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Max To Start On Front Row In IstanbulBulls to line up in second and sixth for tomorrow’s Turkish Grand Prix.
MaxVerstappenwillstarttheTurkishGrandPrixfromthefrontrow,behindMercedes’ValtteriBottasafterLewisHamiltonwentquickestinQualifyingatIstanbulPark.
The Mercedes driver will however, start P11 due to an engine penalty and Max will rise to P2 on the grid tomorrow. Sergio Pérez qualified seventh but will start from sixth place once Hamilton’s penalty is applied.
Q1
Ahead of Q1 the weather forecast predicted rain early in the session and that meant a long queue formed at the pit exit as drivers prepared to get in a banker lap.
The 18-minute session proved to be frantic as the rain arrived around five minutes into the session and drivers pounded around seeking better times. The expected steady rain held off, however, and the track showed gradual and continual improvement leading to nervous moments in the final part of the segment.
As the chequered flag flew Max found himself in P12. But he had just started a new flying lap and at the end of the tour he vaulted to safety in second place with a lap of 1:24.592. It was less worrying for Checo, who was seventh as he began his final flyer, and the Mexican progressed to Q2 in fourth place. Hamilton, meanwhile, went through in top spot, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly third.
However, in the final flyers it was McLaren’s Daniel Riccirado who was the biggest loser. The McLaren driver looked to be safe with his final flyer but, despite a guaranteed back of the grid start due to PU penalties, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz put in a full session and his final flyer bounced Ricciardo out into P17 along with fellow drop zone fallers Nicholas Latifi of Williams, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen and Haas’ Nikita Mazepin.
Turkish Grand Prix 2021: Qualifying
Q2
In the second segment, the bulk of the field opted for medium tyres, looking to start the race on that compound. Checo’s Q2 got off to a rocky start, however, with a lurid spin in turn one during his first flying lap. The Mexican recovered, however, and once again made steady progress through the session to eventually progress to Q3 in sixth place behind fourth-placed Gasly and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
Max, meanwhile, made no mistakes and posted a best time of 1:23.732, which took him to third place behind fastest man Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Eliminated at the end of the middle segment were Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ George Russell, Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Sainz who completed just a single out lap in Q2.
Q3
In the first runs of Q3, Max finished just two tenths off provisional pole sitter Bottas. But in the final runs Hamilton pulled away to claim top spot with a lap of 1:22.868s with Bottas 0.130 and Max two tenths further back in third.
Checo, meanwhile, had just one new set of softs to play with in the top-10 shootout and he couldn’t find his way past seventh place as ahead of him Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed fourth, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took fifth and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished sixth.
Eighth place in qualifying went to McLaren’s Lando Norris with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ninth ahead of the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda.
However, with Hamilton P11, due to an engine penalty, Max will start second and Checo seventh.
WhatMaxSaid:
Max VerstappenMax Verstappen
Quote iconI am of course happy with third* and starting on the front row tomorrow.Max Verstappen Signature
"We improved a little bit from yesterday and the balance is a bit better but overall this weekend has been a bit more difficult. I hope for a clean get away tomorrow but starting on the inside will be tricky, as there is very low grip in both dry and wet conditions compared to the outside, so we are expecting to lose out there slightly. We also need to consider the gap behind us, it’s much tighter than usual. We’ll aim to make the best of it and try everything we can tomorrow to keep the Mercedes behind but it’s not going to be easy, they’ve had great pace all weekend."
*Starts P2 for tomorrow’s race
WhatChecoSaid:
"With the mixed conditions in Q1 we lost a set of new softs, meaning we only had one set for Q3. We did a banker lap on the used softs which was a decent time and then we didn’t manage to improve as much as we wanted to on the second run, which meant we didn’t get the lap time we were looking for. I am feeling positive and I am looking forward to trying to get through the grid and score some good points for the Team. It is a pretty long race around here, overtaking is possible and the tyre degradation will be pretty high out there, so there is everything to play for. I believe if we can get a good clean run into turn one then we will be looking good for the rest of the race and a podium could be possible. We are up for the challenge; we have good strategy and pace."
WhatChristianHornerSaid:
Christian Horner
Quote iconThe guys have made a good recovery overnight and fixed some issues we needed to work out.Christian Horner Signature
"I think the whole engineering Team, both trackside and back at the factory in Milton Keynes, have done a great job to make the progress that we have, hopefully that puts us in better shape for tomorrow. With Max qualifying in third, but starting the race from second, it’s going to be vital he gets a good start and tries to get ahead of Bottas early on as Lewis has looked the quickest he’s been all year so far around here, so he’s going to be coming through pretty quickly. Checo’s times on the scrub tyre and the medium tyre were strong, it was just that last run on the new set of softs that didn’t come together. The strategy we’ve picked tomorrow for him should see him be able to make good progress. We think we can be closer to Mercedes tomorrow than we were in qualifying, so we’ve got to get our heads down, keep plugging away, get the strategy right and try to capitalise by getting the maximum points we can for both drivers.”
TurkishGrandPrixQualifyingTop10
PositionDriverTeamTime
12345678910
Lewis HamiltonValtteri BottasMax VerstappenCharles LeclercPierre GaslyFernando AlonsoSergio PérezLando NorrisLance StrollYuki Tsunoda
MercedesMercedesRed Bull Racing HondaFerrariAlphaTauriAlpineRed Bull Racing HondaMcLarenAston MartinAlphaTauri
1.22.8681.22.9981.23.1961.23.2651.23.3261.23.4771.23.7061.23.9541.24.3051.24.368
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