After the fortnight break following Lewis Hamilton’s relentless performance and record breaking 92nd win at Imola, the F1 circus comes to the Istanbul Park circuit this weekend for the first time since 2011. The circuit can barely claim to be in Istanbul being around 60km east of the city in the Asian side of the country.
The most successful driver at the circuit was Felipe Massa who won three years in a row between 2006 and 2008.. Three current drivers have also won here: Lewis Hamilton has also tasted victory here as have Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, as well as Sky pundit, Jenson Button.
A fantastic circuit with gradient, blind crests and the awesome turn 8/9 double apex corner, this circuit was always exciting. The 2020 specification cars are likely to make lighter work of the tricky fast sections with their abundance of weight and aero grip, but we look forward to the return of F1 to Turkey.
We are featuring several interesting items this week including a unique piece from Lewis Hamilton’s father, Anthony, Felipe Massa’s promotional racesuit from his swansong F1 race weekend and some interesting pieces we have exclusively available from the archive of the former Times F1 correspondent, Kevin Eason.
With thanks,
Tim
