Brendan Lines November 14, 2020

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon were fastest in FP1 for the Turkish Grand Prix, the slippery conditions of the newly re-surfaced track mixed up the field as both Ferrari cars finished in the top ten ahead of Mercedes.

Formula 1 last visited the Istanbul Park circuit on the banks of the Bosphorus Strait in 2011, 9 years on it’s not the familiar territory F1 teams expected, the cooler conditions chilled the newly re-surfaced track temperature well below the ideal conditions for the harder compound Pirelli tyres.

Red Bull’s Alex Albon likened the conditions to being icy for the drivers, taking a cautious approach through the renowned high-speed Turn 8.

“It was a positive day and it’s always fun to try out a new track. In FP1 and FP2, it was like an ice rink out there and a bit weird because it’s not a normal feeling driving what feels like a drift car.” he said.

“You’re just sliding around which of course is a bit fun in a way but it’s also not what an F1 car likes! In order to switch the tyres on and get them to work you’re having to push way out of your comfort zone so it’s tricky but it is what it is.”

Ferrari’s showed some surprising pace with both Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finishing P3 and P5, Leclerc’s time was +2.0s faster than the fastest Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, proving high grip setups might be preferred over high-speed.

There was just the one hiccup for Leclerc as he brought out a red flag briefly after knocking over a track bollard

At the re-start the Alpha Tauri’s of Pierre Gasly and Danil Kyvat posted their best times to take P4 and P5 for the session.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was sidelined with an electrical issue to his MCL35’s power-unit, his teammate Lando Norris got his 21^st birthday celebrations under way for the weekend with  P7.

Another surprise was Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi taking P8, not only ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, but faster than Bottas by a tenth in P9.

Esteban Ocon was the fastest of the Renaults finishing P10, Ocon’s best time of 1:38.428s just edged Williams rookie Nicolas Latifi from his first top ten classification by .08s.

Racing Point finished down the order in P12 and P13 well off their best, but it is expected the team will improve its RP20 for better qualifying results than favoring its race setup.

Lewis Hamilton found himself on the back foot to clinch the Drivers World Championship this weekend finishing P15. Hamilton will need to finish 8 points clear of teammate and nearest rival Bottas to equal Michael Shumacher’s record of seven world championships.