Button extends lead with win in Turkish GP

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

Organizers were a bit surprised by the number of spectators, the lowest of the five races held at Istanbul Park, but they found consolation in the government’s support.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç watched the race and presented the cup to winner Button, while another state minister, Faruk Özak, rewarded third-placer Sebastian Vettel.

Button overtook pole-sitter Vettel on the first lap following a mistake by the Red Bull driver and held on for a 6.7-second win over Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Vettel, the first driver not to win from the pole in five races at Istanbul, finished third after opting for a three-stop strategy.

Button leads with 61 points. Teammate Rubens Barrichello, who retired after starting third, has 35 points. Vettel has 29 and Webber 27.5.

"[It's] the first race where the car has been absolutely perfect," Button said. "This car is just outrageous. Before this, I really believed the Red Bulls were on our pace, but today we were a step ahead."

Button's fourth straight win Ğ the best streak by a Briton in 17 years Ğ makes him the fifth driver to achieve six victories in a season so quickly. The previous four Ğ Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Michael Schumacher Ğ all went on to win the championship.

Nigel Mansell was the last British driver to win four straight wins in one season as he took the title in 1992. Button joined Mansell, Damon Hill, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and James Hunt as the only Britons to win six races in a season.

"Every race has been pretty emotional, all the old memories come flooding back," said Button, who spent last season at the back of the grid. "We thought it was going to be a tougher battle today."

Vettel touched the grass around turn 10 to veer wide, providing Button with an opening to pass.

"It was my mistake," Vettel said. "But I don't think it would have made a big difference today because Jenson was just too quick."

Vettel, the only other race winner this season, stayed right on the tail of Button up to the halfway point. But unable to overtake, the German dropped 23 seconds back after his second pit stop.

Vettel was mystified that his team stuck to its initial strategy.

"I am not happy, but we should be satisfied," said Vettel, whose previous two career victories had come from the pole, although both were in rain-soaked conditions.

Webber overtook Vettel after his final stop in the closing stages and held his teammate off by 0.7 seconds for his second runner-up finish this season.

"We knew the podium was set, it was just a matter of whether it was me or Sebastian," Webber said. "[Jenson] was on another planet."

Jarno Trulli reversed Toyota's poor performances at Barcelona and Monaco to finish fourth. Nico Rosberg of Williams was fifth ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who had won in Istanbul the past three years.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica earned his first points of the season by finishing seventh. Toyota's Timo Glock took the final point in eighth.

Barrichello retired with 11 laps left after a frustrating day that started with about a dozen cars passing him as he rolled out of the start.

He dueled with Heikki Kovalainen, trying to pass on the inside of turn 10 but went spinning after touching cars with the McLaren driver. Barrichello dropped to 17th place and then collided into Force India's Adrian Sutil soon after to damage his wing.

Lewis Hamilton, the defending F1 champion, finished 13th.McLaren has now gone eight races without finishing in the top three.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso still hasn't been on the podium this season. The Renault driver finished 10th.