Turkish Grand Prix – Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton delivers

Q1:

Starting on a dry track, the drivers were warned even before the qualifying session began that the rain would make an appearance at the circuit very soon. This very stressful situation forced them to complete laps before the track became too wet.

With 5 minutes of the session remaining, it was finally learned that the risk of rain was dissipating, which led many drivers to return to the pits to put on new tires.

At the end of Q1, only 7 milliseconds separated Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

The positive surprises of this Q1 were Gasly, who set the 3rd best time, and Mick Schumacher’s advance to Q2.

List of eliminated in Q1: Daniel Ricciardo, Nicholas Latifi, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Räikkönen and Nikita Mazepin

Q2:

With the reduced risk of rain, many drivers decided to leave the pits with medium tyres. Indeed, tyre degradation is very significant in Istanbul, making the soft tyre unusable in the race.

After two very messy rounds, Lewis Hamilton made a superb 1’23’495, which placed him at the top of the time sheet. His teammate Valtteri Bottas was two tenths behind him, thus confirming Mercedes’ good form on dry track.

Mercedes and Red Bull were not the only ones fighting in qualifying. Indeed, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly exchanged positions throughout the session for the best of the rest. It was the AlphaTauri driver who came out on top in Q2, placing him 4th.

Nice strategy from Scuderia Ferrari, which offered Charles Leclerc the slipstream of Carlos Sainz to get into Q3. A good move from the pit wall, but it mainly highlights the poor level of performance of the car, qualifying behind an Alpine and an AlphaTauri.

Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon are also disappointed as they end their Saturday in 11th and 12th positions, behind their respective teammates.

List of eliminated drivers in Q2: Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, George Russell, Mick Schumacher and Carlos Sainz

Q3:

From the beginning of this last part of the qualifying session, Mercedes were setting a very good pace, relegating Max Verstappen to two tenths behind Valtteri Bottas.

If Lewis Hamilton is going to start 11th due to an engine change, the Briton can be proud to have limited the damage by setting the fastest lap of the qualifying session. Therefore, the front row tomorrow will be occupied by Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen.

In the end, it’s Charles Leclerc who takes the position of the best of the others after Gasly failed on his last attempt.

Last year’s poleman, Lance Stroll, will only start 8th on the grid tomorrow.