Hamilton Edges out Leclerc in Second Practice for Turkish Grand Prix

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. 

The only downside for Alpine came after the session when a suspected gearbox issue prevented Ocon from attempting his practice race start.  He was forced to abandon his car on the grid and allow the marshals in Turkey to recover his car to the pit lane.

Despite a spin at turn six, Pierre Gasly was again inside the top ten for Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda in ninth, while team-mate Yuki Tsunoda had a much better second session to finish eleventh, only missing out on the top ten by 0.086 seconds.  Denying the Japanese driver a place inside the top ten was Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

Running a new power unit this weekend and knowing he will be starting the race at the back of the grid regardless of where he qualifies, Carlos Sainz Jr. ended twelfth fastest in the second Ferrari, just ahead of the leading Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver and last year’s surprise polesitter in Turkey, Lance Stroll.

Daniel Ricciardo will be scratching his head to be only fourteenth in the second McLaren, more than half a second down on team-mate Norris, while fifteenth-placed Kimi Räikkönen will be hoping his Alfa Romeo team sort out his drink after an issue during the session saw the water from it leak down into the cockpit and around the Finn’s feet.

Former Turkish Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel was a lowly sixteenth in the second Aston Martin, while Nicholas Latifi edged out Williams Racing team-mate George Russell despite the Canadian having two spins at turn nine.

The two Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers once again brought up the rear of the field, with Mick Schumacher just over two-tenths of a second faster than team-mate Nikita Mazepin.  Mazepin was another to suffer a spin during the session, the Russian losing it at the third apex of turn eight.

Intercity Istanbul Park Free Practice 2 Result