In a tame day in Turkey, teams and drivers were eager and a tad nervous to find out how much the grip had improved from the previous year, and they certainly got what they were hoping for – lapping over five seconds quicker then the best Friday time in 2020.
Rarely for a circuit that takes over 80 seconds to lap, the whole field were split by just 1.894s, with the top ten within a second of each other.
Lewis Hamilton topped both practice sessions rather comfortably, but will lose ten places on the grid after taking his fourth Internal Combustion Engine, ICE, which exceeds the limit. Many expected Mercedes to replace all parts of the power unit, and suffer the same penalty Max Verstappen had in Russia, but no. It was an enjoyable day for Mercedes though as Valtteri Bottas ended the day in third. Right where the Finn needs to be after Hamilton’s grid drop.
Understeer was a popular thing for many on Friday, especially Red Bull’s title antagonist – Verstappen, who does not tend to enjoy that effect in his cars. Red Bull have their work cut out overnight to find some lost time as their drivers finished up in fourth and fifth, with Sergio Perez ahead but half a second away from Hamilton. Verstappen found himself a further tenth away.
With rain showers in the air for the weekend, Red Bull will be hoping that the weekend turns damp if they cannot fix the problems Verstappen was facing. However, the pace seemed to come to the Dutchman as their race runs dragged on, eventually matching Hamilton.
Are Red Bull on the back foot, or have they come into the weekend with their setup dependant on rainfall?
To the view of everyone, the front tyres seemed to be the most affected as the laps went on.
Charles Leclerc ran well at Turkey last season in the more then tricky conditions, and has started this weekend on the front foot with second place. The Ferrari man ended the day just 0.166s shy of Hamilton’s fastest time of 1:23.804s. Adding to this, the race pace of Leclerc seemed to lack just 0.1s per lap when compared to Hamilton’s run. A very promising day for him and Ferrari.
McLaren endured a mixed day, as they usually do on a Friday. Lando Norris has now put his missed chance in Russia behind him and has started the Turkish Grand Prix weekend in the top ten with seventh, 0.7s from the top. The same progress cannot be said for Daniel Ricciardo as the Australian languished down in 14th, struggling with the setup of his McLaren and 1.2s away. Sadly for Ricciardo, the tweaks to his car did not seem to make a difference.
Maybe he will also be hoping the rain hits.
Alpine had fun, with their drivers lining up line and stern in seventh and eighth, with both 0.8s away. Fernando Alonso lead the duo despite having problems with oversteer, as Esteban Ocon saw his car fail to engage first gear for the practice starts after the final session.
Similarly to their sister team, AlphaTauri struggled throughout the day with understeer which was demonstrated by Pierre Gasly’s spin during the afternoon session. Drifting out wide, Gasly’s rear tyre dipped onto the dirt, sending him round – but the Frenchman still ended the day in ninth. Yuki Tsunoda found himself a lot closer to his teammate then usual by lapping just over a tenth shy but missed out on beginning the weekend in the top ten.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi drove his nervous looking car to tenth, just managing to sneak within a second of Hamilton by 0.008s.
Hamilton is not the only driver to take a grid penalty this weekend, as Carlos Sainz suffers the same reward as his teammate in Russia by starting at the very back of the field. The Spaniard seemed to solely focus on his race trim, which was not a surprise to anybody given his situation this weekend.
Last season’s polesitter Lance Stroll struggled in his Aston Martin, and finished Friday 1.2s down in 13th, with Sebastian Vettel further behind in 16th. The German driver pointed out the poor balance of his machine, reciting the views of many drivers.
The first winner of the Turkish Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen, lacked pace compared to his teammate, and lapped down in 15th whilst losing four tenths to Giovinazzi. Raikkonen did suffer a malfunction with his drinks system after having it disconnected and leak over his boots.
Which, in usual social media fashion, prompted the well known ‘drincc’ meme.
Despite having enjoyed their new found form in recent races, Williams trailed at the back with both drivers 1.5s off the pace, as Nicholas Latifi lead George Russell despite losing control of his car at turn nine twice in the afternoon. Gusts of wind mixed with a lack of rear end grip saw the Canadian round, as many struggled to nail that part of the track.
Finally, as usual this season, the Haas pair filled the back row with Mick Schumacher in 19th and followed Russell by just over a tenth. Nikita Mazepin completed the field a further three tenths from his teammate, and saw a set of tyres go into the bin after losing the rear of his car at the famous turn eight.
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