Lewis Hamilton is raging against his transfer to Turkey. An illegal engine swap throws the world championship leader back ten positions on the Formula 1 starting grid on Sunday (2 p.m. / Sky). On the first day of training, however, Hamilton made a strong impression, unimpressed by the mortgage.
The 36-year-old secured the first best time of the weekend in 1: 24.178 minutes in front of his World Cup opponent Max Verstappen (+0.425 seconds) on Friday and even undercut it in the second session. Hamilton relegated Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (+0.166 seconds) to second place in 1: 23.804 minutes. Verstappen in the Red Bull had to be content with fifth place (+0.635 seconds).
Vettel and Schumacher rejected
Sebastian Vettel did not get beyond position 16 in the Aston Martin on Friday, Haas newcomer Mick Schumacher finished 19th and once again left his stable rival Nikita Masepin behind.
Drive roulette in the premier class of motorsport has long been underway – and it hit Hamilton on the Bosphorus. Two weeks ago in Russia, a complete engine change even threw Verstappen to the very end of the field.
Thanks to a crazy race to catch up, the Dutchman did not lose too much ground in the World Cup duel in the 100th Hamilton Grand Prix victory. Verstappen is only two points short of the seven-time world champion from Great Britain. A new combustion engine has now been installed in Hamilton’s company car. It is the fourth this season, only three are allowed without penalty.
“We play through all the races until the end of the season,” explained Mercedes chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin to the English broadcaster Sky Sports. The focus is also on minimizing the risk of a lack of reliability. “You definitely want to avoid failing during a race and then still having to accept a penalty.”
Hamilton has fond memories of Turkey. Last year he secured the World Cup here early despite the rain and chaos. “That was an incredible moment, of course, and what a difficult race,” said Hamilton.
The Intercity Istanbul Park made its Formula 1 comeback in 2020 after a nine-year break amid the corona pandemic. Some pilots ran into problems on the newly paved course. At that time, Hamilton was only knocked off sixth in qualifying because he couldn’t get the tires up to operating temperature. This time, however, there should be more grip on the track.
“We understood some of the issues we had this weekend and I think we fixed some of them in the race. I think we’re better prepared, ”said Hamilton.
He was also prepared for the engine change. At Mercedes, it was about when and not whether. With his Friday appearance, Hamilton nourished the hope of the Silver Arrows to successfully operate damage limitation.
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