There were some incomprehensible things happening with qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix yesterday when Lewis Hamilton first said he'd made the wrong tire choice and then backtracked later in the day and said it was the right choice. It all became clear in today's race, won by Felipe Massa of Ferrari, when it was revealed that McLaren was involved in anything but a normal tire weekend.

The Bridgestone Tire company had advised McLaren that the tires on Hamilton's McLaren were at the limit of being safe enough to be used in a two pit-stop race. They advised the team to make three pit stops on safety grounds. Last year, a tire on Hamilton's car had blown out on this circuit, and Bridgestone said that it was dangerously close to the same situation this year. So it was that Hamilton made three pit stops, compared to the two pit stops of the Ferraris. He used the hard tires on the first three stints and the softer tire on the final stint. But it made for a great race, and a brilliant drive by the British driver, who finished second in the race despite the handicap.