[ad_1]
Cloudy. Wet track. Air + 12 … 13С, track + 15 … 14С
The return of the Turkish Grand Prix was awaited with great interest. An excellent track with an interesting setup and height difference has always been popular with racers. But two weeks before the Grand Prix, new asphalt was laid in the Istanbul Park. As they say, there were no obvious reasons for this, but the organizers wanted to add a modern polish to the track. The new asphalt did not have time to mature and the combination of three factors: slippery surfaces, cool November weather and the harder Pirelli tires completely changed the nature of the track.
Instead of the anticipated driving pleasure before the weekend, on Friday the drivers somehow tried to stay on the track. The tires did not work, the cars flew, which affected both the results and the balance of power. In the first practice, the cars drove ten seconds slower than nine years ago, although they should have been three to four seconds faster.
It got even more interesting on Saturday. Training and qualifying took place in the rain. Having soaked into the surface, the water displaced the oils from the fresh asphalt and the slippery surface became even more slippery. The pilots excitedly commented on the situation, qualifying was stopped twice with red flags, but still managed to complete.
Verstappen was in the lead in Saturday’s training session and during both qualifying sessions when wet tires were used, but in the final session the intermediate tires were faster, they did not work at Red Bull Racing and Lance Stroll got the pole. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth, 4.7 seconds back on pole.
Stroll and Verstappen started from the first row, Perez and Albon from the second, Riccardo and Hamilton from the third. Daniil Kvyat had an unsuccessful qualifying and started the race 16th. Four running backs: Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and George Russell lost their positions in the starting field.
.jpg "Replacement of the nose cone of Antonio Giovinazzi's car before the start of the race")
Before the start, the track was surrounded by clouds, it started to rain several times. On the way to the starting field, Giovinazzi flew onto the gravel at turn three, hitting the barrier with his front wing; he was pushed onto the track and was able to return to the pit lane. He also blew up and damaged the wing and George Russell.
Both Williams drivers started from the pit lane in order to put on intermediate tires. They all had rain tires on the starting field.
.jpg "The Turkish Grand Prix begins")
At first, Stroll maintained the lead. Verstappen started slowly, losing several positions. After contact with Riccardo, Ocon turned around, Bottas started to slow down behind him and also made him turn. Hamilton moved up to third place, Vettel to fourth. Leclair fell back to 15th position.
Hamilton made a mistake by missing Vettel, Verstappen and Elbon. I rolled the windows into the holes, changing the rubber due to a puncture.
The top ten in the second circle: Paseo – Pérez – Vettel – Verstappen – Elbon – Hamilton – Riccardo – Raikkonen – Sainz – Magnussen.
Verstappen tried to attack Vettel, but the car veered to the side and Sebastian held his position.
The peloton stretched, the water in the trajectory diminished, but outside of it the track was wet, complicating the fight for position.
On lap 5, Sainz passed Raikkonen for eighth place.
On lap 7, Leclerc switched to intermediate tires, and they were quicker. On lap 8, Bottas made a pit stop, on lap 9 – Vettel, Hamilton, Riccardo, Magnussen, Giovinazzi, Kvyat, Grosjean, in 10th – Stroll, Latifi, Norris, in 11th – Pérez, Riccardo, Sainz , Gasley and Okon, 12th – Verstappen – there was a little problem, 13th – Albon.
Top ten on lap 14: Paseo – Perez – Verstappen – Vettel – Hamilton – Albon – Riccardo – Sainz – Leclair – Magnussen.
On lap 13, Giovinazzi was stopped on the track by order of the pits. For car evacuation, a virtual security car mode was announced.
After the restart, Hamilton attacked Vettel, but missed Elbon. On lap 16, Elbon was ahead of Vettel.
On lap 17, Norris passed Raikkonen in 12th position.
On lap 18, Verstappen attacked Perez, but did not hold the car, he turned twice and Max pitted. Returning to the track, Verstappen crossed the white line at the pit lane exit.
.jpg "Bottas turned around and lost three positions, falling back to 17th place")
Bottas turned around and lost three positions, falling back to 17th place.
Top ten on lap 20: Walk – Pérez – Albon – Vettel – Hamilton – Riccardo – Sainz – Verstappen – Leclair – Magnussen.
On lap 25, Norris beat Russell for 11th place, and on 28th he moved up to 10th, beating Magnussen.
On lap 30, Gasli overtook Raikkonen for 13th place.
On lap 30, the race management allowed the use of DRS, and the fighting became more active, especially as many of the tires were badly worn. Everyone tried to extend the distance on the intermediate tires as much as possible, so that they immediately put on slicks, but the asphalt dried very slowly and didn’t dry out until the end of the race.
On lap 31, Leclerc and Raikkonen changed tires, again on intermediate tires.
On lap 33, Sainz passed Riccardo in sixth place and Daniel changed the tires.
On lap 33 Russell changed the tires, on lap 34 – Vettel – there was a problem with the replacement of the right rear wheel and Sainz.
On lap 34, Elbon came around the exit of turn four and missed Hamilton. Gasley made a pit stop.
