevitable reality. Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen seem to enjoy staying close to each other. Before Istanbul it was the Finn who had one point more, now the Brazilian. A gap too narrow to establish hierarchies: all that remains is to hope that a possible fratricidal fight will not harm the Maranello team too much in its (difficult) attempt to catch up with McLaren. In Istanbul, however, the two really wanted to stay close. They tailed each other throughout the race, often with a gap of less than a second. Good for Ferrari that the rest of the world was too far back. Lewis Hamilton, who went from second to third place at the first corner thanks to Kimi Räikkönen's overtake, tried to stay in his slipstream for a while, but on lap 43 he found himself with a damaged front right tyre and had to pit. All things considered he was lucky: he did not go off track, he did not damage the car, the problem made him lose two positions and as many points in the ranking, but a retirement would have had far worse consequences. Nor can one speak of a threat to the Ferraris on the part of Fernando Alonso, who had already given up his own ambitions after just a few metres. Fourth on the grid, with a slow start he found himself sixth, behind the BMWs. It seemed a cursed weekend, the constant tensions with Lewis Hamilton, the uncomfortable position within the team, the wrong choice of tyres in qualifying, and instead luck decided to bless his 100th Grand Prix, allowing the Spaniard to find himself on the podium.

The two BMWs were overtaken with strategy and help from the box, Lewis Hamilton with the debris that destroyed his tyre. At the end of the race Fernando Alonso breathes a long sigh of relief. However, he sounded an alarm about the new-found strength of the Ferraris no longer wanting to stop. McLaren may be right to shrug its shoulders at the war between its drivers, but perhaps Ron Dennis should be careful. That between the two contenders, to enjoy is not a third: dressed in red. Felipe Massa, are you up for always racing in Turkey?
"It would be amazing. This place fascinates me and brings me luck. It's my circuit, a track that I love. Maybe it's a coincidence, but the people of Istanbul are men used to fighting. Like me. A man who has always had to earn everything in his career.".
But now you have a Ferrari in your hands.
"Here the car was amazing. Our race pace was incredible, I knew that the McLaren couldn’t keep up. The only danger was Räikkönen, someone who travels at the same speed as me. He put a lot of pressure on me for the whole race, and all I had to do was make a small mistake to find myself within a few tenths of him. But then I didn't make any more. And he had to settle for second place.".
President Montezemolo had ordered a one-two.
"Every now and then the president gives us two slaps and usually they are good. This time he won't be able to give us them, we have pleased him. He told us to win all the races from here to the end, we will try".
The next one is Monza.
"It would be great to repeat the victory of Istanbul, for me, for the team, for all our fans. We have the chance, because it’s a track on which we are very strong".
Ten more points and winning the World Championship becomes possible.
"Let's say that even now it is more possible than before. I gained six points on Hamilton, that's encouraging. I said that everything was still open, I really think so, but we have to continue like this, like in Istanbul. Where we were perfect. And we gave more life to the championship".
Your father, Luis, said he was proud.
"In the pits he was beaming, they told me he was screaming like crazy. I too am proud of him and my whole family, who taught me so many things. I wanted to dedicate something big to my father, I'm happy to have succeeded".
Funny, though, how everything always happens in Turkey.
"I believe in fate, evidently it wants it that way. My career took a turn here, with my first victory. Since then I have grown a lot, so much so that I now feel capable of winning the World Championship. I don't know if I will succeed, but I intend to try until the last race".

Why did you put your hand inside your helmet at one point?
"It was a delicate moment, as I was in the middle of the straight. There was a piece of plastic that was bothering me, it had torn off the ventilation system, it was vibrating, touching my head. I had to wait for it to come off completely, it took six or seven laps. Then I picked it up and threw it away. It took my concentration away".
But it didn’t make you lose a single hundredth on Räikkönen.
"It wasn’t easy. But here we are in Turkey. I can do everything here".
Meanwhile, in his own way, Kimi Raikkonen recites the mea culpa. Of this Turkish second place he is not at all happy, and admits his own responsibility.
"The truth is that the Grand Prix was decided on Saturday, with the definition of the starting grid".
Says the Finn after the race and, in response to those asking him for an explanation and analysis of the Grand Prix, he recalls:
"My mistakes made in an attempt to take pole position".
He is disappointed. Angry. He knows he lost an opportunity, another chance. And now he has again been overtaken in the standings by Massa.
"When the main rival is your team-mate there are many unknowns and even less space to be able to invent something".
He would have wanted to have tried to overtake:
"But the second set of tyres did not perform as well as the first one".
However, Kimi Räikkönen confesses that he even got bored:
"Doing the whole race behind another car is quite bad".
The only satisfaction is having set the fastest lap, but only with two laps to go, just to kill the boredom:
"I tried to see how quick I could have been".
The start was also a good one.
"As we hoped. I followed Felipe and I overtook Hamilton".

To be saved, above all, the fact of being ahead of the two McLarens.
"Yes, the important thing is to have put Ferrari in a position to win".
And also to have made up points in the standings.
"Undoubtedly Hamilton's flat tyre helped us. It is a fact that confirms how in races you never know what can happen".
Now there is Monza,Ferrari’s home Grand Prix, and Kimi Räikkönen wants his revenge.
"I will be looking for first place on the grid, it makes your life easier, but pole position will not be the deciding factor. You also win with strategy".
A great one-two for Ferrari with Felipe Massa winning and Kimi Räikkönen behind him. And a nice gift for president Montezemolo:
"I am really happy to be able to spend my birthday relaxed because finally in this race Ferrari brought home absolutely the maximum: pole position, a one-two and the best lap in the race, something we had not managed to do on other occasions. I really enjoyed the team's concentration and precision and Massa's weekend as a great champion. Let’s keep it this way".
It finally looks like the start of a great comeback that could completely change the end-of-season standings. Fernando Alonso, trudging along, finished third and also made a comeback over his hated teammate Lewis Hamilton who, because of a tyre, finished further back (fifth). All comforting things in a championship that seemed poisoned by other elements and almost decided by a higher will, invisible but present. Instead everything can change and that is a beautiful thing to see even if the Grand Prix itself was among the most boring. After Ferrari's resounding one-two, one wonders what has changed and what can still change. For one thing, Ferrari seems to have changed, showing a determination that was not there before. Perhaps it was the controversy of the whole spy story that confused some ideas and created uncertainty and nebulousness within the Maranello team. Having calmed down, at least a little, that affair, which is still open and will have to be discussed again, minds have finally gone back to concentrating on the daily work that in F1 is often the one that pays the most. Not going far, a story like that of Felipe Massa's failure to refuel should now no longer happen. But certainly the events of the opponents, of McLaren and its two quarrelsome drivers, also have an influence. Here, too, tempers seem calmer than before and, despite the fact that in Istanbul a situation similar to the one that led Fernando Alonso to obstruct his team-mate in the pits was about to occur, everything went well. That is to say that if conditions return to normal, and for the moment it seems that they have, things will go better for everyone, but even more so for Ferrari. After the Turkish one-two, the team from Maranello must commit itself to winning everything it can in order to rise to the top and turn around a year that so far has not been one of the worst, but not one of the best either. Another piece of good news coming out of the Turkish Grand Prix is that Jean Todt has said he will not leave Ferrari and this is certainly a guarantee of good work and continuity. On all this, however, the spy story looms. The affair is not over, the appeal will be heard in September, the gossip can go wild again. The season is inevitably affected. In Turkey Ferrari showed that by making good choices on Saturday you can easily win on Sunday. This is the calm that is needed to work well. But, above all, no choice for now. Because, says Jean Todt, Ferrari's team principal:
"Both our drivers have the opportunity to win the World Championship and they deserve the maximum support. They are separated by one point, both the drivers have shown that they can finish ahead of the McLaren. Massa is to be applauded for how he performed in Istanbul, but Räikkönen was also great. Betting on just one is not in our plans, we just have to think about fine tuning the car, improving reliability. A retirement could have irreparable consequences".

No choice. It goes on like this, Felipe Massa or Kimi Räikkönen, both free to win, to chase their dream to win the Championship. The important thing is that from now until the end of the season the top step of the podium is always occupied by a Ferrari driver and that the other is close to him, just below him, an indispensable condition if you want to achieve mission impossible, the feat of making up the deficit to Lewis Hamilton (who would even like to close the battle with a race to spare) and Fernando Alonso. It takes five one-twos, as Luca Montezemolo asked, after Turkey gave the first one away, and it is good that the remaining tracks are more or less all favourable to Ferrari. Being favourites helps, even if the pressure (especially in the next race, the home race at Monza) could play tricks on them. But Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa have no choice, they are immersed in a perennial last resort, also because in front of them there is an indestructible McLaren, no longer the fragile car of the year before, the engine like a breadstick, the suspension that every now and then gives the occasional lethal spin, but a car that never breaks down, that at the most finds itself with a damaged tyre, an inconvenience that makes you lose a couple of points, but still allows you to get to the finish line. McLaren has changed its game, to the point of making a difference precisely because of improved reliability. A quality that must now return to Maranello's prerogative. The Italian Grand Prix in this sense is the decisive stage, as it is a track that puts a lot of strain on the engine. Jean Todt announces that the Maranello team will bring an aerodynamic package designed specifically for the Italian circuit. From Tuesday, August 28, 2007, the two drivers (starting with Kimi Räikkönen for two days, on Thursday it will be Felipe Massa's turn) will test it at Monza, but Ferrari must not only confirm its superiority, it must capitalise on it to the maximum by overtaking its rivals in qualifying and preserving the advantage in the race. Fernando Alonso leaves Istanbul rather worried:
"They are stronger than us in qualifying, in the starting system and in the race pace, so we will have to work hard to withstand their attack".
Ferrari has to prove him right. At Monza, where it will also be pushed by the public, and then in Belgium, where the good traction in fast corners favours the Red (although the last two editions were won by Kimi Räikkönen, but in a McLaren) and in Brazil, where the local hero, Felipe Massa, already won last year. Japan, with the Fuji debut, is an unknown, while in China the biggest effort is balancing the car well. Usually Fernando Alonso, in adapting the car, is the fastest. Massa or Räikkönen (there is no choice) in this case have to prove him wrong. Otherwise, goodbye glory dreams. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton, who would have every reason to complain, is smiling. Fernando Alonso, who has closed in on him in the standings, is all mournful. McLaren's weekend is one to forget, compared to the rest of this 2007, but the British team's watchword is to be optimistic and look ahead. An order of service that is fully embraced by the young World Championship leader:
"I was third, I had a puncture, I finished in fifth place. A bit of bad luck but the quality of work done remains good, high".
The English rookie (who wants to flee England because he is besieged by paparazzi and tabloids: "Enough, I can’t take it anymore, now I understand why Alonso left Spain. I don’t have a life of my own anymore") says he had no signs of the damage:
"No warning: when approaching turn 8 I saw debris flying from the tyre and as soon as I braked at the next corner, the right front tyre exploded".
The consequences could have been serious:
"For a moment everything seemed to be stuck, then the car started to move forward and I was good and lucky to steer because I was ending up against the wall. At that point my first thought was to pit the car, hoping not to lose many positions".
Goal achieved, after all: Lewis Hamilton only dropped two positions:

