Turkish Grand Prix : Lewis Hamilton qualifies in first but will start 11th after engine penalty

It was a dark and dingy day in Turkey. But to start Qualifying there was no rain, with it expected to come thick and fast. The cars were queueing at the end of the pit lane, waiting for the green lights, thinking the rain was coming. The drivers went out and immediately struggled with the conditions, with Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen spinning and most of the drivers had their lap times deleted.

But the predicted rain never came and the cars got used to the conditions. Mick Schumacher was the shock of the session, as he put the Haas into Q2 for the first time. We lost Daniel Ricciardo, Nicholas Latifi, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen and Nikita Mazepin. 

In Q2, every driver immediately went out just in case the rain did come, but it didn’t. Other than a Charles Leclerc spin in the middle of the session, nothing crazy happened. Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in the session, five tenths quicker than anyone. We lost Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, George Russell, Mick Schumacher and Carlos Sainz.

The sun came out for Q3 but it was still an evacuation from the pit lane for all the drivers. On the first set of laps, it was Valtteri Bottas who took provisional pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen.

It was the Hamilton show on the final set of laps as he broke the track record, but a change in the engine at the start of the weekend will see him start 11^th. Bottas put in a great lap in his final stretch as a Mercedes driver, two tenths ahead of Verstappen and will start on pole.

Leclerc showed the Ferrari pace we saw on Friday as he will start third. Pierre Gasly continued to show his strong pace as he will start in fourth. Fernando Alonso starts in fifth with Sergio Perez in sixth. Lando Norris will start in seventh with Lance Stroll in eighth. Yuki Tsunoda starts ninth and Vettel, due to Hamilton’s engine change, will start tenth.