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Lewis Hamilton would be lining up from pole position for tomorrow’s Turkish Grand Prix, after being the fastest driver in qualifying at the Intercity Istanbul Park Circuit, his penalty however for a new ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) means he lines up eleventh. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas inherited pole position.

It was a perfect qualifying for Hamilton and the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, who knew that with the British driver’s penalty, eleventh place would be the best starting position possible. The seven-time world champion has looked strong all weekend and qualifying was no different, in what were difficult conditions following a light shower during Qualifying One.

Had it not been for the penalty it would’ve been Hamilton’s first ever time on pole in Turkey, the venue where he claimed his seventh crown last season. Overtaking appears to be difficult around the circuit meaning that coming through the field from eleventh will be no easy task for Hamilton, who is going to give it everything.

“It’s so good to be back in Turkey, last year was an unbelievable visit here for myself and the Team! Coming back, the track is completely different – the grip level we’ve got now is absolutely awesome. The session today was really tricky because there were still some damp patches and getting temperature into the tyres for the first lap wasn’t easy. But it was a really, really great job by the Team, they got us out at the right time and put in a great performance.

“Tomorrow is going to be difficult, but I’ll give it everything! Overtaking isn’t the easiest at the moment and we’re all on the same tyre so I imagine tomorrow is going to be difficult to move up. We’ve got the long straight down the back so we’ll see what we can do. Hopefully we can give the fans here a good race!”

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series star Loris Hezemans will dip his feet into the top flight of American stock car racing in 2022. On Saturday, he was announced as the driver of the #27 Ford Mustang owned by his father Toine Hezemans and Dutch entrepreneur Ernst Berg on a part-time 2022 NASCAR Cup Series slate. The operation, known as Team Hezeberg, will operate with support from Camping World Truck Series team Reaume Brothers Racing.

Driving for Hendriks Motorsport (not to be confused with premier Cup team Hendrick Motorsports), Hezemans won the Euro Series championship in 2019. He currently leads the point standings with four victories including a EuroNASCAR PRO class sweep of the season opener in Valencia.

The Dutchman’s first taste of American national series racing came in the Xfinity Series in 2019 when he finished twenty-second at Road America for B.J. McLeod Motorsports. Two years later, he signed with MBM Motorsports, who was fielding a car in alliance with Reaume, for Phoenix. He ran another oval at Pocono for DGM Racing before failing to qualify at the Indianapolis Road Course with RBR. Hezemans is back with MBM for Saturday’s event on the Charlotte Roval; the start means he will not run the concurrent Euro Series round at Zolder.

Hezemans is believed to be the first Dutch driver to compete in the Cup Series. Unsurprisingly considering the Euro Series’ circuit composition, his 2022 Cup schedule will be road course-heavy as he runs all six such races: Circuit of the Americas, Sonoma Raceway, Road America, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, and Charlotte. There is also the possibility of entering the short tracks of Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Richmond Raceway; while the Euro Series exclusively runs road courses nowadays, the occasional ovals in the past have been short tracks such as the half-mile Raceway Venray, where Hezemans won in 2019. He hopes to compete full-time in the Cup Series in 2023.

Fellow Euro Series driver Jacques Villeneuve, who was a former Cup and Xfinity road course ringer, will test the team’s Next Gen car at the Roval on Tuesday.

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix in the sixteenth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. But Hamilton will take a 10-place grid penalty in the race for a new power unit component. Valtteri Bottas who finished in second position inherits pole position on Sunday.

Max Verstappen was in third position with a big gap of 0.328 seconds to Hamilton. Charles Leclerc finished in fourth position and will be promoted to third because of Hamilton’s penalty.

The qualifying session at the Intercity Istanbul Park circuit in Turkey took place under overcast conditions with air temperatures at 18 degree C and track temperatures at 23 degree C.

Q1: Daniel Ricciardo Eliminated

After a wet final practice session, there was a threat of rain when the session started and rain fell briefly. But the drivers managed to get through the session on the slick tyres.

The drivers struggled to keep the car on the track in the early part of the session. As the track started drying, the times tumbled at the end of the session.

Pierre Gasly was the surprise pacesetter in the final practice session at Intercity Istanbul Park on Saturday morning as rain struck the home of the Turkish Grand Prix.

Initially the track was saturated, and it was a few minutes into the session before anyone ventured onto the track on the full wet tyres.  However, with the rain easing and then stopping, intermediate tyres were the way to go until the end.

A number of drivers found conditions difficult, particularly at turn nine where the track seemed to be holding water more than any other turn, but it was turn two that saw Williams Racing’s George Russell spin into the gravel trap after touching the wetter part of the track on the outside of the turn and aquaplaning.

Russell, who will join the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in 2022, was unable to escape the gravel trap, and officials had no option but to throw the red flags and stop the session after twenty-two minutes had elapsed.

On resumption, the Red Bull Racing duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez took turns at the top of the timesheets, although the former was one of those to have a spin at turn nine, the Dutchman completing a neat three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin before returning to the track.

