Turkish Grand Prix 2021 - Valtteri Bottas' win at Istanbul Park and Lewis Hamilton controversy as it happened
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Updated 10/10/2021 at 13:41 GMT
Live coverage of the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix as it happened. Valtteri Bottas claimed the win while Max Verstappen regained control of the championship. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in fifth after a surprise late pit-stop by Mercedes. There is just six points between Hamilton and Verstappen with six races remaining.
Vallteri Bottas (Mercedes) - GP of Turkey 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
BOTTAS WINS!
Bottas wins the Turkish GP! The Finn takes the chequered flag ahead of Verstappen in second and Perez in third place! Leclerc takes fourth and Hamilton crosses the line in P5!
The difference in the drivers' championship is now six points! That was a dominant performance from Bottas, but there will be a lot of talk about the strategy decision Mercedes made with Hamilton.
57/58 - Title race!
It seems pretty certain now that Verstappen will finish on the podium in P2 while Hamilton, who isn't happy at all with his team, will finish P5. That means there will be a six-point difference between the two drivers with Verstappen regaining control.
55/58 - Bottas still leads
While there is a lot of disgruntlement on one half of the Mercedes garage, the other half are getting ready to celebrate. Bottas has an eight-second lead at the head of the pack and is just four laps away from the chequered flag.
53/58 - Lewis isn't happy!
"**** man, why'd you give up third place?!" Hamilton asks Bono. His race engineer claims that he would have given up a place anyway such is the pace of Perez behind him. Hamilton really isn't happy about this at all.
52/58 - Perez up into P3!
Perez gets past Leclerc! That was very strong racing from Perez who holds his nerve around two corners to take third place from Leclerc! The Mexican had much better grip and that proved to be the difference!
51/58 - HAMILTON PITS!
Big call from Mercedes! Hamilton has been pulled into the pits with eight laps remaining. Have Mercedes seen something in the radar? He rejoins the race in P5. Let's see how this one plays out!
49/58 - Leclerc pits!
Ferrari have now made the decision to pit Leclerc, which isn't much of a surprise. There was no way he was going to be able to make the end of the race on the one set of inters.
47/58 - BOTTAS IS THROUGH!
Bottas gets past Leclerc! The Ferrari just didn't have the grip to keep Bottas behind him and the Finn regains the lead! He made his move into turn one and Mercedes might now be set for the win.
46/58 - Leclerc dropping off!
Bottas closing in! All of a sudden, Leclerc's pace has dropped off quite significantly and Bottas has closed the gap on the race leader. Surely he is going to have a serious look at the Scuderia soon!
44/58 - Max message
Verstappen now says he has an issue with his steering wheel! That could be a concern for Red Bull. He says it's going down to the left-hand side! That's a strange one. One to keep an eye on.
42/58 - Disagreement!
Box, box! Hamilton has been told to pit by his team, but the seven-times world champion doesn't think that is the right call and he has told them that. Will Mercedes stick to their guns?
41/58 - Leclerc asks the Q
"Can I stay with this set until the end of the race?" Leclerc asks the Ferrari pit wall. The Scuderia believe that he can! Leclerc might just have figured it out. While the rest of the teams have spent the last few laps working out when to pit, Leclerc might go all the way on one set of inters!
40/58 - TACTICS!
So Red Bull also made the call to pit Perez and that is an interesting decision. That means Hamilton has been released through even though he will still have to pit himself. Let's see how that one plays out...
38/58 - Gamble backfires!
Vettel is in trouble! Aston Martin and Vettel gambled by putting him on mediums, but it hasn't worked at all and he is now tip-toeing his way around the track! He's going to have to come in again. That has backfired.
37/58 - Verstappen pits
Okay, now things will get interesting with the strategy with Verstappen in and out of the pits very quickly. Now, will Mercedes respond by putting Bottas on a new set of inters as well?
