Lewis Hamilton FAILS to set a time as Max Verstappen goes quickest in final practice for the Turkish Grand Prix… but once again session is marred by low grip track and heavy rain
Max Verstappen completed a free practice clean sweep ahead of this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, but slippery track conditions once again proved the main talking point in Istanbul.
The majority of the drivers complained throughout Friday over the severe lack of grip the newly resurfaced Istanbul Park was producing but rain on Saturday exacerbated the problem further in the final session before qualifying.
Verstappen though was quickest once again for Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton one of three drivers down at the bottom having failed to set a lap time after choosing to stay in the garage.
Lewis Hamilton failed to set a time having run through a few exploratory laps in final practice
Max Verstappen was fastest for Red Bull in the final practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix
The Dutchman completed a final practice clean sweep having been fastest throughout Friday
Charles Leclerc was once more an impressive second for Ferrari while Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon was third.
Hamilton heads into the weekend knowing he only has to finish ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas to match Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championships.
And although the Brit has, like most drivers, struggled to generate heat in his tyres, the problems also seem to be hitting the Finn who was eighth fastest.
Charles Leclerc was second fastest in the very wet and slippery conditions for Ferrari
Like Verstappen, Leclerc has been one of the drivers best able to cope with the conditions
Bottas was over seven seconds down on Verstappen’s best effort of 1:48.485 on a weekend where he must win to have any chance of taking the title fight on to Bahrain next time out.
Although the very wet conditions, which worsened during practice, are unlikely to gauge a proper reading of outright pace, qualifying is still set to be unpredictable in Istanbul.
The newly resurfaced track and low temperatures have left drivers comparing conditions to like driving on an ‘ice rink’ and Hamilton had described the conditions as s*** with a capital S on Friday.
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