Despite finishing inside the top ten in both Friday practice sessions, Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Pierre Gasly felt there is more to come from both himself and his AT-02 this weekend at Intercity Istanbul Park.

The Frenchman, who has failed to score points in either of the past two Grand Prix, was eighth fastest in the morning session and ninth in the afternoon, and he was the busiest driver across the two sessions, completing sixty-two laps. He suffered a spin at turn six during the afternoon’s running but was able to keep the car out of the gravel trap.

But despite being inside the top ten in both sessions, Gasly was far from happy with the set-up of his car, and he hopes for a better balance and an improved pace when Saturday’s running gets underway.

“Today I haven’t felt that great in the car, but we’ve still come away with two strong positions which is positive, and I believe there is more we can give again tomorrow,” said Gasly.  

“I wasn’t too happy with the balance of the car, as I was experiencing a lot of understeer, so that’s something we’ve got to work on.

Fernando Alonso says it is good news that the grip levels at Intercity Istanbul Park are seemingly back to normal, and he was able to have confidence in attacking the track on Friday.

The Spaniard, who did not race in the Turkish Grand Prix in 2020 so missed out on the slippery conditions, was happy with the performance of his Alpine F1 Team car on Friday, with the two-time World Champion ending inside the top ten in both sessions.

Alonso was ninth fastest in the morning and seventh in the afternoon, with the forty-year-old revealing very little was changed on his A521 between the two sessions.

“Today was like discovering a new track for the very first time,” said Alonso.  “I think it was the same for everybody after the issues with track grip from last year. It seems the grip is back to normal, which is good news and it means we can have confidence in the car during a lap.

“We didn’t really change much on the car in both sessions, so we were mostly experimenting the tyres today.

Lando Norris admitted it was good to be back in the car during practice for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday, and the Briton was pleased to be inside the top seven in both sessions.

Having lost out on his maiden Formula 1 victory in the Russian Grand Prix two weeks ago after being caught out by the weather having led for much of the afternoon, the McLaren F1 Team driver was delighted to be back driving on Friday. 

He posted the seventh fastest time in the morning session at Intercity Istanbul Park before improving to sixth in the afternoon, and Norris felt the running on Friday was just what he and the team needed, and he has confidence of a strong weekend for McLaren in Turkey.

“It felt good to be back in the car and to get things going again,” said Norris.  “It’s been a decent Friday, quite different conditions to what we had in Turkey last season. It feels like a different track altogether.

“I think we learned quite a bit today in preparation for tomorrow and the race. Friday was exactly what we needed, and we’ll try to do better again tomorrow.”

Max Verstappen says Red Bull Racing have a lot of work to do overnight if they are to be competitive this weekend at Intercity Istanbul Park, with the Dutchman ending his Friday only fifth fastest.

Despite knowing his title rival Lewis Hamilton has a ten-place grid penalty thanks to an engine change this weekend in Turkey, Verstappen knows it is important for he and Red Bull to focus only on what they are doing, and he feels improvements need to be made before Saturday’s running.

Verstappen is hoping the hard work the team continue to perform will pay off, and he is hoping for a day better than he experienced on Friday.

“It’s a super nice track especially with the improved conditions but it looks like we have a lot to go through this evening because today wasn’t the best of days,” said Verstappen.

“We tried a few different things going from FP1 to FP2 but we’re still looking around for improvements as we don’t have a lot of data on these cars for this track.

Charles Leclerc remains cautious about the potential of Scuderia Ferrari this weekend at Intercity Istanbul Park despite a strong-looking Friday for the Monegasque driver in Turkey.

Leclerc was an encouraging third fastest in the morning session behind only Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, while it was an even better afternoon session for the two-time Grand Prix winner as he was second quickest, behind only Hamilton.

On a track that is offering a lot more grip than it was back in 2020, Leclerc felt more at home and able to attack on Friday, but while he remains optimistic about his chances of a good weekend, he knows the important sessions and running are still to come on Saturday and Sunday.

“Compared to last year, the track has more grip,” said Leclerc. “The car felt really good today, and I really enjoyed driving as I could play with the rear of the car and rotate it like that. This seems to have worked out well for now, as we were quite competitive.

“Although things are looking positive so far, it’s only Friday. We need to keep our heads down and work on fine tuning the car to have a good qualifying.”

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team decided not to change all of Lewis Hamilton’s engine components ahead of this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix as it would not have been advantageous on either a performance or reliability level.

Hamilton will drop only ten places on the grid at Intercity Istanbul Park after Mercedes opted to replace only his internal combustion engine, whilst relying on the older other components across the remainder of the season.

Andrew Shovlin, the trackside engineering director at Mercedes, admitted they considered changing all components, which would have put Hamilton to the back of the grid, but ultimately they decided it was not worth the risk.

“We are simulating all the races until the end of the year,” Shovlin said to Sky Sports F1.  “There is the balance and risk of a reliability issue, and obviously the thing that you definitely don’t want to do is fail during the race and then have to take a penalty anyway.

“Then there is also a performance element because the power units do lose a bit of horsepower over their life.  The 10-place penalty is the bit that most contributes to that reliability element and the performance is the ICE itself, so it is better to take 10 places than to start from the back.”

