2021 Turkish GP Review

Bottas claims first win of the season at a wet Istanbul Park

This weekend continued a recent streak of wet races, with a decent amount of weekends running coming in damp conditions. Qualifying was not one of these sessions, a fairly uneventful day allowed for Mercedes to use their inherent pace advantage over the Red Bulls to take a 1-2 for Sunday's race, with Max Verstappen close behind in third. However, for the third week running, Mercedes decided to switch out the engine of one of their drivers, this time it was Hamilton's, meaning he was demoted down to 11th place, whilst Bottas was promoted pole position. The race was a fairly uneventful affair as well, with the majority of teams holding out for a switch to dry tyres which never actually came; Bottas lead from the start and controlled the race enabling him to take his first victory since the Russian Grand Prix last season, with Verstappen and Perez rounding out the podium places. Further down Hamilton lost out on a potential podium after a poor strategy call towards the end of the race surrounding his stop onto a new set of inters, this meant he only managed to finish fifth and allowed Verstappen to retake the lead of the drivers' championship going into the penultimate stage of the season.

DRIVER WEEKEND REVIEWS:

Mercedes:

Hamilton:6/10, In typical fashion Lewis was able to best his Finnish teammate by taking pole position on Saturday, however Mercedes took the decision to take a new engine component for this weekend which demoted him back down the grid to 11th for the start. He made fairly good progress in the race and was fighting with Perez for 4th by the time the pit-stop window came around, he made the call to stay out and attempt to finish the race on Intermediates when others around him had decided to pit. This was not the right call as he ended up abandoning his strategy gamble a few laps later costing Lewis, as he lost out in his battle with Perez and had to settle for a somewhat underwhelming 5th. This means going into the final 7 rounds Hamilton now trails Verstappen by a slender 6-point margin.

Bottas:8/10, This was a much needed win for Valtteri, who's been out of sorts for a while shown by the fact this was his first victory in over a year. Qualifying went very well for Bottas, whilst he wasn't quickest a Hamilton penalty meant he was promoted to first for the start of the race. Things were comfortable for Bottas from then on as he lead from the front uncontested all the way until the finish, amassing a 14 second lead and taking the fastest lap of the race. The number of doubters over Valtteri's ability have been growing in recent times, however this performance will certainly quiet them down a tad as he looks to end his Mercedes career on a high.

Red Bull:

Verstappen:7/10, With the speculation of a Hamilton engine penalty coming into the weekend Max would've certainly been expecting more than just a second place. In qualifying it became evident that Mercedes had the quicker car, however despite both silver arrows locking out the front row, Verstappen was able to keep up the pressure on behind in 3rd (2nd post penalties). With the race looking as though it'd be wet the expectation was that perhaps Red Bull could mount a challenge on the lone Mercedes left at the front given their track record when in those conditions. However, this wasn't the case as things had remained the same from qualifying, with the Mercedes being just a bit too quick for Verstappen to be able to challenge for the win. In the end Max will still be happy with second, as he resumes his place at the top of the championship standings.

Perez:6/10, This weekend will certainly be a relief for Sergio, who hasn't been able to put a clean weekend together since the Styrian grand prix. A somewhat underwhelming qualifying was more than addressed in the race as he kept a solid pace and put on some impressive defensive driving to keep behind a charging Lewis Hamilton. His efforts were rewarded as he came home to take third, a double podium for Red Bull and Perez's first since the French Grand Prix some 4 months ago.

McLaren:

Norris: 5/10, Murmurs before the weekend that suggested this track did not suit McLarens package came to the fore on Saturday as Lando struggled compared to what he's been able to produce in Grand Prix's previous. He had a very uneventful race too as he got stuck in no-mans-land the majority of the afternoon, except for a short spell at the end where he began to catch some of the faster guys ahead of him. This didn't translate into much though with Lando having to settle for just 7th at the finish. The McLaren team will most likely be pleased with this result as to their own admission this track didn't suit their car, making this weekend one of 'damage limitation' for the Woking based outfit.

Ricciardo: 3/10, After his apparent 'revival' following his shock win at the Italian grand prix, things seem to have come crashing back down to reality for the Aussie. The weekend began miserably as a shock Q1 exit left him down in 16th, much further down than his teammate and even below the Haas of Mick Schumacher. After opting to take new engine parts and start from the back Daniel looked to take advantage of the wet race and make his way up through the pack, however this simply did not work out as planned as much of the race was spent stuck behind slower cars at the rear end of the field. His lack of progress meant he disappointingly only managed 13th place, far below what is expected based on the car and a driver of Ricciardo's talent.

Aston Martin:

Vettel: 3/10, Seb would've been hoping to replicate his exploits from last season in which he claimed a 3rd place in tricky conditions, however it wasn't to be. Qualifying was a struggle for the German as he narrowly missed out on a Q3 appearance, unable to match his teammate Stroll's pace. The race didn't improve his situation as he struggled and fell back from the Stroll, Norris, Gasly group of cars ahead of him as the race went on. Things went from bad to worse as an ill-advised gamble on slick tyres towards the end cost him heaps of time with Vettel ending the day a lowly 18th.

Stroll:6/10, Revisiting the sight of his first pole position Lance will certainly be happy with what he was able to produce this weekend. Outqualifying a 4-time world champion is no mean feat, but Lance managed it on Saturday to claim 9th place and put himself in a good position for some points on Sunday. His race was quiet to say the least, but he showed some impressive speed in damp conditions, something he's been known for throughout his F1 career, and kept his nose clean and was able to take a solid 9th place when the chequered flag fell. This race was indicative of the season that Lance is having, where he's been consistently notching up small numbers points each weekend, a polar opposite to the season of his teammate.

