© Getty ImagesFree Practice Update - Turkish Grand Prix 2021Hello and welcome to Istanbul Park for round 16 of the 2021 Formula One World Championship.
Thisweekendwillbeonlythesecondtimesince2011thatTurkeyhashostedarace,andthetrackhasquicklybecomeadrivers’favourite.
Last year was an exceptionally slippery surface and everyone is hoping it has rubbered in for this year because the track boasts 46m in elevation and a mix of high-speed and low-speed corners which should make for a fantastic race.
This weekend’s race will be 58 laps of the 5.338km long circuit creating race distance of 309.396km. The current lap record is held by Juan Pablo Montoya who set a time of 1:24.770 in 2005.
Checo Out On Softs In Istanbul Park© Getty Images
The Bulls first outing on track – in their special Japanese livery – began with Free Practice One on Friday morning. Both Max and Checo spent the majority of the hour out on track. Max completed 24 laps with a best time of 1:24.603 which saw him in P2 behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Checo also put in 24 laps with a fastest time of 1:25.459 placing him in P10.
In Friday’s Free Practice Two session, the sun had disappeared, but the cloud didn’t change the track temperature too much. The Bulls hit the circuit again almost as soon as the session went green and started to put in flying laps.
Checo’s stint consisted of 28 laps with a best time of 1:24.373 which saw him sitting in P4. Max put in an another solid stint finishing in P5 with a session-best time of 1:24.439 after completing 27 laps.
Saturday morning’s session, Free Practice Three, brought the rain with it and much colder temperatures. It meant that most drivers started their session on the wet tyres, but as the rain eased a lot of people swapped for the inters. The change came too early for Russell, who spun and caused a red flag.
Both Max and Checo were in no rush to get out on track and didn’t emerge from the garage until after the red flag with 30 minutes in the session remaining. Both Bulls headed out on inters and at the end of the session Max completed 11 laps and found himself in P2 behind Pierre Gasly with a time of 1.30.611. Checo was close to his teammate, finishing in P3 with his fastest time of 1.30.684 after completing 13 laps.
Turkish Grand Prix 2021: Free Practice
Getting Close To The Corner© Getty Images
Bringing The Heat To The Track© Getty Images
Quick Pit Stop With Checo© Getty Images
Max Out On Mediums At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
Flying Laps At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
Keeping The Fans Entertained© Getty Images
Two White Bulls On Track© Getty Images
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Charles Leclerc | Valtteri Bottas | Carlos Sainz | Esteban Ocon | Lando Norris | Pierre Gasly | Fernando Alonso | Sergio Pérez |
| Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Mercedes | Ferrari | Alpine | McLaren | AlphaTauri | Alpine | Red Bull Racing Honda |
| 1.24.178 | 1.24.603 | 1.24.654 | 1.24.842 | 1.24.860 | 1.24.909 | 1.25.347 | 1.25.382 | 1.25.383 | 1.25.459 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Charles Leclerc | Valtteri Bottas | Sergio Pérez | Max Verstappen | Lando Norris | Fernando Alonso | Esteban Ocon | Pierre Gasly | Antonio Giovinazzi |
| Mercedes | Ferrari | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Red Bull Racing Honda | McLaren | Alpine | Alpine | AlphaTauri | Alfa Romeo Racing |
| 1.23.804 | 1.23.970 | 1.24.214 | 1.24.373 | 1.24.439 | 1.24.525 | 1.24.660 | 1.24.672 | 1.24.756 | 1.24.796 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Pierre Gasly | Max Verstappen | Sergio Pérez | Carlos Sainz | Charles Leclerc | Fernando Alonso | Kimi Räikkönen | Yuki Tsunoda | Valtteri Bottas | Esteban Ocon |
| AlphaTauri | Red Bull Racing Honda | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Ferrari | Alpine | Alfa Romeo Racing | AlphaTauri | Mercedes | Alpine |
| 1.30.447 | 1.30.611 | 1.30.684 | 1.31.262 | 1.31.543 | 1.31.545 | 1.31.572 | 1.31.981 | 1.31.996 | 1.32.089 |
Max Ready For Istanbul Park© Vladimir rys
It’s a super nice track especially with the improved conditions but it looks like we have a lot to go through this evening because today wasn’t the best of days.
"We tried a few different things going from FP1 to FP2 but we’re still looking around for improvements as we don’t have a lot of data on these cars for this track. Of course, Lewis is taking a penalty on Sunday but we have to focus on ourselves, hopefully we can make improvements before qualifying tomorrow as we have some challenges, we'll see what we can do. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the weekend and getting back out there on track.”
Checo In Special White Driver Race Suit© Getty Images
"The amount of grip surprised me today; it is more like a standard track out there now, but it is still very challenging because the grip is not consistent. Sometimes on the entrance to the corner you have less grip than on the exit, so as a driver it is difficult to adjust to that aspect of this track. Mercedes look strong here but hopefully overnight we are able to chip away a couple of tenths and be in the mix for tomorrow. It is all about compromise because if you try and get the ideal balance for qualifying over one lap then you compromise the long run pace a bit, which is important here because overtaking is relatively easy. There is the potential of rain for qualifying tomorrow, but we will be well prepared, whatever the weather.”
