Turkish Grand Prix 2020 qualifying review: Stroll takes the scintillating pole of the Turkish GP in dramatic qualifying in the rain

Lance Stroll had the best lap of his career in wet and extremely difficult conditions to take a shock pole position for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, defending himself from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as world champions Mercedes struggled …

A remodeled Istanbul Park proved tricky in dry conditions, and the challenge became even more difficult when the rain fell before and during qualifying, with the riders struggling to find grip and maintain car in the right direction.

Racing Point didn’t look too competitive in the final practice and even as they got through the first two segments of qualifying they looked reasonable without being stellar, but when they got down to intermediates in Q3 the cars came to life.

Sergio Perez was the first man to set the timesheets on fire with a blistering lap on the midsize tires, which put him comfortably in the lead. This inspired Red Bull to ask Verstappen to interrupt his lap in the wet, even though the first two sectors were the fastest of all, in favor of changing his full moorings to intermediate tires.

Stroll also took the lead and took the intermediates and after warming up the tires he did an incredible lap to take the first pole position of his career, becoming the first Canadian to take the P1 since Jacques Villeneuve at the Grand Prix d ‘ Europe 1997.

Verstappen struggled to heat up in the intermediates and get close to Kimi Raikkonen, which hampered his lap time. And if he managed to improve on his last lap, he could only come in second.

Perez fell to third place as he failed to improve on death, with Alex Albon equaling his career best start with a solid fourth to ease the pressure. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth for the second race in a row, ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes struggled in the wet conditions and never really looked like a threat for pole position. Hamilton’s sixth was his worst qualifying performance since Germany 2018 with teammate Valtteri Bottas ninth.

Esteban Ocon was seventh, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who gave Alfa Romeo their best qualifying performance since Brazil 2019, with teammate Antonio Giovinazzi 10th to make two Alfa Romeos in Q3 for the 500th Sauber Grand Prix.

Q1 – Verstappen conquers difficult conditions, while Grosjean is caught off guard

The nightly rain returned during final practice, then continued through qualifying, which meant middlemen and wet rubber were the compounds of choice as the cars headed for the hour-long shootout.

The conditions were dangerous, the slippery track surface was even trickier from the persistent rain, the drivers really battling the steering wheel just to keep the car inside the white lines and point in the right direction.

Esteban Ocon set the tone early in the Renault, with seven seconds separating the whole field, but several drivers suffered spins, including the AlphaTauri duo of Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat, as the rain intensified.

With seven minutes remaining, and conditions deteriorating, FIA F1 Race Director Michael Masi threw the red flag to interrupt the session. At that time, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were in the drop zone with Verstappen on the bubble. Forty minutes later, the rain having stopped and the track still wet but with little standing water, the action resumed.

A few hundred yards away, Kimi Raikkonen had a huge moment, running sideways before catching him and continuing – but Romain Grosjean wasn’t so lucky with the Haas driver losing the car at Turn 1 and failing him. in the gravel, bringing out the red flag.

This put the pressure on those in and around the drop zone, because when the action resumed there were only three minutes and 30 seconds left on the clock – and it took a little over two minutes to take a walk under these conditions.

Leclerc and Gasly got out of the drop zone, as Verstappen went faster, conditions improving all the time, Hamilton failing to improve on his last race after going wide at Turn 1, but passing to the 14th, a two-seater above the drop zone.

Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, George Russell, Grosjean and Nicholas Latifi, who raced through the gravel to bring out the double yellow flags in the final minutes, failed to make the cut. Stewards said they would investigate any lap times established under yellow flags after the session.

KO: Magnussen, Kvyat, Russell, Grosjean, Latifi

Q2 – Verstappen in song as McLaren and Ferrari pass by

McLaren was bold for the start of Q2, sending both Norris and Sainz to the middle tires, with the rest of the field favoring rubber in wet weather – but it soon became clear that was the wrong decision and they boxed after a few rounds. take the wet.

Up front, Verstappen looked comfortable in the rough conditions, with the Red Bull rider going comfortably to the top with teammate Albon taking second, albeit two seconds behind the pace.

As the session entered the final four minutes, times started to drop as a drier line began to appear, with Mercedes finally showing some pace with Bottas and Hamilton coming in second and third. Alfa Romeo appeared to excel under the conditions with Antonio Giovinazzi a superb fifth and Kimi Raikkonen P8.

It wasn’t so good for Ferrari and McLaren, mind, without any cars in Q3, as they struggled to get wet tires to generate enough tire temperatures, five seconds out of the pace, AlphaTauri also losing his last car. Sainz was also summoned to the Stewards for allegedly hampering Perez from Racing Point.

KO: Norris, Vettel, Sainz, Leclerc, Gasly

Q3 – Racing Point stuns the pitch, as Mercedes struggles

Ocon and Perez were bold with the middleman early in the last session, and initially it seemed like the wrong move as Ocon struggled to ignite the tire.

But then Perez crossed the finish line and went the fastest of all – and although he lost the car on his next timed lap, he put everything together to go even faster next time, at three. seconds of the peloton.

At this point it looked like the Mexican was on track for a superb career first F1 pole position, but his teammate Stroll had other ideas.

The Canadian, who has had a series of tough lap results, kept his focus and brought together three sensational sectors to win his first pole, becoming the fifth youngest to do so, aged 22 and 17 days.

Racing Point also has its very first pole under this banner, just four races before becoming Aston Martin, and the first since Giancarlo Fisichella won the P1 at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix while the team raced as Force India. .

The key quote

“I can’t really put it into words right now,” said Lance Stroll. “I’m shocked I didn’t expect us to be here after FP3. There were a lot of things we weren’t sure we would get in qualifying and we didn’t look competitive in P3 but I’m so happy now. I really put that round together at the end. “

And after?

The Turkish Grand Prix starts at 1:10 p.m. local time, or 10:10 a.m. UTC. Stroll will look to push Red Bulls and Mercedes behind to secure his first-ever Grand Prix victory while Lewis Hamilton will focus on finishing ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to secure his seventh world title.