Lewis Hamilton made history by setting up a stellar drive to clinch his 94th F1 victory and 7th Drivers’ title at Istanbul Park!
Arriving at the race weekend, a wind of confusion arose in the paddocks when teams came to the realization that the track had only just been resurfaced 10 days prior to the event. Conditions proved to be quite tricky as drivers could not get their cars to grip the tarmac during the first two practice sessions. The rain got things even more complicated on Saturday as Lance Stroll clinched his maiden pole position in front of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Lance’s Racing Point teammate Sergio Perez.
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Coupled with fresh asphalt and rain, the circuit was an ice rink of a track and proved to be a challenge for both new and seasoned drivers. The race’s start saw both Racing Points scramble off the line away from the pack as chaos began to unfold on the run-down to Turn 1. Max failed to get a good start and was ultimately subsumed by the front-pack. Hamilton started off beautifully from P6 and sent a lunge to the inside of Daniel Ricciardo at T1. In order to avoid a tangle, Ricciardo took evasive action and hit the wheel of his teammate Esteban Ocon, who was running side-by-side; Valtteri Bottas also spun out as a result and fell to P16.
As the lap continued, Hamilton failed to get his wet tires to work, and Vettel and the two Red Bulls took the opportunity to overtake him. A long battle with Vettel and Hamilton followed, and an opportunist move by Albon on Vettel allowed him to close up with the race leaders.
In Lap 19, Max moved within Perez’s overtaking range but was unable to make the move stick thanks to the slippery track, spinning out of Turn 11. This forced him to pit for new intermediate tires, and a train of other drivers followed suit, except for Hamilton and Racing Point cars.
Hamilton had struggled to find a rhythm throughout the first half of the race and had been behind Vettel for a long time. As soon as Vettel was called to the pits, he was released into Perez’s direction and soon found his groove. Soon, Hamilton was attacking Perez in Lap 27 and overtook him with the assistance of DRS. When all this happened, Lando Norris took an opportunistic lung down the inside of the T14 to overtake George Russell.
The stewards decided not to enable DRS until the race’s final stages due to the treacherous conditions on the track. Thus, the overtaking possibilities were limited up to that point. The tricky conditions made it challenging for the strategists to make a sound decision, and the Ferrari box opted to pit Charles Leclerc for new inters in lap 32.
Soon, his lap times lit up the timing charts, and other drivers, including Vettel, were signaled to the pits for fresh new tires. Lance Stroll, who was in charge of the race until that point, pitted for intermediate tires, and his pace dropped in his second stint as the new tires didn’t work to his advantage, and he was overtaken by the other drivers. The Red Bulls also struggled to move up the field and ultimately lost their places to the flying Ferrari.
All of these instances led to a dramatic final lap at the Turkish GP. Leclerc had fresh tires, compared to his rival Perez’s 42-lap old ‘slick-intermediate’ tires, and sent a pass down the inside line at T8 to take P2. Unfortunately, the move didn’t last long enough as Leclerc locked up at the entry to T11 and went wide as a result, allowing Perez and Vettel to occupy the final podium positions.
Hamilton’s drive and his world title run were met with tears of joy and elation. His team and fellow competitors congratulated him. It was a childhood dream coming true for Lewis, as he still struggled to come to terms with his F1 achievements.
He summed up his race with a heartfelt radio message: ‘This is for all the kids out there who dream the impossible; I believe in you too!’
