Times wires
Sunday, May 8, 2011
ISTANBUL — Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel easily won Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix, clinching his third victory of the season ahead of teammate Mark Webber.
The Formula One champion was never in trouble at Istanbul Park after starting from the pole for the fourth consecutive race. He won by 8.8 seconds.
"Throughout this race we had this cushion and were able to act rather than react," Vettel said.
Vettel, 23, became F1's youngest champ last year and is an odds-on favorite to repeat; he leads McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by 34 points and Webber by 38.
Webber passed Fernando Alonso late in a race that saw a lot of bumping and overtaking early — just not for first place — as well as four tire stops each by the top four drivers. Alonso was third.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said he is "100 percent" certain that major shareholder CVC Capital Partners does not want to sell to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
EAST BAY RACEWAY: Keith Nosbisch won the Late Model main event Saturday in Gibsonton.