F1 Turkish Grand Prix

© J. Francois Barnard – November 15, 2020

A wet, beyond damp, Formula DHL Turkish Grand Prix 2020 took place November 15, 2020. It was the first time since 2011 that the Formula 1 circus came to Istanbul Park, in Tuzla, Istanbul. Only Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Pérez have been here before as Formula 1 drivers.

Pirelli, the tyre supplier, was caught off-guard. They admitted bringing the wrong tyres to the track, which had been resurfaced two weeks before the event. The drivers struggled the whole weekend to find grip and the slippery conditions threw the cat amongst the pigeons - which is good for Formula 1!

To our surprise, the Mercedes Benz Silver Arrows ran like backmarkers in ninth and fifteenth positions during the first practice session. Several drivers spun off the track, and everybody complained about not having grip on the wet surface. Verstappen managed the best times in all three practice sessions.

Qualifying started in the wet, and as Martin Brundle said: "If conditions stay like this, it is going to be like the lottery!" It was not long, and the first qualifying session was red-flagged. Eventually, the Red Bulls took the first two positions, and Kimi Räikkönen was third. Lewis Hamilton was close to being eliminated from the first qualifying session as he ended in the fourteenth position.

The second qualifying session yielded the top two positions in Red Bull's favour, followed by Lewis Hamilton in third. Both Ferraris were out.

The final qualifying session belonged to Lance Stroll - his first pole ever! Verstappen qualified second and Pérez third. Hamilton was down in sixth and Bottas in ninth.

At this stage, Lewis Hamilton is the championship leader, and if he could win, he would become a seven-time champion. If not, and Bottas can do better, there will be a mathematical chance Bottas can swing the championship, however unlikely it may seem. With a wet race at hand, we all looked forward to a Sunday race where just about anything could happen.

Sunday's wet track yielded an interesting phenomenon at the start: Max Verstappen pulled away like a grandma! He quickly lost several positions, and by turn one, he was down to the eighth position, just ahead of his teammate.

Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas made up positions, but Bottas and Ocon spun off at turn one. A few turns later and Hamilton also spun off.

By lap 18, Stroll and Pérez were still running ahead, with Verstappen and Albon chasing them. Vettel was fifth, a rare position for him in 2020, and Hamilton sixth. Bottas was demoted down to the fifteenth position. Just as Verstappen fancied a pass on Pérez, he spun off and gave the third position to his teammate. Vettel and Hamilton also passed him, dropping him to sixth.

By lap thirty-three, Sainz and Ricciardo also passed Verstappen and were battling with each other. On the next lap, Albon spun off, handing the podium position to Lewis Hamilton.

As Lance Stroll came in for a pit stop, Pérez took the lead, and Hamilton was promoted into the second position. Meanwhile, Verstappen has gained places again and passed Stroll into third. A few moments later, Hamilton overtook Pérez and positioned himself to win his seventh world championship. However, there were still twenty-one laps over in the race, and as we know, anything could happen!

Picture credit: SkySports F1

Much did happen behind Hamilton, but he steadily pulled away from all the drama in his rearview mirror. Just as he took the chequered flag, Charl Leclerc overtook Pérez, but overshot the turn, lost the place to Pérez again and to that old fox, Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton is a true seven-time world champion!

The race classification: