Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 ahead of Ferrari in F1 Turkish GP FP1
Max Verstappen headed a Red Bull 1-2 in an unusual opening practice session on Formula 1’s return to Istanbul for the Turkish Grand Prix.
F1’s first visit to Turkey in nine years provided unrepresentative running and a mixed up order for the opening practice session as the drivers struggled with low grip conditions around the Istanbul Park circuit amid cold temperatures.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen were among a handful of drivers who were seen sliding around, running wide and spinning on numerous occasions, with McLaren’s Lando Norris reporting track conditions were “worse than ice” during the early stages.
With the grip failing to improve drastically by the end of the first 90-minute session, Verstappen ultimately set the pace on a 1m35.077 - a time that failed to get within 10 seconds of Sebastian Vettel’s pole lap for the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix.
Both Mercedes drivers finished off the pace with Bottas ninth and Lewis Hamilton, who can clinch a record-equalling world championship this weekend, down in a lowly 15th after completing a total of just 12 laps.
Verstappen led under-pressure Red Bull teammate Alex Albon by two-tenths, while Charles Leclerc was a surprise third for Ferrari, nearly half a second further back.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly split the Ferrari duo on Medium tyres in fourth, with 2011 Turkish GP winner Vettel fifth and half a second off the pace in his SF1000.
Daniil Kvyat was sixth in the second AlphaTauri, ahead of Norris’ McLaren, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Bottas and Esteban Ocon, who completed the top-10 for Renault.
It was not a good day for Carlos Sainz, who parked up at the side of the circuit after suffering a suspected engine problem in his McLaren.
The Spaniard had already spent a long period of FP1 in the garage with McLaren attempting to fix what it initially described as a “small electrical issue”, but the power unit problems persisted when he returned to the track, causing his stoppage.
FULL OPENING PRACTICE RESULTS FOR THE 2020 F1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX.
