Lance Stroll Ends Mercedes Streak to Clinch Pole in Thrilling Rain-Hit Qualifying in Turkey

In what proved to be a tricky weekend overall, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was dominant in the qualifying session as he picked up pole position. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed him closely, with a difference of 0.2 seconds, to take home P2.

The session was initially red-flagged with heavy rains pouring down on Istanbul Park. Later on, Romain Grosjean’s spin into the gravel saw a second red flag and the end of the session for him.

F1 drivers had complained of low grip on the track surface, following the practice sessions on Friday. Rain complicated matters furthermore, with many cars spinning off and getting lap times deleted.

Q1 saw no major surprises in terms of the eliminations

The Williams cars endured a bad Saturday, as both drivers failed to go above the cutoff point of P15 and saw their timings become even more slowed down due to the conditions. It was also a bad weekend for Haas, as Kevin Magnussen was unable to get a handle of his car and Grosjean slid off the track to put an end to his qualifying.

However, the major surprise came in the Q2 session, when both of McLaren’s cars, as well as those of Ferrari, were eliminated. Contrastingly, for the first time this season, both Alfa Romeo cars made it to the Q3 phase on Saturday.

Carlos Sainz did not enjoy a good outing, as each of his laps saw him lose time in crucial areas of the track. To make matters worse, Lando Norris did not back it up with his performance either. Ferrari, who thought they had gotten some positive progression from the previous races, saw Leclerc in P14 and Vettel in P15.

Lance Stroll secured pole position in the Q3 phase of qualifying

Make no mistake, however, Q3 was the biggest shocker of the race weekend so far at Istanbul Park. With Red Bull and Racing Point cars looking particularly great, they were the ones to put out some amazing lap timings in front.

The biggest shock came in the form of Mercedes cars, who finished P6 and P9, respectively. Lewis Hamilton, in what was to be his championship win weekend, just could not replicate a good lap time. His teammate Valtteri Bottas, who had to keep the title race alive, finished way behind in P9.

Sergio Perez also enjoyed a good run out in the rain and will start third on the grid tomorrow. Even after all this, it is anybody’s guess who will come out on top in Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix race.