The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button set the pace in first practice at the Turkish Grand Prix.

Hamilton posted a time of one minute 28.653 seconds, with fellow Englishman Button almost a second slower.

The Mercedes pair of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg followed with the third and fourth fastest times.

The Red Bulls, which are expected to dominate, had Sebastian Vettel fifth, ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica, with Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber eighth.

Formula 1 champion Button commented on the "happy-pill effect" within the McLaren team when he arrived in Istanbul for the weekend's racing, following the disappointment of Monaco and the team would have been pleased the morning's work.

The first practice was a fairly sedate affair and it was not 25 minutes into the 90-minute session before the first time was posted, by Japan's Sakon Yamamoto who was sitting in for Bruno Senna in the Hispania.

The quick times were not posted until the final 30 minutes with much of debris and dust on the race-line removed by the early runners.

Seven-time champion Schumacher who recently declared "I'm back" signalled his and Mercedes's intention to challenge for the top points with 1:29.750, while team-mate Rosberg, who had problems with selecting launch mode in the pitlane, was fractionally slower.

Vettel came in with 1:29.867 while team-mate and joint championship leader Webber posted 1:30.097.

A further place behind was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who went round the Istanbul Park circuit in 1:30.294, while his Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa set a time of 1:30.867.

Fernando Alonso has faith that Ferrari can catch Red Bull in the forthcoming races – but admits this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix has probably come too soon for the picture at the front to have changed.

The championship-leading Red Bull squad dominated at the last aerodynamically-demanding circuit the F1 circus visited three weeks ago at Barcelona when the pace-setting outfit qualified on pole by nearly a second from Alonso’s Ferrari.

Many have predicted a repeat result on the similarly flowing Istanbul Park layout and Alonso concedes Ferrari may have to again settle for a battle with the McLarens and Mercedes’.

“As always, you expect a strong Red Bull again,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“They are clearly ahead of everybody and here I don’t think the picture will change too much.

“I guess Barcelona will be a good reference for us in terms of performance, so we expect maybe Red Bull to be ahead of everybody and our fight to be more with McLaren and Mercedes.

“So let’s try to do a good weekend and hopefully be close to the Red Bulls.”

He added: “It’s up to us now to improve the car, to make the tyres work better, to improve the aerodynamics, the engine etc, to try to catch Red Bull as soon as possible.

“Hopefully it’s in Canada, or hopefully in Valencia, but we know that from Barcelona to here we have only three weeks and maybe it’s impossible in three weeks to recover that second advantage.”

However, despite Red Bull currently enjoying a clear advantage, the former world champion is far from despondent about Ferrari’s chances of turning the situation around.

Asked if rival teams now had little hope of pegging back RBR’s speed advantage, Alonso said: “No, I don’t think that it’s impossible.

“We know that we need to work hard; we need some more downforce in the car and I think we have a good programme to develop the car.

“We saw also Brawn GP last year dominated the first seven grand prix, winning all seven [sic], and then struggling a little bit at the end of the year where Red Bull were better than them and also Ferrari and McLaren were at the same level as Brawn.

“So I expect to come back [and] Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes to be very close to Red Bull. When? Hopefully soon. But maybe not immediately here in Turkey.”

Nevertheless despite Red Bull’s advantage since the start of the season, and a series of setbacks which have hit his own results in races, Alonso remains just three points adrift of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ standings.

The Spaniard could even had arrived in Turkey in the lead of the championship once again had he not compromised what had looked set to be a highly competitive Monaco weekend when he wrote off his F10 chassis in a final practice crash and was forced to miss qualifying.

Alonso – who was also involved in a first-corner tangle in Australia and jumped the start in China – has come under criticism from the Italian press for the growing list of errors but, while admitting he and the team can’t afford to make many more, suggested the standings proved he wasn’t the only one to have not made the most of every opportunity so far in 2010.

