THE 2021 TURKISH GRAND PRIX
ROUND 16. 8th – 10th October.
1052nd F1 GRAND PRIX | 9th TURKISH GRAND PRIX | 9th GRAND PRIX AT ISTANBUL PARK
2020 POLESITTER: LANCE STROLL | 2020 WINNER: LEWIS HAMILTON
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday 8th October
Free Practice 1 (11:30am Local Time/ 9:30am UK Time)
Free Practice 2 (3pm Local Time/ 1pm UK Time)
Saturday 9th October
Free Practice 3 (12pm Local Time/ 10am UK Time)
Qualifying (3pm Local Time/ 1pm UK Time)
Sunday 10th October
The 2021 Turkish Grand Prix (3pm Local Time/ 1pm UK Time)
WEEKEND MILESTONES
- If Lewis Hamilton wins the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, he will equal Felipe Massa’s record for most wins at Istanbul Park. Massa won three times at Istanbul Park. Hamilton has won the event twice so far, in 2010 and 2020. A victory for Hamilton would also make him only the second driver, after Massa, to have won the Turkish Grand Prix in consecutive seasons.
- McLaren will equal Ferrari’s record of most Turkish Grand Prix victories if they win this weekend. Ferrari have three wins at the circuit so far, compared to McLaren’s two wins. Red Bull or Mercedes could become the third team to take multiple Turkish Grand Prix wins.
- Mercedes-powered cars have won four of the eight Turkish Grands Prix held so far. They could extend the record to five this weekend, while Ferrari could equal the record for most wins for an engine manufacturer at the Istanbul Park track.
- Lewis Hamilton can extend his record for most circuits at which a driver has taken pole position this weekend. Hamilton has taken pole at 30 different circuits so far in his career, but is yet to set the fastest Saturday time at Istanbul Park.
READ MORE IN MILESTONES AND RECORDS TO BREAK
WEEKEND NOTES
Since last year’s Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul Park’s track surface has been treated in order to improve grip.
Information about the upcoming race weekend, such as DRS zones and track changes, will be added here.
ISTANBUL PARK TRACK GUIDE
Formula 1 first raced in Turkey in 2005, and returned to the country in 2020, nine years after the last race at the circuit.
Situated around an hour’s drive from Istanbul, Istanbul Park hosted the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix in 2005. Construction work began on the circuit in September 2003 and was completed just prior to the first F1 race in 2005, at a cost of over $200 million. The anti-clockwise circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, with many considering it to be his best work. The circuit is well-liked by drivers, with the multi-apex Turn 8 being a particular highlight.
Formula 1 raced at Istanbul Park seven times during its first stint on the calendar. While the first race was won by Kimi Raikkonen for McLaren, Felipe Massa would go on to sweep the next three poles and wins at the track; this being the only circuit at which he would win three times in his career. In the following years, Jenson Button would take the last win of his title-winning season here in 2009, while Red Bull team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had a famous collision in 2010.
READ MORE IN OUR ULTIMATE TRACK GUIDE
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULES
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers on the Thursday before the race. All 20 drivers will appear in the press conference, which will take place virtually.
The media will also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams on Friday. The team members appearing in the Teams’ Press Conference for this race weekend are Franz Tost (AlphaTauri), Otmar Szafnauer (Aston Martin), Laurent Mekies (Ferrari), Frederic Vasseur (Alfa Romeo), Guenther Steiner (Haas) and Jost Capito (Williams).
DRIVER STEWARD
Each weekend a former Formula 1 driver, or a driver from another prominent series of motorsport, joins the stewards to help judge any incidents from a drivers’ perspective. The Driver Steward this weekend is Enrique Bernoldi.
WEATHER FORECAST
The weather forecast for the week ahead at the circuit currently looks like this:
[wpc-weather id=”13113″/]
TYRE SELECTIONS
In 2021, each team will be supplied with the same selection of tyres by Pirelli: two sets of hard compounds, three sets of medium compounds and eight sets of soft compounds. Pirelli will supply the C2, C3 and C4 compounds for this race weekend.
2020 TURKISH GP RECAP
For the first time since 2006, Formula 1 raced at Istanbul Park for the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix. Low grip levels produced an action-packed weekend, in which Lance Stroll took pole position and Lewis Hamilton was crowned World Champion for the seventh time.
From the start of the Turkish Grand Prix weekend, it was clear that the newly resurfaced Istanbul Park would be tricky to navigate. Drivers slipped and slid their way through the three practice sessions, with the teams unable to really get up to speed. Overnight rain ahead of Saturday’s action produced a memorable and hectic qualifying session. Q1 was stopped due to heavy rain, while Romain Grosjean spun off when the session resumed, bringing out the red flags again. Q2 and Q3 were similarly damp affairs, with Lance Stroll ultimately securing his maiden pole position with Racing Point. The Silverstone-based team started with both cars in the top three, with Max Verstappen alongside Stroll on the front row.
On Sunday, the cars crawled from the starting grid. Stroll and Sergio Perez led the opening stages in 1-2 formation for Racing Point, while Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were the biggest gainers in the chaotic opening turns, racing into third and fourth. Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon made contact, with the Mercedes spinning and all but ending the Finn’s championship hopes. Hamilton ran wide, allowing Vettel, Verstappen and Alex Albon ahead. Stroll pulled out a nine second lead, as Verstappen attempted to pass Perez. Unable to make the move, the Red Bull spun and dropped down the order to sixth. Albon and Bottas joined Verstappen in spinning over the next laps, with Bottas extending his spin count to three. Lando Norris pulled off an audacious move on Williams’ George Russell, before the leaders made their stops. Stroll stopped, but Hamilton’s strategy worked out, with the Mercedes harrying Perez for the lead of the race. Ferrari had a strong race, with both Vettel and Charles Leclerc running in the top five. Leclerc passed his team-mate, and took third place from Verstappen. Polesitter Stroll dropped further down the order on his intermediate tyres, while Hamilton had a pit stop in hand at the head of the pack. Hamilton went on to win the race and with it secured a record-equalling seventh World Championship victory. There was drama yet to come behind, as Leclerc attempted an overtake on Perez for second place. The Ferrari driver locked up, allowing team-mate Vettel to take his only podium finish of the 2020 season.
FASTEST EVER LAP
RECENT FASTEST LAPS IN EACH SESSION
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2020 | |
| Free Practice 1 | 1:28.952 (Nico Rosberg) | 1:28.653 (Lewis Hamilton) | 1:38.670 (Fernando Alonso) | 1:35.077 (Max Verstappen) |
| Free Practice 2 | 1:28.841 (Heikki Kovalainen) | 1:28.280 (Jenson Button) | 1:26.456 (Jenson Button) | 1:28.330 (Max Verstappen) |
| Free Practice 3 | 1:27.983 (Felipe Massa) | 1:27.086 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:26.037 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:48.485 (Max Verstappen) |
| Qualifying | 1:28.316 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:26.295 (Mark Webber) | 1:25.049 (Sebastian Vettel) | 1:47.765 (Lance Stroll) |
| Grand Prix | 1:27.579 (Jenson Button) | 1:29.165 (Vitaly Petrov) | 1:29.703 (Mark Webber) | 1:36.806 (Lando Norris) |