Farcical conditions play havoc on Formula 1's return to Turkey

Turkish Grand Prix

Farcical conditions play havoc on Formula 1's return to Turkey

Newly-laid surface caused issues during first practice

Ian Parkes

Friday 13 November 2020 10:40

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Formula 1's return to Turkey was hit with farcical conditions for first practice at the Istanbul Park circuit.

If the drivers thought the conditions were poor at the newly-laid surface at Portimão a few weeks ago for the Portuguese Grand Prix weekend, they were far worse across the opening 90 minutes at the Istanbul Park.

Like Portimão, a new layer of asphalt was only applied 10 days ago, with the situation exacerbated by the fact the track was washed on Thursday and again Friday morning shortly before the session started.

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It meant the drivers headed out on to an incredibly greasy surface that was drying in places, notably along the main straight basked in shadow, and not helped by the low temperatures given the time of the year.

For the majority of the session, the drivers were forced to tread gingerly due to the lack of grip, and unsurprisingly they faced a fight to keep control of their cars, with numerous off-track moments.

The session also lost 12 minutes early on due to a bollard at the entry to the pit lane sent flying after just five minutes and requiring it to be firmly fixed back in place.

Overall, lap times were irrelevant, with the leading time from Red Bull's Max Verstappen of one minute 35.077secs 10 seconds slower than Sebastian Vettel's pole position lap from F1's last visit to the venue nine years ago.

Verstappen, who endured a spin late on, finished ahead of team-mate Alex Albon and Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Vettel then sandwiching AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, with the quintet covered by just over half a second.

Of the five, only Gasly was on the medium tyres with the remainder on the hard compound.

Lewis Hamilton, who can win his seventh world title this weekend, did not bother to post a timed lap until 20 minutes from the end.

After completing a couple of installation laps, the Mercedes driver opted to make a set-up change early on, and in tandem with the conditions, he left it as late as possible before venturing out and finally posting a number of meaningful laps.

Hamilton finished 15th on the timesheet, just over five seconds adrift. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas was ninth and 2.5s down, with the duo both on the hard compound.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz finished 19th after his session concluded 25 minutes early due to a power unit issue that resulted in him pulling off to the side of the track.

Williams' George Russell, who faces grid penalties this weekend, was last, over 14 seconds off the pace.

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