Turkey 2010 - Race information - Istanbul plays host to the next round of the F1 championship
Published by Mr. C
F1 heads to Turkey this weekend, to the Istanbul Park race circuit, where teams and drivers will contest the 7th round of this years World Championship. The venue has a seating capacity of over 155,000 people, but the sport will likely only attract a very limited number of paying fans during the course of the weekend.
The weather
Hot, dry and sunny is the outlook for this weekend in Turkey. There may be some cloud cover come Sunday, when the ambient temperature is expected to be around 33 degrees Celsius. Don't go hoping for any rain.
The circuit
Istanbul Park is about one thing and that's the undramatically named Turn 8. The four apexed, 4.5G, left hander appears to get bumpier with each passing year, but remains a firm favourite amongst F1 drivers. The cars run anti-clockwise around the circuit, for the first time this year.
| Location | Istanbul Park |
| Timezone | GMT +3 |
| First Race | 2005 |
| Total Grand Prix | 5 |
| Laps | 58 |
| Length | 5.338 km |
| Pole Position | 1m 26.797s | Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren) | 2005 |
| Fastest Lap | 1m 24.770s | Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) | 2005 |
| Race Time | 1hr 24m 34.454s | Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren) | 2005 |
Event schedule
An F1 weekend comprises of events spanning three days. Action begins on Friday and ends on Sunday.
| Day | Session | Start Time (GMT +0100) | Start Time (Local) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Free Practice 1 | 08:00 | 10:00 |
| Free Practice 2 | 12:00 | 14:00 | |
| Saturday | Free Practice 3 | 09:00 | 11:00 |
| Qualifying | 12:00 | 14:00 | |
| Sunday | Drivers Parade | 11:30 | 13:30 |
| The Race | 13:00 | 15:00 |
Support racing for this event includes GP2, GP3 and Porsche GT3 Cup.
Press conference schedule
Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend.
| Day | Time (GMT +0100) | Time (Local) | Attendees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | 13:00 | 15:00 | Rubens Barrichello |
| Karun Chandhok | |||
| Michael Schumacher | |||
| Jarno Trulli | |||
| Mark Webber | |||
| Friday | 14:00 | 16:00 | Ross Brawn |
| Stefano Domenicali | |||
| Adam Parr | |||
| Franz Tost | |||
| Saturday | Post qualifying | Three fastest drivers | |
| Sunday | Post race | First three finishing drivers |
The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.
Following live
A thread will be created on Sidepodcast.com for every session and every thread is live enabled, meaning you can follow along and contribute to the conversation without refreshing the page.
