Turkish Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Lewis Hamilton ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari

The first 20 minutes

The 20 single-seaters returned to the track under a threatening sky, as rain is indeed forecasted this weekend in Turkey.

In Free Practice 1, the three drivers (Tsunoda – Schumacher – Mazepin) who did not know the track had finished in the last three positions in the timing classification, it is up to them to show their ability to learn and adapt to this layout.

During these first minutes of driving, we witnessed a small traffic jam at the beginning of turn 13. The qualifying session could prove to be tricky or dangerous if single-seaters arrive at high speed on a small group slowing down.

Turns 12-14 are slow, but not usually this slow 👀#TurkishGP 🇹🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ct4D8E22IN

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2021

After the first 20 minutes of driving, Charles Leclerc positioned his Ferrari at the top of the time rankings (1:24.102), followed by Lewis Hamilton (+ 0.099) and Valtteri Bottas (+ 0.321), all three equipped with medium tires (yellow).

At midday

Antonio Giovinazzi, whose seat is coveted by many drivers, will have to show Fred Vasseur that he would be the perfect teammate for Valtteri Bottas in 2022. At the moment, the latest rumors suggest the arrival of Oscar Piastri (current leader in F2) and Guanyu Zhou. As for Théo Pourchaire, it seems that the Frenchman will stay in Formula 2 next year to gain more experience.

We were able to witness a funny scene at Alfa Romeo where Kimi Räikkönen’s water bottle was leaking continuously into his helmet. This did not amuse the future retiree who had to immobilize his car for long minutes in the pits.

With 20 minutes left in the session, Lewis Hamilton reclaimed the top spot on the timesheets with a time of 1:23.804. Charles Leclerc (+0.166) and Valtteri Bottas (+0.410) placed 2nd and 3rd. Max Verstappen and his white Red Bull were 5th behind his teammate and 0.635 behind Lewis Hamilton.

The last 20 minutes

A team stood out more than others in the middle of the pack and it is French. Alpine placed its two drivers in the top 10 (Alonso 7th and Ocon 8th). The French cars were 6th and 9th this morning.

On his side, Pierre Gasly, who carries all the hopes of AlphaTauri, placed his car in 9th position, 0.952 seconds off the reference time. On his part, Yuki Tsunoda, in 11th place, seemed to have tamed the Turkish track well, which he was discovering, by placing his AT02 in 11th position.

After an hour of testing, Lewis Hamilton ended the day with the best time of each session and a track record. The Englishman will also have to set a fast pace during the race (as he’s penalized by 10 places) if he doesn’t want to see Max Verstappen pull away in the driver standings.

Timing ranking