Alpine:

Alonso:4/10, Not a great weekend for Alonso as his impressive recent run of points scoring finishes was put to a stop. Qualifying went well for Fernando as he maximised the pace of his Alpine to take 5th for the start of the race, some way ahead of his teammate Ocon. The race was where things went wrong for Fernando however, as a spin and collision in the opening laps undid all his good work from Qualifying as he was demoted right to the back of the field. His pace from then on was disappointing as he seemed unable to carve his way through the pack, somewhat similarly to Ricciardo. He finished the race in a miserable 16th place.

Ocon:6/10, An odd race for Ocon as he became the first driver in 24 years to complete a full race distance without pitting for new tyres. After an underwhelming qualifying, Esteban had started the race well and was looking likely to collect some decent points towards the mid race. Whilst others around him began to pit for new inters towards the end, the Alpine team decided to keep Ocon out in an attempt to perform a no stop race, as is permitted when wet tyres are used. His pace fell off a cliff towards the end, but he spectacularly held on to just about take 10th place over Giovinazzi.

Ferrari:

Leclerc:7/10, Following the engine upgrades introduced at the Russian Grand Prix, this weekend truly proves that Ferrari have the pace to be able to challenge the big guns once more. He impressed in qualifying managing an excellent 3rd and was only a tenth down on Verstappen in the Red Bull, in the race he was similarly quick as he kept within touching distance of the lead battle between Max and Valterri for most of the race. Things went slightly wrong towards the end as an attempt to finish the race without pitting arguably cost him a podium, however he and Ferrari will certainly be happy with the pace they've been able to show this weekend.

Sainz:8/10, Coming into this weekend Carlos knew it'd be a damage limitation type of race, as he had to take a new engine to get the upgrades Ferrari had made to their power unit. He made the most of this, producing an outstanding drive as he easily made his way through slower cars, whereas others like Alonso and Ricciardo struggled to do the same. At various points in the race he was the fastest man on track and to finish just fourteen seconds off your teammate given you started at opposite ends of the grid constitutes a very impressive performance for the Spaniard.

Alpha Tauri:

Gasly:7/10, This race can be added to Gasly's collection of magnificent performances this season as his career continues its upward trajectory since being released from Red Bull. He impressed in qualifying as he took 4th place, much further ahead of his rookie teammate Tsunoda. Gasly showed great speed in the race as he vaguely kept with the lead runners and towards the end of the race, he was even pushing Hamilton and Leclerc in the battle for 4th. He was awarded a somewhat harsh 5 second time penalty for a collision with Alonso on the opening lap, with Fernando himself even admitting Gasly shouldn't have been penalised. This arguably cost him that 4th place, however I'm sure neither him nor the team will be too disappointed with 6th.

Tsunoda: 3/10, After a miserable rookie season this weekend marked a minor improvement for Yuki. Qualifying was fairly successful as he snuck into Q3 for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix 7 races ago, he was fairly uninspiring in said Q3 session, however he was still in a good position for points in the race. Yuki started the race pretty well; he didn't quite match Pierre's pace however he was running in the points for a while and put on an impressive display of defensive driving to hold off Hamilton in the early laps. This good performance was soon halted, when he spun around just over halfway into the race, blaming the 'dirty spray' for this mistake; from here he was unable to recover his speed and ended a day which had promised so much down in 14th.

Alfa Romeo:

Raikkonen: 4/10, This weekend followed the trend of this season for Kimi, poor quali pace followed by a much better showing on race day. The soon to be retired Finn was quicker than Giovinazzi on race day with the Antonio actually being asked to let Kimi past at one point, he refused, and team principal (Frederic Vasseur) believes it cost the team potential points. Not a terrible weekend by any means, but it's certainly not what Raikkonen would've envisioned for his farewell tour before retirement.

Giovinazzi: 4/10, After a promising short spell of form things seem to have reverted back to the norm for the Italian as he put on an underwhelming display, managing just 16th in qualifying as well as ignoring team orders in the race, costing the team points at a time which they're desperately needed. This race definitely wouldn't have helped Antonio's attempts to remain with the team for next season, as his future in the sport is currently undecided.

Haas:

Schumacher:7/10, This season has been difficult to read when it comes to Mick, given the deficiencies of the Haas car, however he put on a stunning show in qualifying making it through to Q2 on pure pace ahead of much quicker cars like the Alfa Romeo's and Daniel Ricciardo. He couldn't quite repeat his exploits in the race no thanks to a lap 1 collision with Alonso, however I doubt he or the team will care given their focus on getting to the 2022 season as quickly as possible.

Mazepin: 2/10, Another abysmal weekend for Nikita as he struggled to compete with his German counterpart once more, qualifying nearly three seconds off him in Q1. In the race he was perhaps slightly more in line with Mick's pace, however it still wasn't quite there for him. Nikita has had his fair share of critics this season, and with these sorts of performances it's understandable as to why. He'll be hoping to close out the rest of the season with some stronger drives.

Williams:

Russell: 5/10, The Mercedes bound George found his form yet again on Saturday, however this was undone by a mistake at the final corner on his flying lap in Q2, limiting him to only a 13th place start. As has been Williams' problem this year, both he and Latifi struggled to find pace in the race with the two being the slowest on track the majority of the time (bar the Haas). An ok performance for George as he came 15th, but slightly disappointing given the teams upward trajectory as of late.

Latifi: 3/10, It was yet another case of playing catch-up for the Canadian, as he was thoroughly bested by his teammate throughout the weekend. A 15th place start and 17th place finish does not make for good reading for a man who's supposed to be leading the team into next year's regulation changes.