Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was again fastest in a cold and rain-soaked final practice for the Turkish Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later yesterday.
On a slippery track compared to an “ice rink” by Lewis Hamilton after Friday’s two practice runs, Verstappen was 0.94 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and 1.57 seconds ahead of Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon on a resurfaced Istanbul circuit last used in Formula One in 2011.
Hamilton did not set a lap time, a risky move if it does not dry out in time for qualifying.
Photo: AP
“There’s just no grip out here,” Hamilton said. “Shocking.”
His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas pushed hard all the way through the session in a bid to get some heat into the tires and was eighth quickest, but 7 seconds behind Verstappen.
Verstappen, who was quickest in both sessions on Friday, did well in treacherous conditions that caused several drivers to spin.
Photo: Reuters
Leclerc lost control early on and bumped Esteban Ocon’s Renault off the track, while McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr went off the track.
Barely 20 minutes into the session, Leclerc slid off and narrowly avoided hitting the crash barriers.
“It’s undriveable like this,” Leclerc said. “Tires are too cold.”
AlphaTauri driver Daniil Kvyat joked that the conditions were like driving on ice.
Hamilton on Friday said that he was baffled and terrified by the treacherous nature of the track.
The 35-year-old Briton, who is seeking to seal a record-equaling seventh world title in today’s race, said that his day’s practice had been “a little bit of a disaster” at the Istanbul Park circuit.
“This is such a fantastic circuit and I really don’t understand why they spend millions to do a resurface of the track,” he said. “I know it’s been sitting around for a long time, but maybe they could have just cleaned it instead of wasting all their money.”
“Now, it is worse than Portimao [Portugal] with its new surface so, for us, the tires aren’t working and you can see it’s like an ice-rink out there,” he said. “You don’t quite get the enjoyment of the lap as you would expect here at Istanbul and I don’t see that changing.”
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