© Getty ImagesBulls Charge To Double Podium In IstanbulMax P2 and Checo P3 at the Turkish Grand Prix.
MaxVerstappenpoweredbacktothetopoftheFormula1Drivers’standingswithasuperblyexecuteddrivetosecondplaceintheTurkishGrandPrix.TherewasdoubledelightfortheBullsasSergioPérezclaimedhisfirstpodiumfinishsincetheFrenchGrandPrixwithabattlingdrivetothirdplacethatincludedanepicfighttokeepLewisHamiltonatbay.
Checo Shows Strong Defence On Inters© Getty Images
While Max enjoyed a solid, though slightly lonely drive to the second step of the podium behind race winner Valtteri Bottas, Checo found himself duelling with Hamilton for fourth place soon after half distance.
And when Hamilton attacked on lap 42 it looked like the Mexican driver might not hold him off. But while Checo was forced wide at the final corner in a furious tussle with the Mercedes driver, he stayed calm and held his line to push in front again at the start of the following lap and hold his position. And when Hamilton pitted late and dropped back to P5, Checo was able to close in and pass Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final laps to claim an excellent 13th career podium finish and seal the Team’s second double podium of the season.
At the start of the race, polesitter Valtteri Bottas got away well in the damp conditions to take the race lead ahead of Max who also got away well. Behind them Checo got a superb start and powered down the inside towards turn one to pull alongside AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
The French driver was tussling with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, however, and the pair made contact. Alonso was sent into a spin and Checo slipped past to grab fourth place.
With clear air ahead Bottas began to pull away from Max through the first stint and by lap 10 the Finn was two seconds ahead of Max who was running 1.8s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Checo was holding fourth, 2.7s behind the Monégasque driver.
Max Delivering A Solid Race At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
The men on the move were Hamilton who had climbed to P7, around 17s behind Max, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who had risen to P11 following the P19 start he had made due to a power unit change. Hamilton was soon past McLaren’s Lando Norris and on lap 15 he powered past Gasly on the run to turn 12 to take fifth place, 6.5s behind Checo.
The gap between the Mercedes driver and Checo narrowed steadily and with the Mexican driver being told to manage his fuel through lifting and coasting to get reward later in the race, by lap 22 Hamilton was just 3.0s behind. Behind them Sainz was continuing his climb through the field and by lap 25 he had muscled his way through to ninth place.
In fourth place, Checo now began to pick up the pace to match Hamilton’s times and at half distance he was holding the gap steady at around three seconds. At the front, meanwhile, Max was three seconds adrift of Bottas who continued to lead.
On lap 34, Hamilton reeled Checo in and attacked. The pair went wheel-to-wheel for the second half of lap 34 and as they battled hard Sergio was forced to go inside the bollard at the pit entry. That allowed Hamilton to pull ahead as they crossed the line to start lap 35, but Checo stayed calm and held his line to move back to fourth as they went through turn one.
Max then made his sole pit stop of the race and took another set of intermediates in a quick 2.1s stop. Checo followed and he too took on intermediates.
Here Comes The Quick Pit Stop© Getty Images
Leclerc, who had not pitted, now led the race ahead of Bottas and Max. Hamilton was now in P4, 14 seconds ahead of Checo. Hamilton was called to the pits on lap 42 but with no regulatory requirement to change tyres in the damp conditions and with his times still solid Hamilton elected to stay out.
Ahead, Max was reporting that he was having issues with this steering wheel, but despite the problem he continued to lap solidly. Bottas, meanwhile, closed on Leclerc who was struggling on starting inters. And on lap 47 there was nothing the Ferrari driver could do when Bottas closed up and powered past through turn one.
Hamilton, meanwhile, told his pit wall that while he was sliding around, he could manage the tyres and with 10 laps left he was in third behind Max. His team disagreed, however, and on lap 51 Hamilton pitted for a new set of intermediate tyres. He re-joined in fifth place, six seconds behind Sergio.
