Turkish GP FP2 Report: Hamilton Tops Yet Again as Red Bull & Verstappen Struggle

After facing uncertainty throughout this season, the Turkish GP returned to the calendar once again for a second successive season. Ahead of qualifying on Saturday, F1 drivers took to the Intercity Istanbul Park to compete in the second and final free practice session of today.

Mercedes and Red Bull resumed their battle at the top of the timesheets, while the midfield challengers looked to find an extra tenth on their competitors.

Mercedes F1 top the timesheets once again in FP2 at the Turkish GP

Lewis Hamilton continued his impressive form from FP1 earlier today to finish the session on top. The Briton put in an excellent lap on soft tires to lay down the marker for his competition. His teammate Valtteri Bottas finished the session in third, 0.4s behind the reigning world champion.

Red Bull failed to break into the top three, as Sergio Perez finished half a second behind Hamilton to take P4. Max Verstappen, who will hope to capitalise on Hamilton’s 10-place grid penalty, finished 0.6s behind the Briton to take P5.

While many expect these two constructors to battle for pole tomorrow, Red Bull seem to be on the back foot at the moment.

Ferrari show more promise than McLaren

Charles Leclerc pulled off a stunning lap to split the Silver Arrows, finishing the session in second place. His teammate Carlos Sainz, who will serve an engine penalty this Sunday, finished the session P12.

Despite the margin between them, the Italian outfit fared better than their key rivals this season, McLaren. Lando Norris could only manage a P6 finish, while Daniel Ricciardo finished much further back in P14.

Alpine showed solid pace throughout the session, as Fernando Alonso finished P7. His teammate, Esteban Ocon finished just 0.012s behind the Spaniard to take P8. Pierre Gasly finished P9 to mark AlphaTauri’s pace.

Antonio Giovinazzi finished P10, one place ahead of Gasly’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen could only manage a P15 finish in the session. Aston Martin struggled during this session, as Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel could only finish P12 and P16 respectively.