Early exit fo Fisichella

Giancarlo Fisichella was forced out of the Turkish Grand Prix at the first corner on the Istanbul Park circuit.

The veteran Italian, starting at the back of the grid after a grid penalty, drove into the back of Kazuki Nakajima in the Williams.

The accident was Fisichella’s fault, with his car almost somersaulting over the Williams, forcing Nakajima into the pits for a new rear wing.

The incident brought the safety car into play whilst the wreckage was removed from the run-off area.

Nakajima's problems, though, were terminal as he retired in the garage moments later as the safety car toured around for two laps.

The start of the race was a poor one from Kimi Raikkonen’s point of view as the reigning world champion dropped from fourth to sixth by the end of the first corner in his Ferrari.

The Finn was squeezed out by Heikki Kovalainen, and that allowed Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber and Renault’s Fernando Alonso to pass.

Kovalainen, who had been on the front row of the grid for the first time in his career, was initially slow away before he eventually picked up speed.

That allowed McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pass on the run down to turn one and slot in behind Felipe Massa who was easily away off pole.

Once the safety car exited, Kovalainen made an unscheduled stop for new tyres, although remained on the harder compound and his car appeared to show no sign of any problem.

That allowed Raikkonen to move up to fifth, and the current leader of the drivers’ standings soon passed Alonso to claim fourth.

At the end of lap six, Massa had opened up a 1.5secs lead over Hamilton, who was clear of Kubica by 2.9secs, with Raikkonen in close attendance followed by Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber.