2021 Turkish GP Qualifying Report :Lewis Hamilton goes but Bottas will start on Pole

Lewis Hamilton went fastest in qualifying for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix but P2 qualifier Valtteri Bottas will start on pole position on Sunday ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Lewis will start from 11th on the grid as his team decided to fit him with new Internal Combustion engine well in advance. But the Brit is keen to put on a show tomorrow in the race for fans.

“The track is absolutely awesome. The team did a really great job getting us out at the right time. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow [after 10-place grid penalty] and hopefully give the fans an exciting race”, said Lewis Hamilton.

The 100% risk of rain predicted ahead of the session manifested in the form of light drizzle in Q1 but the clouds soon dissipated and the track matured to see Lewis Hamilton take top spot in that session, just 0.007s ahead of Max Verstappen. Q2 saw Hamilton repeat the feat, and he delivered again in the final session with an ultimate effort of 1m22.868s – a new track record at Istanbul Park.

Bottas was 0.130s off in P2, which will be pole after team mate’s engine penalty demotes him to P11, while Verstappen was 0.328s off top spot in third.The Flying Fin is really happy with his lap and he said he will focus on his own race instead of his team mate’s championship battle with Max.

“It was a good quali – not easy conditions – especially Q1 was a bit on the edge with the damp parts, and still Q3, the first corner was a bit damp but also Turn 3 and 4. But some good laps.

“The last lap I missed a bit in the last sector, started to gain some understeer, but other than that, the lap was really nice, enjoyed it and obviously as a team result as we really planned.

Lewis with his penalty, now gets the minimal penalty he can, and I’m on pole, so that should be good. I’ll focus on my own race tomorrow. I think that’s the way to go when you start in front, so I won’t give up a good place” – said Valtteri Bottas.

Red Bull and Max not fastest on the track but with Lewis’ penalty they can take advantage in the championship battle tomorrow. The Dutchman is not happy with his car balance on those tricky track conditions. He said

“Conditions were tricky but overall the laps were quite good. “We didn’t have enough to fight for pole but I’m pretty happy. Let’s see how the weather is tomorrow and how competitive we can be”.

Charles Leclerc fourth on the grid for Ferrari ahead of Pierre Gasly in P5, the AlphaTauri driver within half a second of pole.

Fernando Alonso outqualified Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to come home in P6, and the Alpine driver will have a tough task to keep not only the P7 qualifier behind him but also Lando Norris of McLaren (P8) away too.

Lance Stroll of Aston Martin in P9 and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P10 rounded out the top 10.

Mick Schumacher made it to Q2 for Haas for only the second time. He qualified a career-best 14th behind Williams’ George Russell, whose Q3 hopes were dashed with a late off at the final corner in Q2. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was a shock elimination from Q1 in P16 having set his fastest lap before the track rubbered in sufficiently.

Qualifying 15th was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, but penalties for his new engine mean the Spaniard will start last alongside Nikita Mazepin of Haas.