Official 2020 Turkish Grand Prix **SPOILERS**

[Deesee]

FP1.

Only 6 cars in 107% of the fastest.

The fastest lap in the session was slower than the GP2 pole time in 2011.

The Lead cars are roughly 20 seconds off the simulated expected pace.

It the track does not improve, we may see Inters used in the DRY!

[Mr Dendrite]

Ahh Mercedes social media.

[Sandpit Steve]

Mr Dendrite said:

Ahh Mercedes social media.

Very good. Their PRs definitely have a sense of humour.

It is, of course, much easier to laugh at yourself when you’ve already got both titles in the bag.

[Mark-C]

Well that was very strange! Yet again 2020 mixes things up ... if the track doesn't rubber in it will be a fascinating\frustrating weekend ...

[sparta6]

Mark-C said:

Well that was very strange! Yet again 2020 mixes things up ... if the track doesn't rubber in it will be a fascinating\frustrating weekend ...

Some variety will be most welcome.
Gasly for a podium !

[Derek Smith]

Mark-C said:

Well that was very strange! Yet again 2020 mixes things up ... if the track doesn't rubber in it will be a fascinating\frustrating weekend ...

More favouring the fascinating I feel. I don't normally like lotteries, but, given the season so far, the track surface could liven up things to a degree. I feel certain it will settle to an extent, but how much? The teams/drivers won't know for certain and set-ups could be critical. Could be fun.

[TheDeuce]

This is interesting now. The tracks clearly not going to be massively better come tomorrow but they are kind of making it work on the softs. But if they qualify on the softs they have less of that tyre for the race... Tricky one for the strategists!

It's looking like the softs only last a few laps anyway...

It's interesting but also a bit farcical watching them slither around today

[ajprice]

Did Hamilton do any speed runs in FP1? Mercedes have put a picture out of his car with flow vis paint on the halo



Also, both championships are theirs, the cars are similar next year, there are only a few races left, and they are still treating aero on the cars.

[FourWheelDrift]

With more time between races I wonder if Red Bull have been able to find a problem with Albon's car. Would explain his past issues and current speed. Has he had a new chassis?

[TheDeuce]

FourWheelDrift said:

With more time between races I wonder if Red Bull have been able to find a problem with Albon's car. Would explain his past issues and current speed. Has he had a new chassis?

What current speed?

[FourWheelDrift]

TheDeuce said:

FourWheelDrift said:

With more time between races I wonder if Red Bull have been able to find a problem with Albon's car. Would explain his past issues and current speed. Has he had a new chassis?

What current speed?

He's up at the sharp end in both sessions, he's been up and down previously and when I posted fastest, 2nd in FP1 too.

[TheDeuce]

FourWheelDrift said:

TheDeuce said:

FourWheelDrift said:

With more time between races I wonder if Red Bull have been able to find a problem with Albon's car. Would explain his past issues and current speed. Has he had a new chassis?

What current speed?

He's up at the sharp end in both sessions, he's been up and down previously and when I posted fastest as he was in FP1.

Oh I see. I don't think that's representative of anything really.. In any case Lewis and Max just went for an exploratory 'fast-ish' lap and both beat him.

Hopefully they can spend the rest of this session gradually pushing harder and harder and the track might start to evolve. Still a big gap between what they are and should be running here!

[Sandpit Steve]

Well they’re gradually getting quicker as the rubber goes down, but they’re still three or four seconds slower than the 2011 pole time they thought they’d be three or four seconds faster than!

[CustardOnChips]

Sandpit Steve said:

Well they’re gradually getting quicker as the rubber goes down, but they’re still three or four seconds slower than the 2011 pole time they thought they’d be three or four seconds faster than!

Offline will still be like polished ice. So there could be some interesting overtake attempts come the race.

[TheDeuce]

Sandpit Steve said:

Well they’re gradually getting quicker as the rubber goes down, but they’re still three or four seconds slower than the 2011 pole time they thought they’d be three or four seconds faster than!

At least now its starting to rubber in, they should get faster as they get faster as they get faster. Although with only a little over an hour of running left ahead of qualifying it won't be ideal.

I'm quietly confident we'll still get a new lap record, just not as impressive as we were expecting.

[TheDeuce]

Well that was that then. Still 4 seconds off the record. just one hour of 'evolution' left before quali. Tomorrow is 2 degrees cooler than today and a 30% chance of rain around midday

Good luck drivers, strategists...

[Sandpit Steve]

TheDeuce said:

Well that was that then. Still 4 seconds off the record. just one hour of 'evolution' left before quali. Tomorrow is 2 degrees cooler than today and a 30% chance of rain around midday

Good luck drivers, strategists...

There were rumours of overnight rain too, in which case it could be back to square one for FP3 tomorrow.

Should be great fun to watch them all deal with what’s thrown at them, an upside-down grid will be fun for the charge into the first corner on Sunday morning!

[Bo_apex]

TheDeuce said:

Well that was that then. Still 4 seconds off the record. just one hour of 'evolution' left before quali. Tomorrow is 2 degrees cooler than today and a 30% chance of rain around midday

Good luck drivers, strategists...

Yes so much for hybrid progress

Race lap record - 1:24.770 ( Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren-Mercedes, 2005)

[TheDeuce]

Sandpit Steve said:

TheDeuce said:

Well that was that then. Still 4 seconds off the record. just one hour of 'evolution' left before quali. Tomorrow is 2 degrees cooler than today and a 30% chance of rain around midday

Good luck drivers, strategists...

There were rumours of overnight rain too, in which case it could be back to square one for FP3 tomorrow.

Should be great fun to watch them all deal with what’s thrown at them, an upside-down grid will be fun for the charge into the first corner on Sunday morning!

Indeed. Very high chance of rain at some point between now and end of quali.

I'm glad we've got another oddball race weekend though. The championship is already sewn up so might as well enjoy a weekend that shuffles the grid before the race and leave the teams clueless as to the best strategy during the race

Even with no rain someone's bound to go off as they push during quali. That alone could end or mess up a session and randomise the grid for the gp. No way are all 20 cars getting through in the rightful order..

[TheInternet]

If I could be bothered to I'd put some money on Verstappen to win. The bookies seem to be offering odds based on a typical Merc performance.