The Mexican was on the move, however, and on lap 52 Checo powered past Leclerc in Turn 12 to seize third place. Ahead Max was now comfortable in second place, 7.7s behind Bottas and five seconds ahead of his Red Bull Racing Honda teammate.
Hamilton was now suffering severe graining on his new intermediate tyres as they went through the drop-off phase before going slick and he began to drop back from Leclerc and into the clutches of Gasly who was lapping up to two seconds quicker. But even though Gasly pushed hard to close up the Mercedes, Hamilton held firm in the final laps to keep P5.
And, after 58 laps, some 41 seconds ahead, Bottas crossed the line to take his first win of the season. Max followed to take his 54th career podium finish ahead of Checo. With Leclerc fourth ahead of Hamilton and Gasly, seventh place went to Norris. Sainz completed an excellent recovery drive with eighth place at the flag, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took ninth. The final point on offer went to Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Turkish Grand Prix 2021: Race
Checo Is Happy With Podium Finish© Getty Images
Max On Full Send With Inters© Getty Images
Max Pleased With P2 At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
Getting Ahead Of The Competition© Getty Images
Tricky Wet Conditions At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
A Lot Of Spray On The Formation Lap© Getty Images
Max Celebrating The Result With The Team© Getty Images
Max Is All Smiles In Turkey© Getty Images
As a Team, to finish second and third here was a great result. It was a pretty straight forward race today and I think in general we had a decent day.
"The race was all about managing tyres, to make sure they lasted to the end which means it wasn’t the most fun race to drive as you always want to push hard. Nevertheless, I think we maximised the result today and it’s good to be leading the Drivers’ Championship again. I do wish I had a bit more pace in the car but we are still in the fight, we’ll keep pushing and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we will be.”
Checo On Podium At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
"It has been a while since I have been up there, I think the last two or three races we should have been on the podium, but we have been so unlucky. I got a good start, I think there was some contact between Fernando and Pierre into turn one so there were three cars, including me, and I thought we weren’t going to make it but in the end, it was a good result for me. After that I didn’t feel comfortable in the first stint with the car and I lost a lot of ground but then the second stint was all about pushing at the right time and using my experience to get a podium for the Team. Lewis was closing in really fast and at that time I was struggling quite a lot with my tyres, he had good pace and I thought he might get past me but it turned into a good fight and I came out on top. Lewis is a top driver and it was enjoyable racing with him. When I was standing on the podium I saw a lot of Mexican flags in the grandstands, we are so far from home here in Turkey so it was lovely to see. I think there is a lot we can learn from this race, it is a good result for the Team and now we’re looking forward to Austin."
Christian Horner Is Ready To Go At Istanbul Park© Getty Images
A double podium for us was a great result to come away with this weekend.
"Max has regained the lead in the drivers’ championship at a track that has traditionally been strong for Mercedes, we limited the damage and it was a great team job with lots of constructor points, so we’ll keep fighting. The lead for the championship keeps changing hands and the rest of the year is going to be incredibly tight, we have some big races coming up and it’s good to be putting Mercedes under pressure. For us the crucial moment today was when to pit Checo, we could have kept him out to keep holding up Lewis, but we decided to pit him because we didn’t believe Hamilton’s tyres were going to make it to the end of the race. Checo did an amazing job today, he raced Lewis just as hard as Max does. He went wheel to wheel with him and he actually ended up in the pit lane when Lewis ran him out there, and then it was a drag race down the start-finish straight and he just stuck with it. The next race in Austin has been a Hamilton strong hold so we are going to have to be at the very top of our game, it’s great to be in this fight and the whole team is really enjoying it.”
| Position | Driver | Team | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Max Verstappen | Sergio Pérez | Charles Leclerc | Lewis Hamilton | Pierre Gasly | Lando Norris | Carlos Sainz | Lance Stroll | Esteban Ocon |
| Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Mercedes | AlphaTauri | McLaren | Ferrari | Aston Martin | Alpine |
