It’s been the story of the weekend so far; a newly resurfaced track has been causing big trouble for drivers at Istanbul Park. However, with rain overnight and all existing grip and dirt washed away from the track, FP3 was pretty much a washout with minimal running and insanely slow lap times.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped FP3, meaning he has come out fastest in every practice session this weekend.
Hamilton, who hopes to take his seventh drivers’ title this weekend, called the track conditions “shit” after the two sessions on Friday and as a result did not set a time in FP3, only completing three laps around the circuit.
With most cars spinning in some sort of way during the session, Carlos Sainz and Antonio Giovinazzi had very lucky escapes with both missing out on big damage to their cars when they lost control and veered off the track.
Antonio Giovinazzi is off at Turn 2
His front wing just clips the wall as he spins but he's okay to carry on#TurkishGP 🇹🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/vce4rLzHcH
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2020
With the lack of running and slow lap times, and with the rain still falling around the track, many have questioned whether qualifying will go ahead as planned. It is believed if the conditions are similar to those experienced in FP3, qualifying will be delayed to allow for the track to dry.
On Friday evening, road cars also took to the circuit at night to help lay down extra rubber and grip. Yep, seriously. With no support races for F1 this weekend, there is zero chance for the F2 or F3 cars to create the necessary grip that is so desperately needed under the conditions at the moment.
It didn’t help the situation that after all these rental cars spent time lapping the track last night, the rain came in and washed all their hard work away.
Many are now finding these ice-like track conditions stupid, with there being no enjoyment in seeing the cars tiptoeing around Istanbul Park and not having any cars being able to go flat-out around the notorious Turn 8 corner.
FP3 CLASSIFICATION 🏁
Here's how our runners and riders stack up after a challenging session #TurkishGP 🇹🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/dS48awq9X5
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2020
We love a good shake up and variable conditions during a Grand Prix weekend to make things more exciting, but is this resurfaced track doing more harm than good? Let us know.