“We would like not to make any more mistakes in the rest of the championship but even with all the problems we had – in [the] six races four of them [on] lap one we were last – with all these problems we are three points behind the leader of the championship so maybe the others are doing more mistakes than us," he said.

“As long as we are leading the championship in the last lap in the last race, this is enough.

Since McLaren introduced the ingenious system – which stalls the rear wing for increased top speeds on the straights – at the season-opener in Bahrain, rival teams have been working hard at their factories to develop their own versions.

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed Formula 1 will return to the United States of America in 2012.

But, despite much speculation about a race being held in or near New York, the destination for F1’s next US Grand Prix is Austin in Texas.

According to Formula1.com a ten-year deal will see F1 race in Austin from 2012 to 2021.

Ecclestone said:

For the first time in the history of Formula One in the United States, a world-class facility will be purpose-built to host the event.
Bernie Ecclestone

The race is being organised by Full Throttle Promotions. Managing partner Tavo Hellmund said:

We realise that over the last 30 years there have been one or two missing pieces from the previous editions of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

We have a tremendous opportunity at hand to do it right – to feature Austin as the backdrop and produce the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix as one of the great sporting events in the world.
Tavo Hellmund

The promotion company say further details on the race will be announced shortly. At the moment there is no information on exactly where the track will be or who it will be designed by, though it would a surprise if anyone other than Hermann Tilke got the job.

F1 raced on a temporary street circuit in Dallas, Texas, in 1984, but never returned to the venue. The United States Grand Prix was last held at the Indianpolis road course from 2000 to 2007.

Fernando Alonso has admitted Ferrari is at a loss to explain the dominance of Red Bull this season.

Red Bull has been on pole at every race so far and has won three of the first six grand prix. Earlier in the season it was believed that the secret of its success was some sort of active suspension, but the car remained at the front after the FIA confirmed such technology was banned.

Asked for his opinion about why the RB6 is so quick, Alonso told Die Welt: "It would be nice if we knew that. It is incredibly difficult to figure out why the competition is better here and there. And so it is hard to copy them."

He admitted that emulating the designs of rival teams is commonplace in Formula One.

"It can be," Alonso added. "But whether it always works is a different matter, because every team also has its own design philosophy into which fits the next elements. It means that you have to develop better in your own direction."

Red Bull's Mark Webber, the back-to-back winner from pole in Spain and Monaco, insists it is too early to conclude that his team is now a shoo-in for the title.

"I understand you guys (reporters) have to write stuff but no one knows who is going to be in the hunt with a few races to go," said the Australian.

An American motor racing club circuit in upstate New York has emerged as the latest potential venue to become the next home of the US Grand Prix.

American publication AutoWeek reports that Monticello Motor Club – which is 90 minutes from Manhattan and sits at the foot of the Catskill Mountains – has held preliminary talks with Bernie Ecclestone over a 10-year deal to stage a revived US round and that F1’s track designer Hermann Tilke has already visited the venue.

It has published a leaked letter from club president Ari Strauss to the private members of the circuit in which Strauss confirms Tilke had given the thumbs-up to the venue as a suitable grand prix circuit, pending some redevelopment work, and that the track was in the process of securing support from the various levels of government.

“A few months ago, [MMC chairman] Bill McMichael and I met with Bernie Ecclestone, President/CEO of Formula One Management (FOM), and discussed the terms for an exclusive 10-year United States Grand Prix to be hosted at MMC,” AutoWeek quotes the letter as saying.

“Shortly thereafter, Hermann Tilke, the chief engineer and circuit designer for F1, spent time at MMC and confirmed that our track and surrounding properties, with some expansion and minor track modifications, is an excellent location for a Grand Prix.
“Since receiving a letter of understanding from FOM confirming their hope to bring the U.S. Grand Prix to Monticello, Bill and I have continued to secure the backing and support of local, state, and federal politicians and organisations.”

