ENGINE WOE HAS LEWIS EYEING DAMAGE LIMITATION

LEWIS HAMILTON has set himself the challenge of grabbing pole position today, knowing it is his best chance of escaping from the Turkish Grand Prix with his world championship dream unharmed. That this weekend is potentially harmful to the Briton’s quest for title No 8 became clear here at 11.30am yesterday with confirmation that he would be receiving his fourth engine of the year and, therefore, be sent down the grid. Hamilton has a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) but not an entire new power unit, so he slides back ten places rather than 20. It was not what the world champion wanted, and he said as much. He believed he could eke out his existing two engines and save on the penalty. But, to his chagrin, Mercedes’ crack engineers, with all the data to hand, overruled their star driver’s instincts. So he goes up against Max Verstappen, his one rival for the crown, with a hand tied behind his back. ‘I need to be on pole to limit the loss, and understand the car well enough to do best over the long runs,’ said Hamilton (right). ‘I am just trying to find the right balance.

‘I don’t know how much more there is to come, but we always find something during the evening. I will then have a lot of work to do on Sunday, either way, whatever the weather.’

Certainly, all is not lost for Hamilton here in the wind-blown track 30 miles from the central sprawl of the old imperial capital. First, he can take succour from finishing yesterday’s two practice sessions in first place. Verstappen was half a second adrift in both.

There is also the example of the Dutchman roaring from last place to finish second at the last race in Russia, with the helping hand of late rain that presented the opportunity to make a timely change of tyres. Even a Hamilton victory cannot be ruled out, just as he proved when he started the 2018 race in Hockenheim in 14th place and powered through to win — albeit without a challenger of the Red Bull-Verstappen strength. As for this track, it holds a special memory for the Briton. Twice a winner here, he clinched his record-equalling seventh title in Turkey a year ago with a splendid drive of maturity and verve. Of that visit, Hamilton said: ‘It is crazy because it feels like we were just here. It’s mad how time flies. That moment has gone but it was incredible while it lasted. It was an emotional day.’ Verstappen has endured an unusually wobbly preparation to this weekend, as his boss Christian Horner explained: ‘We have got a bit of a balance mishmash at the moment. ‘The circuit is a lot grippier than it was last year and we are just a little bit out of the window with Max on set-up. I think we can rectify the issues before qualifying.’