Lewis Hamilton dominated Friday Practice in Istanbul ahead of 2021 Turkish Grand Prix despite being hit with a ten-place grid penalty.
Hamilton emerged fastest across both sessions as all ten teams encountered contrasting conditions which greeted them in 2020, yet has been hit with a ten-place grid penalty following the installation of a fourth Internal Combustion Engine (ICE).
Ferrari meanwhile enjoyed a strong day as Charles Leclerc finished second quickest overall ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and both Red Bull drivers.
Now here is a full roundup of FP1 and FP2.
FP1
Clear skies greeted all ten teams on their return to Istanbul in FP1 as Fernando Alonso led several drivers straight out onto the track at the start of this session.
The opening runs saw a mixture of tyre compound selections but it was Hamilton who quickly set the pace on soft tyres with 1m 27.439, only to be displaced by Verstappen minutes later but both title contenders were edged out in the opening ten minutes by Lando Norris who went top on mediums with 1m 26.516.
Esteban Ocon two minutes later went top with 1m 25.968 as Norris fell 0.058 seconds shy on his next flier, although Hamilton soon displaced the Frenchman with 1m 24.511 to regain top spot where he remained throughout the session.
Hamilton however was able to twice further improve on fresh soft rubber as he first found 0.261s before only making a further improvement of 0.072s to set a session-topping 1m 24.178, as he prepares to take a ten-place grid penalty for taking a fourth ICE beyond his three allowed ICEs.
Verstappen meanwhile spent FP1 largely focused on downforce setup as he scrapped his way to second in the order – albeit 0.425s off his title but 0.051s off Leclerc who finished third ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz.
Esteban Ocon was sixth quickest but set his fastest lap on the hard tyre ahead of Norris, Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez who round out the top ten, although Alonso set his quickest lap time on medium tyres.
Outside of the top ten, George Russell finished 11th for Williams ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Aussie having set his fastest lap on medium tyres.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m 24.178 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.425 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.476 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.664 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.682 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.731 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.169 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.204 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.205 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.281 |
| 11 | George Russell | Williams | + 1.507 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.572 |
| 13 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.632 |
| 14 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 1.635 |
| 15 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.685 |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 2.109 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.183 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 2.324 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 2.458 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 2.841 |
FP2
Haas’ Mick Schumacher led numerous drivers straight out onto the circuit for FP2 as Leclerc set the initial benchmark, before quickly finding himself displaced by several drivers as Bottas went top with 1m 25.199 on mediums.
Hamilton meanwhile was amongst a select few reporting front understeer issues as Leclerc moved back to the top spot with 1m 25.021, just before Nicholas Latifi spun at Turn Nine with understeer.
Perez went fastest in the tenth minute on 1m 24.985 with Hamilton and Bottas both just 0.001s off the Mexican, until Leclerc posted 1m 24.102 on medium tyres to go top ahead of Norris on hard tyres, with the Brit quickly displaced by Hamilton and Bottas who found further improvement on mediums.
Attention soon switched to the soft tyre runs with Hamilton ultimately topping FP2 on 1m 23.804 on his second soft flier, gaining 0.036s on his initial attempt as Leclerc, Bottas, Perez and Verstappen round out the top five.
Leclerc though suffered a small lock-up at Turn Nine on his first soft tyre flier but he wasn’t the only driver encountering issues at that corner, as Norris also made a small mistake on his soft flier whilst Verstappen struggled with the feeling of his Red Bull throughout the session from snaps to vibrations.
Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen suffered a water bottle leakage mid-session which left him drenched in water and frustrated by delays in sorting out his issues once back in the garage.
Post-session, Ocon stalled during his practice start on the grid and had to be wheeled away once all cars had passed upon completion of their practice starts.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m 23.804 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.166 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.410 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.569 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.635 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.721 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.856 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.868 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.952 |
| 10 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 0.992 |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.078 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 1.099 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.216 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.256 |
| 15 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 1.339 |
| 16 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.425 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.503 |
| 18 | George Russell | Williams | + 1.554 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 1.676 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 1.894 |
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