Lewis Hamilton knows he will have a lot of work to do on Sunday afternoon at Intercity Istanbul Park due to his grid penalty, so he is looking to take pole position to limit the loss of the penalty.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver has taken a new internal combustion engine (ICU) this weekend in Turkey and will take a ten-place penalty for Sunday’s race, and he started the weekend well by topping both free practice sessions on Friday.

With grip levels at the track significantly better than they were twelve months ago, Hamilton was able to break the track lap record in the morning session that had been there since 2005, and he went even quicker in the afternoon.  But he knows the hard work this weekend is still to come.

“The track felt so different to last year – in 2020, oil was rising from the new surface and the grip was so difficult to find,” said Hamilton.  “Coming into this weekend, I didn’t know what to expect when we went out there but the level of grip was intense, it was awesome. The track is so much more enjoyable to drive.

“We started off with a really great setup in FP1, the first session was strong. We made some changes between the sessions and combined with track evolution, the car didn’t feel quite as good but we made some important learnings, for sure.

Lewis Hamilton continued to lead the way at Intercity Istanbul Park as times continued to tumble in second practice for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday afternoon.

After setting a circuit record-breaking pace in the morning session, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver took top spot in the afternoon with a blistering lap of 1:23.804, although he was run close by Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was just 0.166 seconds back in second.

Having only used soft tyres in the morning session, Hamilton finally took to the track on the medium compound in the afternoon, but it was when he returned to the softs that he took over at the top of the timing sheets.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas ended up third, but unlike the top two, he was unable to get under the 1:24 bracket, with his best lap of 1:24.214 enough to edge out both the Red Bull Racing drivers.  Sergio Pérez had the better of the sessions of the Red Bull pairing in fourth, with championship contender Max Verstappen ending almost a tenth of a second behind the Mexican in fifth.

Lando Norris was an encouraging sixth for the McLaren F1 Team, while the Alpine F1 Team will be encouraged by their performance as Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon ended seventh and eighth respectively, just 0.012 seconds apart. 

Lewis Hamilton topped the opening free practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday morning, but the Briton will go into Qualifying on Saturday knowing he will drop ten places on the grid following an engine change.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver broke the Intercity Istanbul Park lap record in the opening session, with times considerably faster than they were twelve months ago when track conditions proved much more slippery than they were on Friday.

The track had been water-blasted ahead of the 2021 event, and it seemed to have worked as times tumbled compared to the 2020 race, with Hamilton’s best of 1:24.178 breaking the track record time of 1:24.770, which was from the 2005 event by Juan Pablo Montoya.

However, Hamilton will drop ten places on the grid for Sunday’s race after Mercedes opted to fit his fourth power unit for this event.  This will give title rival Max Verstappen some confidence, and the Red Bull Racing driver ended second quickest in the session, albeit 0.425 seconds back on Hamilton’s time. 

Third fastest was Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with the Monegasque driver using his updated power unit to good effect to get to within half a second of Hamilton’s best, while team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr., who will start at the back of the grid on Sunday following his change of engine, was fifth fastest, just behind the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Lance Stroll will return to the scene of one of his best moments of his Formula 1 career this weekend, with the Canadian remembering fondly his first Turkish Grand Prix in 2020.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver, then driving for the BWT Racing Point Formula 1 Team, took a surprise pole position in the wet conditions at the Intercity Istanbul Park last year and led a good number of laps at the start, only for a damaged front wing to compromise his second half of the race and drop him to ninth at the chequered flag.

However, he was pleased with how he performed in difficult conditions last year, and he is aiming to return to the points in Turkey this weekend.

“My first experience of Turkey last year gave me one of the best moments of my career when I took pole position before leading laps on Sunday,” said Stroll.  “Those experiences showcased how challenging the track can be.

“Grip can be difficult to find, but that makes for a constant challenge. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and aiming for points.”

The partnership between Red Bull Racing and Honda Motor Co. will continue beyond the 2021 Formula 1 season, even with the latter withdrawing from the sport at the end of the current season.

An agreement between the two parties means Red Bull will take over the intellectual rights of the Honda power units for 2022, with Honda continuing to build the engines and offer some trackside assistance next season.

The three key points of the agreement between the two companies are:

Red Bull Powertrains has the right to use Honda’s IP relating to the Power Unit.Honda will support Red Bull Powertrains in building the 2022 PU and also provide trackside and race operation support from Japan throughout the 2022 season, and from 2023, Red Bull Powertrains will take responsibility for all manufacturing and servicing of Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s engines.Employees of Honda Racing Development UK (Milton Keynes) will become employees of Red Bull Powertrains.

The two young driver programmes – Red Bull Junior Team and Honda Dream Project – will continue working together, while the two teams are looking at other options to work together in other forms of motorsport outside of Formula 1.

“I’m glad that we have reached an agreement with Red Bull Group covering all the details of the IP rights for the F1 Power Unit and in this way, Honda can still contribute to the motor racing world,” said Koji Watanabe, the Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations at Honda Motor Co.