Türkiye – Valtteri Bottas returns to victory ahead of Verstappen

Once again this season, and like last year, rain came for this Turkish Grand Prix this Sunday. From the poleman Valtteri Bottas with the red lantern Daniel Ricciardo, the entire grid then chose the intermediate tires. Pierre Gasly, 4th, was right to be wary of Fernando Alonso, 5th, at the start of the race. True to his reputation as an excellent starter, the Spaniard got the better of the Frenchman on the outside of the first corner. Attacked by Sergio Pérez inside, the Norman harpooned theAlpine who ended up spinning and starting at the back of the pack. The pilot Alpha Tauri was penalized five seconds for this accident. In his comeback, the Spaniard in turn sent Mick Schumacher into a spin and suffered the same punishment as that inflicted on the tricolor. Also looking to move up the rankings with his 11th place on the grid, Lewis Hamilton was delayed by the defense of Yuki tsunoda. The seven-time world champion finally found the opening on an outside overtake after a long preparation. On the next lap, the ninth, the driver Mercedes performed the same maneuver on theAston Martin de Lance strollas Lando Norris did not offer the same resistance as in Sochi. Carried by its new propulsion unit, Carlos Sainz was already on the points gate after ten laps of the race, having started from 19th position. 

The question surrounding intermediate tires

Stuck in 16th place despite its new power unit, Daniel Ricciardo was the first to return to the pits to put on new intermediate tires after 22 laps on those he started with. At the same time, Tsunoda offered himself an individual figure, without consequences for his AlphaTauri AT02. The bet of McLaren did not pay off and the other drivers pulled as much as possible on the rubber of their intermediates on the greasy and wet. We had to wait until the 32nd of 58 laps to see Fernando Alonso imitate the Australian. Three loops later, Hamilton launched an attack on Sergio Pérez, but the Mexican offered fierce resistance from the end of the third sector to braking for the first turn, even if it meant going to the wrong side of the cone marking the entrance to the track stands. Max Verstappen was the first leader to pass and also came out with intermediates, launching a new wave of stops including that of the lead man Valtteri Bottas. Sebastian Vettel he took the risk of medium tires...

The return of the zero-stop strategy

A rash choice for the German, unable to control his Aston Martin on the always wet track at Istanbul Park. Returning to the pits after a disastrous lap, the four-time world champion was faced with the obvious fact of returning to the intermediates after having lost everything. In the points before his first stop, the former Ferrari found himself in penultimate place. 18 laps from the goal, his ex-teammate Charles Leclerc was now leading a race in which the mandatory tire change rule was rendered obsolete due to weather conditions. The Monegasque thus aimed to reach the checkered flag without going to the pit, just like Hamilton (4th) who did not listen to the instructions of his team. Another bet that fell through this Sunday since Valtteri Bottas quickly returned and recovered his property without firing a shot. The Finn, also author of the fastest lap in the race, was heading towards his tenth career victory, his first in over a year... and the last with Mercedes for the future driver Alfa Romeo (or Andretti) ? Max Verstappen finished in second place and regained the lead in the Drivers' Championship with six races remaining in the season. Both Red Bull white cars in tribute to Honda finished on the podium as Pérez also overtook Leclerc, who finally went to the pits. Lewis Hamilton (5th at the finish) having also stopped, Esteban Ocon was the only driver to finish this race without making a pit-stop and recovered the point for tenth place.

The rankings for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix: