Hamilton Crowned Champion at 2020 Turkish Grand Prix
The 2020 Turkish Grand Prix was quite possibly the best race of the season. It would be easy to look at the result and think “yet another Lewis Hamilton victory” but it wouldn’t do justice to the way the Brit went about earning that victory and in the process securing his seventh world championship title, equaling Michael Schumacher in the record books.
Formula 1 hadn’t raced in Turkey since 2011, but last-minute changes brought on by COVID-19 allowed the drivers to return to the much-celebrated Intercity Istanbul Park, home of the famous multi-apex Turn 8. Everyone expected the long corner would easily be taken flat-out by the modern cars, but that didn’t come to pass.
The circuit was resurfaced just before F1 got there, leading to a smooth tarmac with very little grip. Pirelli, which supplies tires, didn’t know about the decision to resurface the track and thus, expecting the circuit to have an abrasive surface, brought its hardest selection of tires to the race weekend. Consequently, drivers struggled enormously with stability.
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To make matters worse for them, it rained all weekend. Qualifying was stalled multiple times by red flags because of the conditions, and there was a real scrambling of the order as all the drivers struggled with poorly optimized car setups and the difficult driving conditions. Incredibly, it was Lance Stroll who came out on top to secure his first F1 pole position.
The next day, Stroll looked poised to win the race for the first half of it. Wet, then damp, conditions played into the hands of confident, assured drivers not scared of a little rain. Sebastian Vettel had an incredible start while Valtteri Bottas spun six times and Max Verstappen, one of the favorites to win the race, made a few impatient mistakes.
Hamilton, who had been nowhere in qualifying, once more showed his aptitude in the wet, steadily climbing up the order and eventually, after Stroll’s post-pit pace dropped off drastically, took the lead and began building up a massive gap. In the end, he finished over 31 seconds clear of second-place Sergio Pérez, an incredible feat. As for Pérez, he must have been happy the race ended after 58 laps rather than 59, as Vettel likely would have had the better of him then.
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There was lots of racing all throughout the field during the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, and with just three races remaining in 2020, the fight for best-of-the-rest is tighter than ever. Pérez, Leclerc, and Ricciardo are separated by only four points for fourth in the drivers’ championship, while four teams are in close contention for third in the constructors’ championship.
Unfortunately, we are now headed to Bahrain for the next two Grands Prix, then Abu Dhabi for the season finale. It’s a shame that after having at Mugello, the Nürburgring, Portimão, and Imola, we return to the desert for a reminder of what the 2021 season will be more like.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.