Max Verstappen has a chance to regain the lead of the Formula One Drivers’ Championship at the Turkish Grand Prix today, with Lewis Hamilton starting the race 11th courtesy of a 10-place grid penalty. Hamilton went fastest in qualifying on Saturday but was demoted down the order after changing his internal combustion engine on Friday. The Briton heads into the race at Istanbul Park two points clear at the top of the standings.
Hamilton remains confident of winning the race even though he starts 11th, and said pre-race: “My eyes are still solely set on winning the race. It will be very hard from 11th but not impossible.
“I don’t know what the weather will do also, so I’ll just stay on my toes and make sure we deliver maximum attack.”
While a worried Verstappen said: “Overall this weekend has been a bit more difficult. I hope for a clean getaway tomorrow but starting on the inside will be tricky, as there is very low grip in both dry and wet conditions compared to the outside.
“We are expecting to lose out there slightly. We also need to consider the gap behind us, it’s much tighter than usual.
“We’ll aim to make the best of it and try everything we can to keep the Mercedes behind but it’s not going to be easy, they’ve had great pace all weekend.”
Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas starts on pole with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third behind Verstappen and Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri also on the second row.
Express Sport provides live updates of the Turkish Grand Prix below.
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