Formula 1 defending champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas with title rival Max Verstappen in third place. (More sports news)
However, Hamilton has a 10-place penalty for exceeding its three internal combustion engine allotment for the season and will start from 11th on Sunday. That means Bottas will be in the front row, followed by Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third, alongside AlphaTauris Pierre Gasly in fourth after a strong last lap from Gasly.
Hamilton’s record-breaking 102nd pole brought him 0.13 seconds ahead of Bottas and 0.33 seconds ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull.
“It was a tricky session, there were still some wet spots (on the track),” said Hamilton. “I can imagine that tomorrow it will be difficult to move up. We have the long straight at the back, so we’ll see what we can do. “
Hamilton will aim for a record 101st F1 win, while Verstappen will aim for an 18th
Verstappen felt that the car had improved after a few complications in Friday’s two practice sessions.
“The laps were pretty good. We lost a little on the straight, we have to check that. All in all a pretty decent recovery from yesterday, “said Verstappen.
“Let’s see what the weather does overnight. Let’s see how competitive we can be in the race. Obviously the tire wear is quite high on this track. But it’s a lot of fun to drive the track. “
Bottas is still aiming for his first win of the season and this time with Hamilton he might be able to bring him back too far to challenge him.
“I’m on pole, so it should be good,” said the Finn. “Tomorrow I will concentrate on my own race and try to keep up with the good pace.”
When it started raining in the afternoon, the drivers tried to do fast, fast laps in the first quarter before the track got too wet.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. turned off the track and got back in, as did AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda while Hamilton went wide at Turn 5.
Hamilton led Q1 ahead of Verstappen and Bottas, while McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo – winner of eight F1 races – was the biggest name among the five that fell out.
“I struggled to get more out of the soft tires,” said Ricciardo. “No excuses.”
Although Hamilton was again leading Q2 ahead of Bottas and Verstappen, he also complained about not getting enough heat into his tires.
Leclerc had a downforce problem and lost the rear of his Ferrari when he slipped off the track in the middle of Q2. That damaged his tires a bit and put him in danger of not qualifying for Q3. But the Monaco driver made it through on his final lap, while four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel was absent for Aston Martin.
The 5.3 kilometer track in Istanbul Park was fairly dry in the third quarter and Hamilton took control without too much trouble.
In an exciting title race he is two points ahead of Verstappen, but could well be overtaken by the Dutchman. Hamilton is this season with 7: 5 for wins and 7: 4 for the pole behind Verstappen and there are still six races to Turkey.
Before that, Gasly set the fastest time in a rainy third and final practice session. It was led by Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and Verstappen. Hamilton was far behind in 18th place, but hardly took part because he saved tires for qualifying.
The last session was interrupted for a few minutes just before halftime when Williams driver George Russell got off the track and landed on gravel.
Verstappen, Vettel and Leclerc all made 360-degree turns before regaining control of their cars.
Sainz Jr. is the last to start after a complete engine change earlier this week.
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