Massa completes title hat-trick in Turkey

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Brazilian driver Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix for the third successive year in Istanbul on Sunday.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton gave McLaren a major boost by finishing ahead of world championship leader Kimi Raikkonen, in the other Ferrari.

Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber was fourth, ahead of teammate Nick Heidfeld. Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren finished 12th after starting from second on the grid.

Raikkonen, the defending F1 champion, leads the standings with 35 points, seven ahead of Hamilton and Massa. Kubica is next with 24.

"This feels fantastic," said Massa.

"But actually, it was a very difficult race. Lewis pushed me very hard for a lot of the race and I was worried for a while, but I knew he was lighter than me.

"When the team told me he was running on three stops I felt better so I realised that was a help for me and I had a chance. I could not hold him when he passed me, but I knew I could win the race so I just had to wait.

"To win here for a third time is really fantastic for me. Now I think I can already get a passport here!"

Hamilton employed a three-stop strategy but, although he went past Massa to lead in the middle of the race, the Ferrari driver, who had declared " I own this track", once again proved the master in Istanbul.

Massa, on a conventional two-stop plan like his team-mate Raikkonen, had the necessary pace to keep Hamilton at bay

But the English driver opened up the championship race by cutting Raikkonen's lead to seven points.

Hamilton is level with Massa on points but trails the Brazilian on win count-back.

After being outclassed by Ferrari in two races McLaren were much more competitive in Turkey.

Massa was always in control but Hamilton was aggressive mood from the outset, moving up from third on the grid on the run to the first corner and tracking Massa until the McLaren's first stop on lap 16.

It was three laps before Massa's first stop, but McLaren showed their hand by putting only a small amount of fuel in the car at that time.

The plan seemed to be to enable the car to run lighter - and therefore faster - and try to pass Massa.

Massa was not shaken but Raikkonen, not in peak form, looked vulnerable if Hamilton could gain enough time.

In fact McLaren team chief Ron Dennis said McLaren were forced into a three-stop strategy because of concern about the Bridgestone tires' durability on Hamilton's car.

Hamilton did his utmost to profit from the ploy, quickly challenging Massa when the Ferrari rejoined the race and on lap 24 he pulled off a superb overtaking move at the end of the back straight.

Massa left the McLaren little space on the inside as they braked for the tight left-hander, but Hamilton forced his way through.

Hamilton then set a series of fastest laps as he sought to build the advantage he needed to take on Raikkonen.

But after making his second stop on lap 31, Hamilton was 3.2 seconds behind the world champion.

He cut the gap to a second by lap 43, when Raikkonen made his final stop, and piled on the pressure for two more laps before making his own final stop.

He emerged ahead of Raikkonen, fitted with the softer tires that he had not been able to get to work on the McLaren all weekend.

Raikkonen pressed strongly during the closing stages but Hamilton was able to hold on to his position.

The BMW Saubers were disappointing and could manage only fourth and fifth places, with Robert Kubica ahead of Nick Heidfeld.

Behind them, Fernando Alonso was sixth for Renault, winning a battle with Red Bull's Mark Webber, who continued his impressively consistent season with his fourth top-seven finish in a row.

Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who had started from the front row for the first time in his career, was thwarted by a puncture on the first lap.

He pitted for a replacement and fought his way back impressively from last to eighth place, passing Williams's Nico Rosberg with eight laps to go, before a late stop for a final splash of fuel left him down in 12th.