No Stroll in park for Hamilton
LEWIS HAMILTON was yesterday given a reminder of the booby traps he must sidestep if he is to finish today’s Turkish Grand Prix as a seven-time world champion.
A rain-soaked, two-hour qualifying session threw up one of the most surprising pole men of recent memory, Racing Point’s 22-year-old Lance Stroll, with Hamilton back in sixth place.
Further wet weather is forecast for today but, even if that fails to materialise, there remains an obstacle in the form of a recently resurfaced Istanbul Park track more suited to Torvill and Dean than Lewis and Mercedes.
However, despite these hazards, Hamilton will start the 58-lap contest expected to equal Michael Schumacher on title No7. That is because team-mate Valtteri Bottas, the only man the Briton needs to beat to be certain of glory with three rounds to spare, qualified further back in ninth.
On Friday, Hamilton described practice as ‘disastrous’ and the
3.3 miles of shiny surface as ‘terrifying’. And he fared little better yesterday morning, as he sat out the final, wet practice.
Rain continued to fall steadily as qualifying approached, leaving the track soaked under a grey pall of cloud. Stroll will share the front row with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while Sergio Perez in the other Racing Point qualified third. Hamilton was 4.7secs back.
Post-qualifying, the 2020 champion-elect said: ‘I am not really sure what to say. We tried our hardest and this was the fastest we could go.
‘The track feels terrible — like going on ice. It is the worst I have ever experienced by 10 times, but for whatever reason some people can get the tyres switched on better than us.
‘I didn’t spin or make any mistakes. I did everything I could with what I had.
‘It is not going to be too much fun in the race, but a challenge. It will be even more so in the wet.’
Canadian Stroll was thrilled, saying: ‘We dream about these moments growing up.
‘To put it on pole is a special moment for me.’
TURKISH GRAND PRIX
Grid Position— 1 L Stroll (Racing Point), 2 M Verstappen (Red Bull),
3 S Perex (Racing Point), 4 A Albon (Red Bull), 5 D Ricciardo (Renault), 6 L Hamilton (Mercedes).
10.10am: Race live Sky Sports F1 4pm: Highlights on Channel 4