Hamilton fastest, Bottas on Turkish pole

Lewis Hamilton has qualified quickest for the Turkish Grand Prix but a 10-place grid penalty for the Formula One championship leader has handed pole position to his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen, two points behind the Briton with seven races remaining, qualified third for Red Bull and will join Bottas on the front row at Istanbul Park on Sunday.

Saturday’s pole was a first for Bottas since Portugal in May, and the 18th of his career, but Hamilton was fastest in every phase of qualifying after taking the hit for a new engine that exceeded his season’s allocation.

“Tomorrow is going to be difficult but I’ll give it everything,” said Britain’s seven-time world champion Hamilton of the task ahead.

“We’ve got the long straight down the back, we’ll see what we can do. Hopefully, we can give the fans here a good race.”

Verstappen took a grid penalty at the previous race in Russia and finished second after starting at the back of the field, his progress helped after late rain caused problems for others.

Mercedes will be looking to Bottas, who is leaving the team for Alfa Romeo at the end of the season, to keep Verstappen behind him while Hamilton sets about fighting through from 11th on the grid.

“I’ll focus on my own race tomorrow, that’s the way to go when you start in front, and try to keep up a good pace,” said the Finn.

Verstappen struggled with the setup in Friday practice, with the track far grippier than last year’s slippery surface, but said the team had made “a decent recovery.

“Tomorrow, lining up in second, let’s wait and see what the weather will do, but overall I’m pretty happy,” said the Dutch 24-year-old.

“Let’s see how competitive we will be in the race. The tyre wear seems quite high around the track, but it’s quite fun to drive.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will share the second row with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who will be expected by Red Bull to make life difficult for Hamilton as a driver for their sister team.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso, for Alpine, and Verstappen’s Mexican team mate Sergio Perez line up together on row three and will also be hard to get past.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, on pole in Russia and leading until the final laps, was eighth fastest.

But McLaren’s Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo, winner of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, had a disappointing afternoon, finishing 16th after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz kept him out of the second qualifying phase right at the end.

Hamilton fastest, Bottas on Turkish pole
Independent Information