36/58 - Perez doing his bit
This is what Horner and Red Bull would he wanted Perez to do! The Mexican is doing an excellent job of stopping Hamilton from attacking Verstappen. This is becoming a bit of a problem for the world champion.
35/58 - WHAT A BATTLE!
Incredible racing! Hamilton and Perez go wheel-to-wheel around FOUR corners in the fight for P4! Hamilton looked to have the place down the pit straight, but Perez comes back and keeps it! That was great entertainment!
32/58 - All about strategy
It's funny how history appears to be repeating itself after the Russian Grand Prix which saw the teams struggle to judge when the rain would come. Everyone is on edge once again - they all have their sights set on the radar!
29/58 - Nobody knows anything!
As previously referenced, there is a lot of confusion over the conditions and what the strategy should be...
28/58 - Bottas still leading
Time for an update on what is happening at the front of the pack. Bottas still has a three-second lead over Verstappen. What is interesting is that Leclerc has just set the fastest lap of the race. The Ferrari could be a contender for the race victory, here!
27/58 - MORE RAIN!
Gasly has reported more rain in turn nine! That could be a factor in how the rest of this race pans out and also in the decisions the teams make with their strategy. It feels like there are a lot of pit walls delaying their call right now...
26/58 - Ferrari staying out
Message to Leclerc on the Ferrari team radio: "So at the moment, Ricciardo is slower with new inters." Now that we have some information, it seems that new intermediates are not the way to go at this stage of the race!
25/58 - Experiment
McLaren have pitted Ricciardo and have shifted him on to a new set of inters. There will be a lot of teams looking at how he fares in order to judge what their own strategy is for the rest of the race!
24/58 - The battle is coming!
Verstappen is closing the gap on Bottas at the head of the pack. Not only this, Hamilton is pulling in Perez. We're about to have two Mercedes-on-Red Bull battles in the next few laps! FIGHT!
23/58 - As it stands
The top 10 after 23 laps of this race... 1) Bottas 2) Verstappen 3) Leclerc 4) Perez 5) Hamilton 6) Gasly 7) Norris 8) Stroll 9) Sainz 10) Tsunoda
21/58 - Mercedes are worried
All of a sudden, there's a lot of self-doubt on the Mercedes pit wall. Hamilton has been on the team radio more than once to complain about his tyres. What's the strategy from the Silver Arrows?
20/58 - Interesting...
Message from the Red Bull pit wall to Verstappen: "Pace management has been successful, both Mercedes' tyres look worse than ours." Have Red Bull called this right with their tyre management?
19/58 - Tyre wear!
Hamilton has been on the team radio to voice his concern over his tyres. While Verstappen's pace has been dropping off, it might well be the case that the Red Bulls are looking after their tyres better! This is a factor to keep an eye on.
18/58 - Hamilton into P5!
Hamilton takes Gasly! The seven-times world champion is on the charge with Hamilton passing Gasly this time! That was a bit too easy for him! Hamilton is now 18 seconds behind the leader of this race. All up for grabs!
17/58 - Humid
There are some mixed reports from the drivers over the conditions around the track. It has stopped raining, but there is some disagreement over whether or not the track is drying out. One thing for certain is that it's very humid!
15/58 - Hamilton flying!
Hamilton now up to P6! It's almost as if Hamilton is gaining a place with every single lap. Tsunoda was the cork in the bottle with Hamilton making it past Stroll and Norris in quick succession.
14/58 - Alonso gets a penalty!
Time penalty for Alonso! The former world champion has also been handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Schumacher. The race stewards aren't in a lenient mood this afternoon!
13/58 - Still tricky conditions
"There's no dry patches or lines yet," says Bottas on the Mercedes team radio. Indeed, it's still very wet out there even though it appears that the rain has stopped! The track just isn't drying.
12/58 - Punishment!
That seems harsh, it must be said...
11/58 - Lewis past Stroll!
That didn't take long! Hamilton uses the outside of turn three once more to get past Stroll! The Aston Martin didn't put up much of a fight and Hamilton is now looking to close the gap on Norris in P6.
