Slippery Turkish track compared to ice rink

ISTANBUL • Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday as Formula One returned to Turkey for the first time in nine years.

The times at the Istanbul Park circuit were largely meaningless, however, with the Dutch driver comparing the slippery combination of cold temperatures and fresh asphalt to driving on ice.

Verstappen produced a best lap of one minute 35.077 seconds in the morning, more than 10 seconds slower than Sebastian Vettel's 2011 pole position time for the same team, before lowering it to 1:28.330 in the afternoon.

Thai teammate Alexander Albon, whose future at the team remains uncertain, was second in the opening session but Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was best of the rest after lunch.

Dominant Mercedes moved back up the timesheets, with Valtteri Bottas third-fastest by the end of the day and teammate Lewis Hamilton, poised for a seventh championship on Sunday, was fourth. Hamilton, who leads sole title rival Bottas by 85 points with four races to go, was 0.85 seconds off Verstappen's pace.

They had been ninth and 15th respectively in a first session of slides and spins on hard tires, with a number of lap times deleted as drivers exceeded the track limits.

Vettel, the last winner in Turkey and now in his final few races for Ferrari before joining Aston Martin (Racing Point) next season, was fifth and eighth in the two sessions.

The first session was red flagged within minutes of the start after Leclerc slid into a bollard marking the pit lane entry.

Track workers were earlier seen chasing a stray dog that was reported to have been caught before any cars ventured out onto the track.

The race weekend is being held behind closed doors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DRIVERS PAN TRACK

RESURFACING

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton slammed a recent resurfacing of the Turkish Grand Prix circuit on Friday as a waste of money that had turned a once-thrilling lap into a “terrifying” experience.

The circuit is hosting F1 for the first time since 2011 and drivers said the new asphalt and cold conditions had turned it into an ice rink.

“This track is such a fantastic circuit, and I really don't fully understand when they spend millions to redo a surface,” said Hamilton,.

“They probably could have just cleaned it maybe, instead of waste all the money,” added the Mercedes driver. “The tires aren't working and you see it. It's like an ice rink out there. You don't get quite the enjoyment of the lap as you would normally get of Istanbul, and I don't see that changing. It's terrifying the whole way around. It's almost like there's wet patches all over ...”

Hamilton won the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix and the track had a reputation as a driver favourite before it was dropped.

Verstappen joked the tires would need spikes if it rained. AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly said the lap felt more like rally cross, but was fun, while Bottas was reminded of winter rallying in Lapland and Red Bull's Alex Albon spoke of drifting.