Istanbul, Oct. 8 (BNA) Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time ahead of title rival Max Verstappen in the first Friday practice session of the Turkish Grand Prix.
The championship leader this season was 43 seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver in warm conditions. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came 0.48 behind Hamilton in third, while Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was fourth.
There is a second practice later on Friday in Istanbul Park. Hamilton leads Verstappen by two points with seven races remaining including this one.
But the Mercedes driver’s lead could be lost on Sunday as Hamilton starts the race with a 10-place penalty for overtaking the three-engined allocation for the season. Mercedes installed a fourth combustion engine on Friday.
The Istanbul track proved more reliable than last year, when it just restarted to host an F1 race for the first time since 2011 and was very slippery.
Drivers last year complained about the surface on a 5.3-kilometre (3.3-mile) track, which Verstappen compared it to an ice rink. He finished sixth in this race after qualifying as second, while Hamilton climbed from sixth on the grid to win and claim the record-equalizing seventh world title.
Red Bull is powered by Honda engines, but the Japanese manufacturer will withdraw from Formula 1 at the end of 2021. In honor of Honda, both Red Bull and the AlphaTauri feeding team have special livers on their cars for this race, which replaced the Japanese GP after it was canceled due to virus fears. Corona.
The Red Bulls used a predominantly white livery, inspired by the Honda car that American driver Richie Ginter drove to win the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda’s favorite AlphaTauris in the house had “Arigato” – Japanese for Thanksgiving – written on the hind wings.
Verstappen poses a major threat to Hamilton’s bid for an eighth world title to overtake Michael Schumacher and stand alone among the Formula One greats. Hamilton is leading 7-5 to victory this season and 7-3 to pole position.
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