"And I didn’t even seriously damage the front wing, or any other parts of the car".
For these reasons, therefore, Hamilton was satisfied, although his expectations were different:
"I had six more laps of fuel than the Ferraris, and I had a thought about overtaking. Then the tyre went and I couldn't do better than that. This was the best result. But I'm not worried: I'm still first, McLaren is in the lead, so...".
In disagreement, obviously, is his partner and rival. For Fernando Alonso (celebrating his hundredth Grand Prix) his podium finish is the best result in Turkey:
"But finishing third does not win the World Championship".
The examination of the Spaniard is shallow:
"There were moments that were not good, like Saturday in qualifying, and at the start. Not to mention the pace of the Ferraris in the race compared to ours".
The Spaniard had already complained about the performance in qualifying (catching criticism from Niki Lauda, who invited him to stop whining), and at the start he was overtaken by the two BMWs, then passed at the pit-stop.
"There are many things to improve for the next Grands Prix".
Warns the World Champion, who in essence makes it clear that he fears greatly the return of the two Ferraris.
"I gained two points on Hamilton, but they are not relevant. I lost five points in Hungary, for example, so what should I say? Well, after the start if someone would have told me that I would be on the podium I would have signed immediately, but this will not be the race I will remember for the rest of my life. The point is that I tried to concentrate and keep the pace without making mistakes, but it's not like I can wait for miracles".
With five races to go, the Spaniard thinks that everything will be decided in the last three:
"And the chances are the same for all four front runners. Then it will depend on how the cars go, it will depend on how lucky you are. You've seen that everyone has had ups and downs, right? Well, I hope to be good in the end".
And who knows if then, in case of a happy ending for him, the Spaniard might then decide to give life to what is the latest paddock gossip: treat himself with a gap year. In the meantime, in Italy, two reports, packaged by the postal police in Rome in the weeks of the August heat, were delivered in quick succession to the Modena public prosecutor's office, producing these charges: the two British engineer friends, Nigel Stepney, former head of the Ferrari mechanics, and Mike Coughlan, McLaren's (suspended) senior engineer, will have to answer to the charge of industrial espionage. Both. Also Coughlan, who lives in England. In the next meeting between investigators - the police of Rome that relies on the collaboration of Modena and Bologna - and the PM Giuseppe Tibis, the possible charges for the two will be defined: in addition to industrial espionage, the hypothesis of embezzlement could be advanced. Summing up.

The long investigation into the Formula One spy story, which started with the powder in the Ferrari tanks on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix, now sees Nigel Stepney under a claim for damages at the High Court in London (civil trial) and already under investigation for sabotage at the Modena public prosecutor's office. In the face of new Ferrari exposés, but above all the investigations of the investigators, now for the two Formula One friends come the latest accusations. The postal police are convinced that the passage of papers - 780 pages of Ferrari projects - between the two took place. There is documentary evidence, e-mails, traces recovered from computers. But also testimonies and evidence from phone records. A wide and detailed accusatory bouquet. What is more, the Roman investigations are uncovering a network of complicity around the British duo. Warnings for espionage should soon touch three other Formula One men. Non-Ferrari engineers and mechanics. In short, Stepney's statements would be half true. There were, in fact, half a dozen insiders who were bringing Ferrari material to a new team, but, according to investigators, among them would be no men from the Maranello team. Only Nigel Stepney, who was later fired. The investigation is close to unravelling the relations established last spring between the unfaithful group led by Stepney-Coughlan and the British team. Computer analysis and inspection of the seized material would have revealed contact at the highest level. The manager of a Formula 1 team. On the eve of the FIA appeal against McLaren, civil and criminal investigations are bringing new evidence to Ferrari and could call into question the first guilty verdict with acquittal pronounced at the end of July in Place de la Concorde. Nigel Stepney has flown to England in recent days: he has found a new job, again in the world of motorsport, but he will return to Stella di Serramazzoni this weekend.