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About the Formula 1 race Istanbul, Turkey

Circuit/Race info - Formula 1 - Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul Turkey circuit description
Turkey made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track is designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights - with the cars reaching speeds of up to 330 km/h.

Region
Istanbul is without doubt one of the most unique cities on the Formula One calendar. Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. It is located on the Bosphorus strait, and encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It is officially located in both Europe and Asia, but is generally considered European. On the European side of the Bosphorus river there are bars, clubs and all the western shops you’d expect to see in London or New York. On the Asian side there are markets and more indigenous enterprises and it is here that the Istanbul Park circuit for Formula 1 is located.

History info - Formula 1 - Istanbul, Turkey

Last season info Istanbul Turkey
The Formula One circus arrived in Turkey full of anticipation. At the front, it was an all-McLaren-Renault affair, with Raikkonen on pole from Fisichella, then Montoya and Alonso. Their nearest challengers were Trulli in the Toyota and the two Williams of Heidfeld and Webber. Come the race and Renault were powerless to stop the McLarens running away, despite being on lighter fuel loads than the silver cars. Fisichella seized the lead at the start, but a mistake later in the lap allowed Raikkonen to regain the place once and for all. Further misfortune befell the Italian when a fuel-rig problem hampered his first stop and it was left to Alonso to maintain the chase. It looked to be a fruitless task, with McLaren all set for a commanding one-two as the race entered its final stages.

Winner + pole + fastest lap Istanbul Turkey
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) finished as first, starting from pole position, and then followed by Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) in second and third place. Fastest lap was clocked by Michael Schumacher 1:28.005.

Historic info Istanbul Turkey
The Turkish Grand Prix debuted in 2005. It is held at the newly built Istanbul Park Circuit. The circuit is only the third anti-clockwise circuit on the Formula One calendar after Imola and Brazil. Tilke has stressed how the track follows the contours of the land, which dips and falls. This is in contrast to some of his other recent tracks, the topography of which did not allow such variation. It takes an influence from many of the worlds best race tracks. Corner 1 is very similar to corner one in Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Brazil. Because of the nature of the circuit the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix weekend saw exciting on-track action, with many drivers spinning off throughout the weekend due to pushing too hard.

Listings of past winners / teams (last 10 years)
2006 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2005 Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes)

Travel info - Formula 1 - Istanbul, Turkey

How to get there: Istanbul Turkey
The Ataturk International Airport is a 30-minute drive from downtown Istanbul and an hour from Istanbul Park. Get into the city by hire car, airport bus or taxi.

How to get to the track (and back)
There are Special public buses to Istanbul Park run from Taksim and Levent on the European side of the city and Kadýkoy on the Asian side. Nearly all the race traffic heads south towards Istanbul Park at the same time because there are very few hotels on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, but because of the Grand Prix of Turkey some improvements to road links from the motorway to the circuit will be done.

Parking options
Offers a parking capacity of 20.000 cars.

Where to stay
Most Of the hotels are located at the European side of the Bosphorus. There are two main areas to stay: the Sultanahmet Camii and the Blue Mosque, located at the centre of the city. There is a variaty of hotels for all budgets. Few hotels are located at the Asian side of the city where the Formula One race is hosted.

Tickets info - Formula 1 - Istanbul, Turkey

General information Istanbul Turkey track
This brand new Tilke design is a very exciting track. As one of the few counter clockwise tracks drivers are not used to the forces as well as when the travel the other way round. After the first year they have changed the grandstand lay out slightly. All facilities are excellent. All stands offer bucket seats and refreshments are always close by. Parking is pretty good but depending on your stand location you will have to walk a bit.

Viewing quality
The track was developed to offer the best possible spectacle and so grandstand locations were carefully planned as well. Some stands however are behind quite large run-off areas such as Tribun 1. The closest to the action are the Main Grandstand sections (Super Gold, Gold 1 and Gold 2). These offer a good view of the pit lane action. Overtaking action can be expected at the Tribun 2 and Tribun 5. If you enjoy watching the cars at the highest speeds go for Tribun 9.

Prices
Istanbul Park offers tickets at very good prices. The Main Grandstand tickets are relatively expensive - ranging from 275 to 350 Euro - but the Silver stands offer excellent value for money starting as low as 150 Euro. Bronze and General Admission tickets are even cheaper than that making it worthwhile to travel to Turkey.

Best Deal
The best deal on F1 tickets for the Turkish Grand Prix is the Silver 3 Tribun 2 stand. Located in the second set of corners the stand allows you to see the cars entering turn 3, then following through turns 4 and 5 . This technicaly challenging part of the track will mean some spectacular F1 action at a price of only 160 Euro.