TURKISH TRACK IS MORE LIKE AN ICE RINK
Lewis reels at terror lurking
LEWIS HAMILTON endured a ‘disastrous’ opening day in Istanbul, with a threat to his hopes of wrapping up title no 7 lurking in the ‘terrifying’ track.
The world champion did not mince his words after tip - toeing around the newly l aid asphalt to finish only fourth best in practice.
After the whole field slipped and slid, Hamilton, who aims to equal michael Schumacher’s record of championship victories in t omorrow’s turkish Grand Prix, said: ‘It was a disaster. It is such a fantastic circuit and I don’t fully understand why they have spent millions to resurface it.
‘They could have just cleaned it and not wasted the money. the tyres are not working on the surface. It is like an ice rink, so you don’t get the enjoyment of a lap you normally would here — and I don’t see that changing over the weekend.
‘It is terrifying the whole way round. It is almost like there are wet patches all over. You are way below the temperature window of the tyres. this surface is so smooth and shiny and the oil seeps through from the tarmac. It is s*** with a capital S.’
owners of the Istanbul Park circuit decided to re-lay the track after the venue was added to the calendar in august. the work was only carried out a fortnight ago. Hamilton (above) mostly sat in the garage watching others struggling for their footing in the morning.
He finally emerged for a mere 12 laps and finished the session 15th.
Rain is forecast tonight, raising the prospect of oil returning to the surface ahead of the race, rendering the road a banana skin once more and emasculating such highlights as the quadruple-apex turn Eight.
Formula one is the only series on the programme here, meaning no other cars would ‘rubber in’ the track. So FIA race director michael masi called on turkish organisers to help out and they responded by rounding up local drivers from the Renault Clio Cup to tear around for two hours last night.
In afternoon practice, in less trying conditions, Red Bull’s max Verstappen came out in front — as he had in the morning — with Ferrari’s Charles leclerc second quickest and Hamilton’s mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas third.
Hamilton, regularly complaining over the radio about his chronic lack of grip, was more than eight-tenths off the pace and one-third behind Bottas, the only man who can prevent him seizing the crown again.
But if the 35-year-old Briton beats the Finn here, he would be assured of glory with three races to spare. He leads by 85 points with 104 points remaining.
Hamilton who has won five of his six titles with mercedes after moving from mclaren where he won his first in 2008, claimed he has ‘not really thought’ about winning no 7.
‘the goal is to win the race, so I keep that as the focus,’ he said. ‘I remember when I was fighting for the world championship in 2007 and there was so much pressure that was not needed. If I knew then what I do now, I would easily have won it. I have learned not to add unnecessary pressure.’