10/58 - Lewis past Tsunoda!
Hamilton up into P8! That had been coming, but Hamilton is now past Tsunoda. He went around the outside of turn three. That was a lovely move from the defending champion. Now he's attacking Stroll.
9/58 - Sainz on the march!
First, Sainz pulls off a very impressive move on Russell. Then the Spaniard takes Raikonnen AND Giovinazzi and he is up to P12. The Ferraris look to have good pace this afternoon! Can they score some good points?
7/58 - Another investigation!
Now the race stewards have confirmed that they are looking at the incident between Alonso and Schumacher which saw the Haas driver spin after a few laps. Alonso has had a busy start to this race!
6/58 - Concerns for Max
Verstappen appears to be suffering some gear shift issues which could be good news for Hamilton who is still in a bit of a scrap with Tsunoda. The AlphaTauri is doing a good job of keeping the seven-times world champion behind him!
5/58 - Investigation!
The race stewards are going to take a look at the incident between Alonso and Gasly in lap one. Surely Gasly won't be handed any sort of penalty for that!
3/58 - Alonso unhappy!
"What a stupid guy, Gasly!" says Alonso on the Alpine team radio. Gasly says he got "sandwiched" and that is probably the correct assessment. He couldn't move over from Alonso because Perez was down the inside.
2/58 - Hamilton up to P9
Alonso is already fighting his way back up the field - he has just gone past Sainz into P15 - but Hamilton has made up a couple places in the first couple laps.
1/58 - LIGHTS OUT!
Alonso spins around turn one! There looked to be contact between Alonso and Norris and the Alpine has spun! Alonso looks to have lost a number of places! Indeed, he's now done in P15! Bottas got away cleanly.
13:00 - Formation lap!
Here we go, everyone! The drivers (all on intermediates) have embarked on their formation lap around Istanbul Park! It's very wet for the start of the Turkish Grand Prix! That should make the first lap interesting!
12:55 - Don't count out Leclerc
Charles Leclerc starts in P3 and the Ferraris have looked strong in recent races. Don't count them out! They might be dark horses this afternoon.
It's a shame for Carlos Sainz that he is starting from the back of the grid after taking an engine change.
12:50 - Title duel continued!
There's no doubting what the dominant storyline has been in 2021! Hamilton and Verstappen have gone head-to-head for the drivers' championship with just TWO points between them before this race!
Verstappen starts in P2 while Hamilton is in P11 after the engine change, but don't count on the pair not getting in a tangle again?
12:45 - Difficult conditions!
Certainly not for the first time this season, the conditions will be very wet for the start of this race! Of course, the rain caused mayhem at the Russian Grand Prix two years ago. How will it affect things this afternoon?
12:40 - The grid
Here's how they line up for the Turkish GP... 1) Bottas 2) Verstappen 3) Leclerc 4) Gasly 5) Alonso 6) Perez 7) Norris 8) Stroll 9) Tsunoda 10) Vettel 11) Hamilton 12) Ocon 13) Russell 14) Schumacher 15) Ricciardo 16) Latifi 17) Giovinazzi 18) Raikkonen 19) Mazepin 20) Sainz
12:30 - Welcome!
Good afternoon and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE coverage of the Turkish Grand Prix. We'll bring you all the action as it happens at Istanbul Park where it looks pretty wet!
Valtteri Bottas starts on pole position despite Lewis Hamilton winning qualifying yesterday. The seven-times world champion had to take a 10-place grid penalty due to a change of engine. Max Verstappen starts in P2.
QUALIFYING REPORT
It was mission accomplished for Lewis Hamilton as he topped the timing sheets in qualifying, meaning he will start the Turkish Grand Prix in 11th place after a penalty for an engine change.
Mercedes were concerned about the state of Hamilton’s car, and opted to change his internal combustion engine.
Hamilton piled pressure on himself by saying he had to win qualifying to limit the damage, and he did exactly that with a time of 1:22.868.
Read full report here.
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