Hamilton: Turkish GP qualifying "the least enjoyable" of F1 career
Lewis Hamilton called qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix "the least enjoyable" of his Formula 1 career, but was happy to finish sixth in wet and low grip conditions
Heavy rain on the low-grip surface at Istanbul Park left drivers struggling for pace throughout qualifying, with a lengthy red flag due to the weather meaning that Q1 took over an hour to complete.
Lance Stroll snatched a shock pole position for Racing Point ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, while Hamilton could only finish sixth in Q3, marking his worst qualifying result of the season.
After calling the track surface "terrifying" following practice on Friday, Hamilton said qualifying stood out for being one of the least enjoyable of his F1 career.
"It was definitely one of the least enjoyable, if not the least enjoyable that I've had," Hamilton said.
"This track, the layout is so great, but the grip is so poor that you can't really generate the grip to go through the corners at the speed we would like.
"But otherwise, it was a challenge, and challenges are always good.
"The track surface grip is the worst I've ever experienced in any year of racing. Considering how much downforce we have, it's been a challenge.
"Going into the wet today made it even harder. So we were definitely limited by grip and temperature, but I'm pretty happy with the job I did."
Hamilton can secure a record-equalling seventh F1 drivers' championship on Sunday by ensuring Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas - who qualified ninth - does not outscore him by eight points.
But Hamilton said he was unsure how his car would perform in dry conditions after failing to do any set-up work through practice on Friday due to the struggles with the tyres.
"I have no idea what car I've got underneath me tomorrow," Hamilton said. "We made some set-ups going into today, and then it's been wet.
"If it's dry, I have no idea how it is going to feel, if it's wet, I know [how] it's going to be, it could feel as bad as today.
"We'll just go with it. We're all in the same boat out there, we're all struggling. It's really cool.
"Congrats to Lance on the pole, that's pretty awesome. We look forward to a fight with them tomorrow."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1?
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
How ‘demanding’ Alonso has started life with Aston Martin
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
Hamilton needs talk with Wolff to prepare Ferrari F1 move
The status factor that made Ferrari impossible for Hamilton to turn down
Mercedes F1 junior Pin joins the FRECA grid
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
Antonelli completes maiden Mercedes F1 test
The story behind Shanghai's "painted" F1 track surprise
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
The secrets of F1 turbocharging explained
Subscribe and access Autosport.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.
Top Comments