The hidden factors that thwarted Hamilton's bid for Turkey glory
Starting 11th after his engine change grid penalty, Lewis Hamilton faced a tough task to repeat his Turkish Grand Prix heroics of 2020 - despite making strong early progress in the wet. Instead, his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas broke through for a first win of the year to mitigate Max Verstappen re-taking the points lead
What a difference nearly 11 months make.
In Valtteri Bottas's case, that and several other critical factors were enough to have him go from "probably the worst race of my career" in the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, to a dominant "one of the best" victory in similarly damp conditions in 2021 at Istanbul Park.
This time around, he was starting from an inherited pole. And he was sharing the front row with one of Formula 1's best wet-weather drivers: Max Verstappen. The pre-race signs did not look good.
Share Or Save This Story
Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.
A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.
More from Alex Kalinauckas
Is F1 blowing its "pivotal moment" to support the championship's women?
How Bearman's F1 debut will help Mercedes on its Hamilton replacement call
The rare Ferrari problem that made its Saudi GP harder against Red Bull's might
Ranked: The 10 F1 teams at the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Verstappen cruises to victory ahead of Perez, Leclerc
Why Saudi Arabian GP could deliver one of F1’s most "unpleasant" races
Verstappen hopes "impressive" F1 debutant Bearman doesn't fixate on missing Q3
F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Verstappen grabs pole by 0.3s from Leclerc
Latest news
What the data tells us about Mercedes’ latest F1 problems
2024 F1 Australian Grand Prix session timings and preview
Hawksworth “knew it was going to be a battle” for GTD Pro win at Sebring
NASCAR and Goodyear baffled by Bristol tire wear issues
Prime
How Bruce McLaren's death shaped more than just his F1 team
Why Mohammed Ben Sulayem believes his mission to create a strong FIA is so important
The Beckham clues as to where Verstappen and Red Bull are heading
How Bearman's F1 debut will help Mercedes on its Hamilton replacement call
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.