A heroic drive from Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton saw him soar to victory, crossing the Istanbul Park track’s finish line first, with a full 31 seconds between him and second placed Sergio Perez. The British driver clearly excels at crossing the line first and on November 15 he did so for the 10th time in this season alone, so it is no wonder that on this occasion he also claimed a monumental seventh world championship title, with three races yet to go.
Behind an untouchable Hamilton in his black Benz and the less challenging Racing Point of Perez, were the Italian stallions. The Ferrari duo of Sebastien Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished in third and fourth place respectively, taking home Ferrari’s best result of the season after a catastrophic couple of races. The German climbed from 11th to fourth place before taking advantage of Leclerc’s unlucky corner in the closing moments of the race and earning his first podium in an otherwise forgettable season while the Monegasque dropped from second to fourth with just seconds to go.
The Turkish Grand Prix weekend was, for a lack of better words, very wet. This resulted in a spinning frenzy, with some top dogs seemingly stumped by the slick track. Among them was Leclerc’s future teammate, Carlos Sainz, who crossed the line fifth, just over a second behind his red rival. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Alex Albon struggled with the spins but nevertheless finished in sixth and seventh place. If there was an award for the most spins, though, it would have to be awarded to Valtteri Bottas, the only man who could have prevented his teammate’s seventh world title. The Finn managed to spin six times en route to a 14th place finish.
Lando Norris overtook the once pole-sitting Lance Stroll in the second from last lap as the youngsters finished in eighth and ninth places respectively. The smiley ‘stralian, Daniel Ricciardo, was perhaps not so smiley after the soggy afternoon as he crossed the line in 10th place and with that rounded out the point-taking places.
After a dramatic race, all eyes could only be on Hamilton as he claimed his historic seventh world title after a mesmerising drive that could only come from the magic driver. The Brit is now level with the legendary Micheal Schumacher, a record which Hamilton had only ever dreamed of reaching, until now. Bravo, Lewis.
Now that the Turkish Grand Prix is well and truly done and dusted, the Formula 1 circus will travel to Bahrain for the first race in the Middle Eastern triple header that will conclude a sincerely memorable 2020 F1 season.
