Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB16, Free Practice 1, Formula 1 DHL Turkish Grand Prix, Intercity Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Tuzia, Turkey. Image credit to Sutton Images. Verstappen Turkish GP FP1. 2020 Bahrain GP Preview.
Max Verstappen topped the time-sheets ahead of team-mate Alexander Albon in a Red Bull Racing one-two in FP1 at the Turkish GP as the team’s struggled with Istanbul Park’s low-grip surface.
Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB16, Free Practice 1, Formula 1 DHL Turkish Grand Prix, Intercity Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Tuzia, Turkey. Image credit to Sutton Images. Verstappen Turkish GP FP1.
The hour and a half session was interrupted during the very early stages of the session when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slid wide ahead of the last corner and knocked the pit-lane entry bollard off it’s position.
This left the bolts exposed and the session was red-flagged, with several drivers yet to have post a time under two minutes as they struggled for grip running Pirelli’s C1 white side-walled harder compound on the new track surface, which stayed below 20 degrees for Free Practice One’s entirety.
Verstappen said the conditions were “like ice”, while McLaren’s Lando Norris labelled it “worse than ice” – with the circuit also featuring damp spots, after it was washed before the proceedings got underway.
After an eight-minute stoppage for the bollard to be replaced, the session resumed, and by the half-hour mark only three drivers had set a lap-time.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz posted the first lap-time of a 2:02.840, although his effort was invalidated for exceeding track limits at the first corner, despite the Spaniard sliding slowly off the track and not gaining an advantage.
In that case, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the early benchmark of a 2:01.145 taking P1 on the harder rubber, before Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was the first of the two Silver Arrows drivers to emerge following the 20-minute mark.
The Finn also slid off at turn one (Turkish Corkscrew), after Mercedes warned him that his tyres were “20-degrees below target”, meaning his initial effort – a 1:48.426 was also invalidated.
But Bottas then set a string of laps. bringing the quickest time to a 1:43.009 just before the first half hour passed.
Almost 15 minutes later, the rest of the field started to post times, Verstappen went fastest with a 1:42.753 – also on hards, which completed most of the running as the teams were given an extra set of the hardest compound available for the second time this campaign, after the Portuguese Grand Prix, which also took place on newly installed, low-grip track surface.
Verstappen then lowered the benchmark to a 1:41.741 as he completed a stint of laps before Bottas emerged after the midway lull to bring to a 1:39.204 just after the hour.
Verstappen’s next stint saw him improve to a 1:37.151, posted just before the deployment of the virtual safety car after McLaren’s Sainz stopped his MCL35 racer beyond the turn seven, uphill right-hand hairpin with the Spaniard reporting engine and power-steering issues.
This left Verstappen holding P1 for a long stint before the two Ferrari drivers relegated the Dutchman near the session’s final 15 minute-mark, with Vettel ahead of Leclerc on a 1:36.085 before the latter went quicker on a 1:35.507.
At this stage, several drivers were running a set of C2 mediums but did not trouble the drivers at the top of the time-sheets, and Williams Racing’s George Russell (last in the time-sheets) was the only driver to run the C3 red-marked softs but the Briton posted his best effort on the hards.
Red Bull Racing’s Albon went to the top with just over five minutes remaining on the clock, with a 1:35.318 on the harder compounds, before Verstappen reclaimed P1 with his last effort on that tyre in the final two minutes – a 1:35.077 – overtaking Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi off the track with DRS assistance as he flew through the high-speed kink at turn 11, which separate’s Intercity Istanbul Park’s two main-straights.
Albon wound up 0.241 seconds adrift of Verstappen’s Turkish GP FP1 benchmark time, with Leclerc taking third place and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly fourth, who spun at the “Turkish Corkscrew” during the halfway point in the session, the fastest driver on the mediums posted a 1:35.543, 0.430 seconds slower than Verstappen’s Turkish GP FP1 effort.
Vettel completed the top five and in-front of Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat who was sixth, McLaren’s Norris who took seventh and Giovinazzi eighth as all drivers set their best efforts on the mediums.
Bottas ended opening practice in ninth, using the harder compound throughout the session, with Renault’s Esteban Ocon rounding out the top ten.
Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi was 11th and ahead of the two Racing Points of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll who were 12th and 13th respectively.
Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean was 14th in the opening practice session.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton did not emerge on track until 40 minutes had passed, with the Briton, who can claim his seven world title-crown this weekend, not registering a time until the final 20 minutes of FP1.
The Mercedes drivers finished 15th on the time-sheets and 5.148 seconds adrift of Verstappen’s Turkish GP FP1 benchmark effort, also running the harder compounds.
Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen ended in 16th and in-front of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who wound up 17th and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo who was 18th.
The aforementioned Sainz and Russell brought up the rear.
Several drivers suffered a spin in the second half of the 90 minute session, with Kvyat and Latifi taking a 360 in the slow final few corners by the pit-lane entry, whilst Bottas and Verstappen – on his slow-lap after his best time was posted – touring around at high-speed at turn nine, the 90-degree left that flows into the acceleration corner of the turn ten right and feeds onto the long two-park back straight.
