F1 | Bottas claims pole for Turkish GP as fastest driver Hamilton takes grid penalty

Lewis Hamilton went fastest in qualifying for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix but will take a 10-place grid penalty for his Mercedes engine change, meaning P2 qualifier Valtteri Bottas will start on pole position on Sunday ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The 100% risk of rain predicted ahead of the session manifested in the form of light drizzle in Q1 but the clouds soon dissipated and the track matured to see Lewis Hamilton take top spot in that session, just 0.007s ahead of Max Verstappen. Q2 saw Hamilton repeat the feat, and he delivered again in the final session with an ultimate effort of 1m22.868s – a new track record at Istanbul Park.

Bottas was 0.130s off in P2, which will be pole when Hamilton’s engine penalty demotes him to P11 – while Verstappen was 0.328s off top spot in third.  —read more—