Stunning Turkish GP: Vettel on the podium and Hamilton the new World Champion

The Istanbul Park race circuit once again showed how interesting individual Grand Prix can be. Things were really happening on the track, not only during the race but throughout the weekend. The start itself clearly predicted that this would be an interesting race indeed. And it was!

After Saturday’s qualifying and Friday’s practice sessions, it was already clear what the Turkish Grand Prix at the Istanbul Park circuit could be like. Thanks to the new asphalt and also the rain, the qualifying results were very unusual indeed.

Lance Stroll took pole position for the first time in his career, with Max Verstappen starting alongside him. Sergio Pérez started third, with Mercedes starting from sixth and ninth.

It was a very exciting and interesting race from the start. After all five lights went out, both Red Bulls got off to a very poor start, while Sebastian Vettel, starting from eleventh place, literally “flew through” to third. The race lead belonged to the Racing Point drivers.

After the second lap, Stroll and Pérez had already built up a good lead. Sergio was 5 seconds behind the leading Stroll, with Vettel third and Pérez second by 7 seconds. Racing Points were really solid in the first few laps, with Pérez even setting the fastest lap of the race three times.

However, on lap eight, Valtteri Bottas opened up the pit stops with his pit-stop. Over the next four laps, the drivers switched to intermediate tyres. The lap times were suddenly several seconds faster, a fact that was very often confirmed by the performance of Charles Leclerc.

On lap thirteen we witnessed a virtual safety car – Antonio Giovinazzi was forced to retire his Alfa Romeo due to technical problems. The drivers had trouble controlling the car on track throughout the race weekend, so the Grand Prix order didn’t change much. Max Verstappen or Valtteri Bottas found themselves on the clock several times later on.

It was the Finnish driver in the service of Mercedes who experienced a weekend he will want to forget very quickly. Very apt was the radio communication between him and his race engineer, who announced to Bottas four laps before the end the information about the early end of this Grand Prix. In the Finn’s subsequent response, his depression was very evident.

On lap 36, Kevin Magnussen pitted with an unsecured wheel and subsequently failed to finish the race. Romain Grosjean, the co-driver in the Haas, also failed to finish the Turkish Grand Prix. Latifi in the Williams was the next to fail to finish. George Russell finished 16th, Kimi Räikkönen 15th.

Bottas’s placing – 14th – seemed to speak for the entirety of the torrid weekend. The first driver to score points was Daniel Ricciardo, who finished the race in the number ten position in his Renault. Lance Stroll was incredibly far down the order. He was left with only the final ninth place to show for his victory ambitions.

However, the McLarens made a decent move forward. Sainz finished fifth and Norris eighth, despite the disadvantages at the start. According to the team’s words, Red Bull will also want to forget this Grand Prix – Max Verstappen’s sixth place and Albon’s seventh position are not exactly dazzling results.

Who, on the other hand, can celebrate a solid points haul is Ferrari. Leclerc finished the race fourth and Vettel visited the podium for the first time this season!

A great result for Sergio Pérez! After two years, the Mexican finally made it to the podium, and after crossing the finish line, it was clear on the pit wall. The Turkish Grand Prix was finally won by Lewis Hamilton, securing his seventh World Championship title! Michael Schumacher’s record has been equalled.

The final three corners on the last lap were infectious. Sergio Pérez went off the track for a brief moment and Charles Leclerc took second place. However, he failed to make the last corner a few dozen metres away, and second place went back to Pérez. Vettel also took advantage of Leclerc’s mistake, which put him in third place.

Sebastian Vettel himself also made sure to mention this in the interview. “I really enjoyed the race, I’m really happy for this result, for this third place. The track was wet in some places and dry in others. Then, despite our guesses, it didn’t dry out in various places and was consistently wet,” Sebastian Vettel also said in a post-race interview.

A touching interview was given by Lewis Hamilton. He not only thanked everyone who had accompanied him to seven world titles and who had walked the journey with him. Hamilton also urged all people and especially the kids to never give up on their dreams, never give up!

He added: “We have learned a lot with the team over the years. The decisive factor for today’s victory was that we managed to keep the tyres at the optimum temperature.”

He also recalled an unfortunate experience in China in 2007, when he lost the title on pit lane with just two laps to go – then still in the service of McLaren. Mercedes had planned a safety stop, but the British driver and seven-time world champion stayed on the track for exactly that reason.

Sources:: twitter.com, F1 Live