Lewis Hamilton completed a Friday double by leading Practice 2 at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Despite lacking front grip on flying laps using the medium tyre early on, the Briton remained comfortably the quickest car on the softs, posting a 1m23.804s.
However, Hamilton was only a tenth-and-a-half faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P2.
In contrast, Max Verstappen still struggled for balance in the Red Bull, as mid-corner oversteer left him only fifth fastest behind teammate Sergio Perez and six-tenths down on Hamilton.
Lando Norris took sixth for McLaren, with the two Alpines separated by just 0.012s in Fernando Alonso’s favour over Esteban Ocon.
Pierre Gasly had a spin on Turn 6 en route to ninth as Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top 10 for Alfa Romeo.
Further down, Carlos Sainz was P12 after focusing on long-run pace given his grid penalty.
2020 Turkish GP polesitter Lance Stroll led Aston Martin teammate Sebastian Vettel in 13th and 16th respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo’s lack of single-lap pace in the McLaren continued in 14th, half a second slower than teammate Norris.
Kimi Raikkonen was left frustrated by the drink system leaking on his boots and in his helmet, costing him track time as Alfa Romeo tried to resolve it.
Latifi loses the back end at Turn 9, but recovers back to the track#TurkishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/WwcryE83S6
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 8, 2021
Despite spinning twice at Turn 9, Nicholas Latifi was fractionally ahead of George Russell as Williams sat 17th and 18th.
And Nikita Mazepin brought up the field after a scary moment losing the rear through Turn 8 in the Haas, but the Russian was able to slow down before reaching the barriers.
In the race simulations, Hamilton continued to set the pace with a consistent advantage over Leclerc. Verstappen though was several tenths slower on most laps.
An intriguing Friday in Istanbul, with one more hour of practice before qualifying on Saturday!
Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below:
