Lance Stroll qualifies on pole position after a wet qualifying ahead of the 2020 F1 Turkish Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas struggle as Lance Stroll takes pole position in Turkey.

The existing world champion could only manage sixth on the grid as Mercedes failed to match the pace of their opponents – Bottas qualified ninth.

Stroll’s intermediate tyres looked slick and fast during his pole time of 1:47.765. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez filled out the top three.

Q1

The session in Istanbul got underway on time as the wet track welcomed the F1 drivers for the first time since 2011.

Max Verstappen led the drivers out of the pit-lane as everyone looked for grip around the Istanbul circuit.

As Verstappen battled with the Turkish track, Lando Norris completed the first timed lap of the session with a 2:07.947 and the Red Bull went nearly three seconds slower than the McLaren.

The Mercedes car that usually would be on top struggled, but Valtteri Bottas was able to put the Mercedes on top as he set a 2:07 flat.

Esteban Ocon then snatched first from Bottas with a 2:06.115, but Bottas came back at the Frenchman with a 2:04 which was later deleted due to track limits which kept the Renault in first for the time being.

Not long after that, the session was red-flagged due to the amount of standing water and rain out on the track.

The session was restarted 40 minutes after the red-flag was waved and Alex Albon led the drivers back out onto the track.

Five minutes remained and the top three consisted of Ocon in first, Bottas in second and Lance Stroll in third.

Charles Leclerc and Romain Grosjean spun off the track at Turn One as the latter was beached in the gravel trap which forced a second red-flag to be waved.

Third time lucky for the drivers as Verstappen was the first driver out of the pit-lane for the last few minutes of the first qualifying session.

The Red Bull driver put his car into first place with a 1:57.485 as his Red Bull teammate jumped into second, two seconds slower than Verstappen, and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top three in Q1.

Drivers who were knocked out were Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, George Russell (who will start at the back of the grid due to an engine change), Romain Grosjean and Nicholas Latifi.

Q2

Norris was the driver that led the pack out of the pits for the start of Q2 as the McLaren set a time of 2:00.633. That time got swiftly deleted due to track limits and Raikkonen put his car on top with a lap time six-tenths slower than Norris’ time which was deleted.

Verstappen, Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Bottas all managed to get into the 1:57’s as the track continued to get faster, but then Stroll put in a lap time of 1:55.730 which put him top for some time.

Verstappen carried on improving as he put his car into first and that’s where he ended Q2 as his Red Bull teammate Alex Albon jumped into second and Lewis Hamilton finished Q2 in third.

Lando Norris, Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were eliminated from Q2.

Q3

The two Red Bull’s paved the path at the front as they were the first out of the pits for the last qualifying session as they looked to take the one-two of Q2 into a front-row lockout.

Verstappen pushed his wet tyres and his Red Bull car to the limit as the Dutchman set the first time of the session with a 1:52.326 which wasn’t matched until near the end of the session.

Perez gambled and decided to go on the intermediate tyre as he put his Racing Point on provisional pole with a lap time three-tenths faster than Verstappen.

It was Stroll who took pole position as his lap of 1:47.765 was unbeatable and handed the young Canadian his maiden pole position in F1.

Final Grid For The Race

Lance Stroll qualified on pole position a maiden pole for the Canadian as he is joined by Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid. Sergio Perez completes a Racing Point sandwich as he qualified third as the Mexican is sandwiched between two Red Bull’s with Alex Albon in fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth ahead of six-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton who was only able to qualify sixth. Esteban Ocon was seventh, Kimi Raikkonen in eighth, Valtteri Bottas in ninth and Antonio Giovinazzi rounded off the top ten.

Lando Norris in P11, Sebastian Vettel in P12, Carlos Sainz in P13, Charles Leclerc in P14, Pierre Gasly in P15, Kevin Magnussen in P16, Daniil Kvyat in P17, George Russell in P18, Romain Grosjean in P19 and Nicholas Latifi in P20.

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