Massa wins auto race in Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey -- Felipe Massa captured his second straight Formula 1 auto race Sunday, taking the checkered flag at the Grand Prix of Turkey in Istanbul.

Massa, who won the pole position Saturday, won the race for the third straight year by beating Lewis Hamilton by 3.779 seconds. It was Ferrari's fourth straight win.

"Lewis was pushing me a lot the whole race," Massa said. "He was very strong."
"We knew it was going to be very tough to challenge the Ferraris," Hamilton said.

Massa's Ferrari teammate and defending circuit champion Kimi Raikkonen was a factor in the first three laps before dropping as far down to sixth place later in the race.

On the 24th lap, Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) took the lead, but stopped to refuel and make a tire adjustment on the 32nd lap. Massa was in control from that point.

Raikkonen finished third and his six points gave a seven-point lead over both Hamilton and Massa atop the F1 points standings.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.