The Monticello talks come just weeks after a bid to take F1 to Jersey City was scuppered almost even before it had seriously begun after the local mayor declined to back a proposal put together by the local tourism agency for a race through Liberty State Park.

With Ecclestone believed to be assessing other venues for the sport’s seemingly imminent US return, Strauss stressed to its members that an F1 deal was far from certain while assuring them that they remained committed to their interests.“Securing F1 is like winning the Olympics, competition is fierce, and this is not a done deal,” he said.

“While the prospect of F1 at MMC is exciting, we remain focused on our core business: the club and its members.”

The Monticello circuit was opened in 2008 and offers 200 track days per year to members between April and November, claiming on its website to be a “beautiful, convenient, luxurious and an enchanting place to satisfy your motoring desires”.

Designed by former British F1 driver and sportscar legend Brian Redman, the main 22-corner track layout stretches to 4.1 miles but there are also 12 distinct configurations. The track can also claim to be the closest motor racing venue to New York City.

The FIA has confirmed it plans to adjust the wording of the regulations concerning the safety car rules on the final lap of a race following the confusion caused by Michael Schumacher’s pass on Fernando Alonso in Monaco.

Mercedes driver Schumacher was handed a 20s time penalty by race stewards following last Sunday’s race after they judged that by passing the Ferrari he had broken Article 40.13 of the sporting regulations which forbids overtaking if the race finishes behind the safety car.

Mercedes argued that it had every reason to believe the race had been re-started and that Schumacher’s pass for sixth was legitimate, as the safety car had pulled into the pit lane and both race control and track-side marshals had signalled the race was back on.

However, it later announced it wasn’t pushing ahead with its appeal as the FIA had accepted the reasons why it had interpreted the rules in that way and agreed to clarify the regulations with the teams.

On Thursday morning the FIA issued a statement in which acknowledged the regulations, and application of them, needed to be made clearer and said an amendment to the rule book would be put to its World Motor Sport Council for ratification on June 23. 

“The problems identified during the final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix, counting for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, showed a lack of clarity in the application of the rule prohibiting overtaking behind the Safety Car,” the governing body said.

“Adjustments to the regulations are necessary to clarify the procedure that cars must meet when the last lap is controlled by the Safety Car whilst also ensuring that the signaling for teams and drivers is made more clear.

“These adjustments will help to avoid the problem which occurred during the Monaco Grand Prix from happening in the future.

A virtual tour of Ferrri World at Abu Dhabi World

Fernando Alonso pitted on the first lap of the GP after a 1st lap safety car. This decision allowed Fernando to run the entire race on the harder tyre and got up to just behind Lewis after everyone pitted, eventually finishing in 6th place. Massa had a solid race and finished 4th.

The speed with which Alonso worked through the tail-enders nearly caught out the leaders. McLaren brought Hamilton in to make sure he could stay ahead of Alonso.

That triggered pit stops from the rest of the field, but no change of positions among the top five. Nico Rosberg delayed his pit stop while Kamui Kobayashi briefly held up a train of Massa, Hamilton and Alonso. But when Kobayashi dropped out, Rosberg had to pit and ended up back behind team mate Schumacher.

The second Williams dropped out after 30 laps when Rubens Barrichello appeared to suffer a failure on the left-rear corner of his car, pitching the second FW32 into the barriers at Massenet.
That forced Vitantonio Liuzzi to brake hard in avoidance as parts flew off the Williams. Once it came to rest another part came off too – Barrichello chucked the steering wheel out of his car which bounced onto the racing line and was run over by a passing HRT.
This brought the safety car out again, erasing a ten-second lead which Webber had built up. Shortly after the race re-started the safety car was mysteriously summoned again – this time apparently because of a loose drain cover.

With overtaking very difficult at Monaco there was little sign of any potential changes for position. Despite having run almost the entire race distance on the same set of tyres, Alonso had a comfortable margin over Schumacher.

That was until the final safety car period of the race, which was triggered by an alarming collision between Karun Chandhok and Jarno Trulli.

Trulli had spend much of the later part of the race stuck behind the HRT driver, and got alongside him on the way into Rascase. Chandhok turned in, the cars tangled wheels and the Lotus sprang up into the air, crashing down on Chandhok’s rool hoop.

Thankfully both drivers were uninjured – Chandhok ducked down into the cockpit – and the safety car came out once again.

The safety car came in on the final lap and Webber accelerated to the line to take his second consecutive victory. Behind him, Schumacher got to the the finishing line ahead of Alonso – sparking a controversy the stewards are presently trying to unravel.

Webber’s win puts him and Vettel jointly in the lead of the drivers’ champion. Red Bull have also taken over the lead of the constructors’ championship from McLaren, who got only Hamilton’s car to the finish.

Former championship leader Jenson Button retired on the second lap with overheating. It emerged that a cover had been left over one radiator on his way to the pits, causing high engine temperatures.

Mark Webber led every lap of the Monaco Grand Prix and led Red Bull to a one-two victory in the principality.

The race was interrupted by four safety car periods after a series of crashes, but Webber stayed cool and re-built his lead every time.

The Australian is now on 78 points, the same as Vettel, but is classified ahead because he has won two grands prix to his team-mate's one - with Alonso on 75 points and Button fourth, having added nothing to his pre-race total of 70.

"It is absolutely incredible," said Webber. "It's the greatest day of my life today, to win here is very, very special.

"This place is such a test. I knew what I had a lot to do and I'm absolutely elated to join the winners around here. It's the blue riband event."

Webber made a clean start and held his lead into Sainte Devote but the race momentum was soon halted by Williams's Nico Hulkenberg crashing into the barriers in the tunnel, ending the German's race and prompting the deployment of the safety car until lap six.

With Fernando Alonso not starting qualifying following his practice crash he was certain to be one of the seven cars eliminated in Q1.

The Spaniard, who had set the pace in both Thursday practice sessions, crashed into the barriers at Massenet after locking a brake into the left-hand turn with the impact doing major damage to his F10’s right-hand side.

Ferrari assessed the extent of the damage when the car was returned to its garage following the end of Saturday morning’s session and discovered the chassis had been damaged, with work to prepare a new one expected to take five or six hours.

Mark Webber continued his rich vein of form by storming to a second consecutive pole position in Monaco on Saturday, maintaining Red Bull’s 100% qualifying record in 2010.

The Chinese Grand Prix winner produced two laps fast enough for pole in a thrilling climax to Q3, putting himself in the ideal position to control Formula 1’s famous round-the-houses race from the front.

Robert Kubica produced a scintillating performance for Renault to join Webber on the front row, and for much of Q3 looked like he might snatch a shock pole position.

In the end he fell 0.3s short, but it was still a mighty effort and by far Renault’s best qualifying performance of the season so far.

Sebastian Vettel was no match for Red Bull team-mate Webber on this occasion – sliding wide at the harbour-front chicane on one flying lap and ending up 0.4s shy of the pole time.

Felipe Massa was the leading Ferrari qualifier in fourth, with team-mate Fernando Alonso watching the session from the sidelines after damaging his Ferrari’s tub in a morning practice crash.

McLaren had a disappointing session, with Lewis Hamilton taking fifth and Jenson Button eighth, the latter in particular unhappy with his MP4-25’s balance and ruing the decision to use the super-soft tyre.

Mercedes was another team that didn’t live up to expectations after showing well through free practice.

Nico Rosberg looked like a possible pole contender after topping the Q2 times, but dropped to sixth place when it mattered in Q3, blaming traffic and a mistake on his quickest lap.

Michael Schumacher was fractionally slower in seventh, and felt his main obstacle had been traffic – in the form of team-mate Rosberg, who he accused of impeding him on his best lap…

Rubens Barrichello claimed a respectable ninth on the grid for Williams, while rookie team-mate Nico Hulkenberg just missed the cut for Q3 and will line up 11th.