On lap 35, Elbon and Magnussen changed tires, and Kevin stopped the car at the pit lane exit, the mechanics did not squeeze the front left wheel.
Perez closed the gap with Stroll, who lost speed, on lap 37, Lance pitted and changed tires, returning to the track in fourth place.
On lap 37, Hamilton beat Perez for the lead of the race and quickly walked away. Norris made a pit stop. Gasley beat Russell for 14th place.
On lap 38, Grosjean changed tires. At turn four, Latifi turned without consequences for the car.
On lap 40, Vettel and Leclerc were ahead of Stroll.
On lap 41, Leclair edged out Vettel in the fight for fourth place. Albon edged out Stroll for sixth place. Bottas turned again. In the fight for a position in the first corner, Grosjean and Latifi collided, both kept moving.
On lap 42, Sines overtook Stroll.
Top ten in circle 42: Hamilton – Pérez – Verstappen – Leclerc – Vettel – Albon – Sainz – Paseo – Riccardo – Norris.
On lap 43, Latifi stopped the car in the pits and retired.
On lap 44, Leclair overtook Verstappen in the fight for third place: Max pitted. Russell also changed the tires.
On lap 45, Sines edged out Elbon for fifth place.
On lap 46, Hamilton beat Bottas by one lap.
On lap 47, Gasley got ahead of Bottas and Valtteri pitted and changed tires.
On lap 49, Norris edged out Riccardo for ninth place. Daniel’s car turned around, but he kept moving.
Top ten on lap 50: Hamilton – Perez – Leclair – Vettel – Sainz – Albon – Verstappen – Stroll – Norris – Riccardo.
On lap 51, Raikkonen’s car turned around, Elbon slowed to avoid contact and Verstappen, who was behind, turned.
On lap 52, Raikkonen changed tires, Grosjean stopped the car in the pits and withdrew from the fight.
On lap 53, Verstappen edged out Elbon for sixth place.
On lap 56, Norris edged out Stroll for eighth place.
On the final lap, Leclair outpointed Perez in the fight for second place, but made the mistake of missing both Perez and Vettel.
.jpg "Lewis Hamilton won the Turkish Grand Prix with his 10th win of the season and 94 of his career")
Lewis Hamilton won the Turkish Grand Prix with his tenth victory of the season and 94 of his career. The Briton won the seventh champion title ahead of schedule, repeating the achievement of Michael Schumacher. Vettel was the first to go to congratulate the winner.
Sergio Pérez finished second, repeating the best result of his career. Racing Point moved up to third place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Sebastian Vettel finished the race third, achieving his best result of the season. Along with fourth-place Charles Leclair, Ferrari had the most productive race of the season.
In two weeks, the fighting will continue in Bahrain.
Race results
| Pilot | I send | Time | Speed | Pete |
| 1.L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1: 42.19.313 | 181,425 | 1 |
| 2 C. Perez | Racing point | +31,633 | 180,495 | 1 |
| 3.S. Vettel | Ferrari | +31,960 | 180,485 | 2 |
| 4. S. Leclair | Ferrari | +33,858 | 180,430 | 2 |
| 5. K. Sines | Mclaren | +34,363 | 180,415 | 2 |
| 6.M. Verstappen | Red Bull | +44,873 | 180,108 | 3 |
| 7.A. Elbon | Red Bull | +46,484 | 180,061 | 2 |
| 8.L. Norris | Mclaren | +61,259 | 179,632 | 2 |
| 9.L. Walk | Racing point | +72,353 | 179,311 | 2 |
| 10. D. Riccardo | Renault | +95,460 | 178,647 | 2 |
| 11.E. Okon | Renault | +1 circle | 178,180 | 2 |
| 12. D. Kvyat | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 177,921 | 1 |
| 13.P. Gasley | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 177,880 | 2 |
| 14.V. Bottas | Mercedes | +1 circle | 176,791 | 2 |
| 15. K. Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +1 circle | 175,934 | 3 |
| 16. D. Russell | Williams | +1 circle | 175,484 | 2 |
| 17.K. Magnussen | Haas | meeting | 172,987 | 3 |
Best circle: Lando Norris (McLaren) 1: 36.806 (58 laps, 198.508 km / h)
Reasons for retirements
| Pilot | I send | Circles | The reason |
| A. Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | eleven | skin problems |
| N. Latifi | Williams | 39 | skin problems |
| Р.Грожан | Haas | 49 | skin problems |
Championship position: Individual
Championship place: Constructors’ Cup
| I send | Motor | Lenses | |
| = | 1. Mercedes AMG Petronas | Mercedes | 504 |
| = | 2. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | Sling | 240 |
 |
3. BWT Racing Point F1 Team | Mercedes | 154 |
|
4. McLaren F1 Team | Renault | 149 |
 |
5. Renault DP World F1 Team | Renault | 136 |
| = | 6. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 130 |
| = | 7. Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | Sling | 89 |
| = | 8. Alfa Romeo Racing | Ferrari | 8 |
| = | 9. Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 3 |
