Abysmal afternoon for Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton wins the 2020 F1 Turkish Grand Prix and 2020 F1 World Championship

A fantastic afternoon saw Lewis Hamilton win the 2020 F1 Turkish Grand Prix and subsequently, the 2020 F1 Driver’s Championship as Valtteri Bottas finished all the way down in 14th.

Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel joined Hamilton on the podium as they finished second and third respectively.

Starting Grid

Lance Stroll qualified on pole with a fantastic lap at the end of Q3 which handed the Canadian his maiden pole position as Max Verstappen joined the Racing Point driver on the front row.

The second Racing Point of Sergio Perez qualified third alongside Alex Albon in the second Red Bull who started fourth. Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth, Lewis Hamilton was only able to qualify sixth-best, Esteban Ocon in seventh, Kimi Raikkonen in eighth, Valtteri Bottas in ninth and Antonio Giovinazzi rounded off the top ten.

The pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc sat in 11th and 12th as Kevin Magnussen started 13th. A grid drop for the McLaren pair Carlos Sainz start from 14th and Lando Norris from 15th.

Daniil Kvyat started 16th, Romain Grosjean started 17th and Pierre Gasly started at the back of the grid. The two Williams drivers started from the pit-lane after they struggled on a formation lap and had to change front wings ahead of the race.

And It’s Lights Out And Away We Go

Verstappen looked to get off well initially, but traction did not help him as Bottas and Ocon spun around at Turn One. Stroll and Perez led at the front as Hamilton dropped from third to sixth in the space of five corners.

Vettel moved up from 11th to third in the space of a lap as the Ferrari driver looked to maintain a podium position for the first time this season.

After lap five, Stroll had a five-second advantage to teammate Perez as Vettel was in third a long way away from the Racing Point pair. Raikkonen was overtaken by Sainz as the Spaniard moved into eighth place.

Leclerc pitted in for new intermediate tyres and lit up the sector times with purple sectors two and three.

Vettel and Hamilton followed suit as they took their wet tyres and put on intermediate tyres as the track slowly dried up.

Stroll pitted a lap after Vettel and Hamilton which saw him dropped back to fourth place, but crucially ahead of the pair and ahead of Ricciardo.

The Racing Point crew pitted Perez a lap after Stroll as Verstappen was released into the lead of the race.

By lap 12, all of the drivers changed onto the intermediate tyres as the track slowly dried up.

Giovinazzi retired from the race as what it looked to be a mechanical problem as the Virtual Safety Car was released due to the retirement.

Two laps later, the VSC ended and green flag racing resumed. Hamilton tried a move around the outside on Vettel into Turn 13, but went wide and conceded a place to Albon in the process.

A lap later, Albon moved ahead of Vettel and into fourth place as his Red Bull teammate, Verstappen, looked to get on Perez’s tail.

Verstappen got his wish as he caught up with the Racing Point, but got too close to the rear wing as the Red Bull spun and lost third, fourth and fifth as the Dutchman pitted in for new tyres which dropped him to eighth.

Albon gained on Verstappen’s misfortunes as he caught up with Perez and was only two and a half seconds behind the Mexican at the start of lap 21 and only nine seconds off Stroll who was in the lead.

At the halfway point of the race, Stroll and Perez led a Racing Point one-two as Albon got hot onto Perez’s tail in third, Vettel was fourth, Hamilton in fifth, Ricciardo in sixth, Sainz in seventh, Verstappen in eighth, Leclerc in ninth and Norris rounded off the top ten.

On lap 30, the FIA enabled DRS as the drivers within the one-second range were able to use the assistance of DRS to go a little bit faster.

Leclerc was the first to pit in for a new set of intermediate tyres as a lack of grip for Ricciardo saw him lose a place to Sainz out of Turn 10. Subsequently, Renault pitted the Australian for new tyres.

The whole grid peeled into the pits as they followed Leclerc’s call for new inters. Hamilton looked to get past Albon which was made easier for the Brit as the Red Bull spun and put Hamilton ahead of Albon.

On lap 37, Stroll pitted in for new intermediates which released Perez into the lead of the race. Hamilton though was on the case rapidly as he took the lead of the race into Turn 12 after DRS helped the Mercedes fly past the Racing Point.

Stroll’s afternoon turned for the worst as Vettel and Leclerc moved ahead of the Canadian as he went wide after a desperate lunge on Vettel to hold his position.

Two laps later, Stroll moved even further back as Albon and Sainz moved ahead of the pole-sitter.

Latifi retired on lap 43 after his contact with Grosjean saw the Williams garage retire the car from the race with some damage inflicted.

The Ferrari of Leclerc moved into third after Verstappen decided to pit for new tyres and Red Bull concede another place as Sainz moved ahead of Albon into fifth place.

With ten laps to go, Hamilton led the race ahead of Perez in second and Leclerc in third. Vettel was fourth then came Sainz, Albon, Verstappen, Stroll, Ricciardo and Norris rounded off the top ten.

Red Bull did a switch-a-roo as Verstappen moved ahead of Albon and into sixth place. Grosjean would also retire from the race as Haas decided enough was enough.