Raikkonen can thwart Massa's hat-trick bid

By Alan Baldwin

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen can chalk up his third win of the season on Sunday and shatter Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa's dream of a Turkish Grand Prix hat-trick.

Brazilian Massa has won from pole position in Istanbul for the past two years but Raikkonen, winner with McLaren in the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix of 2005, has the momentum.

The Finn is nine points clear of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton after four races including the most recent in Spain that saw him dominate from pole position.

"Barcelona was a perfect weekend for me and the team," Raikkonen said on the Ferrari website (www.ferrari.com). "Now we want to keep that rhythm and we will push very hard.

"The pole position helped a lot and it seems that starting ahead of everybody else is a necessary condition for winning the race in Istanbul, too," he added.

"I won't change my approach. It's too early to think about anything else than a victory."

Massa, the winner in Bahrain, is 11 points adrift of Raikkonen and one behind third-placed Pole Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber.

Ferrari remain the clear favourites however, something acknowledged by their McLaren rivals: "We didn't really shine here in the past, and also this time we are not the current benchmark," said Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug in a team preview.