Force India had high hopes of getting both its cars into the top 10, but only Tonio Liuzzi managed it, the Italian bringing his recent run of qualifying disappointments to an end.

Team-mate Adrian Sutil, who had outpaced Liuzzi throughout practice, wound up a disappointed 12th after failing to string together a clean lap in Q2.

Sebastien Buemi was 13th for Toro Rosso, while Vitaly Petrov’s first Monaco qualifying session ended ignominiously when he crashed his Renault at Ste Devote.

The two Saubers of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi struggled to 15th and 16th ahead of the second Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari.

Heikki Kovalainen was fastest of the new team representatives in 18th, escaping unscathed from spins on successive laps at Mirabeau and Loews as he tried to extract more speed from the Lotus than it was willing to give.

The Finn’s deficit to the benchmark Q1 time was a much improved 2.3s, albeit on a short lap, an encouraging sign that Lotus is edging closer to the main midfield pack.

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were more than happy with the Ferrari F10 around the streets of Monte Carlo in Thursday practice – Massa describing the car as being “10 times better” than it was on the opening day at Barcelona.

The Italian squad made a highly encouraging start to the weekend in the Principality, Alonso setting the pace in both practice sessions to send a clear message to the pace-setting Red Bull squad about the F10's potential here.

Alonso ended the afternoon session just over a tenth of a second clear of Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg and RBR’s Sebastian Vettel and admitted it was a positive sign for Ferrari that he had found the F10 so easy to drive from the off.

Asked if topping the opening day times at Monaco was more important than other venues, he said: “It’s a circuit that you need to get confidence as soon as possible.“It’s a circuit you need to feel okay in the car and to maximise the potential.“It’s very good to start in a good way because you don’t need to get crazy or to change completely the set-up or to find miracles for Saturday.“You just need some continuity in the set-up, in the way you do the runs.
“Overall we found the car very, very good. “From the beginning it was very easy to drive so I think Felipe and me we are happy with today’s sessions.”

An equally positive Massa, who finished fifth and fourth in the two sessions respectively, was delighted to find he was having no problems for grip levels after struggling badly in this area last week in Spain. “I have good feelings for the car,” he said. “For the grip level we faced today, the car was definitely much easier to drive compared to Barcelona where we were struggling massively in terms of grip level. “So this is already quite positive. I can say that our Friday here in Monaco was 10 times better than our Friday in Barcelona, so this is also good for the weekend and I hope we carry on like this.”

Ferrari had admitted after Alonso finished a fortuitous second to the dominant Mark Webber in last Sunday’s race that it needed to improve the downforce levels on its F10 if it was serious about catching Red Bull.

Although the tight, slow Monte Carlo layout necessitates an extremely high downforce setting, Alonso says the lack of fast corners compared to Barcelona means good mechanical grip is even more important and thinks Ferrari has managed to make some improvements in this area.

However, he is not getting carried away by Ferrari’s Friday position and says it must focus on producing an error-free qualifying session when the action resumes on Saturday if it isn't to lose out in what he expects to be a tightly-packed front group.
“I think because here you need maximum downforce, for sure, but at the same time the effect of the downforce is much less here because there are not high-speed corners like Barcelona,” he said.
“Here it is only the Swimming Pool part a little bit you can improve by putting on more downforce so overall here I think the mechanical grip is more important, and also making the tyres work is more important

“So I think we did maybe improve a little bit compared to Barcelona and hopefully we are not one second behind Red Bull, but we need to wait until Saturday.

“We saw some strong Fridays for us and then some strong Fridays for McLaren but then on Saturday Red Bull got the pole position very easy.

“So we need to be clever and we need to do a good lap on Saturday as if not you can end sixth or seventh as we saw today.”
Massa added: “I expect Red Bull will have a good car definitely, but much more normal compared to what they were in Barcelona.”