Lewis Hamilton explains the challenging conditions in the 2020 Turkish GP which saw him, win his 7th F1 World Championship title, equalling Michael Schumacher.
Lewis Hamilton is simply one of the greatest ever F1 drivers. The Briton holds the most amount of wins, podiums and pole positions by any driver. And jointly holds the most F1 championships by any driver – 7.
In 2020, he equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of 7 World Championship titles becoming one of F1’s most iconic drivers. And he claimed the title in probably one the most challenging races of the season.
In 2020, the majority of F1’s races were cancelled owing to the CoVid-19 Pandemic. Hence, the Turkish GP was added as a filler.
This was the first Grand Prix at Istanbul Park Circuit in 9 years. The circuit is widely regarded as a challenging track for the drivers after the infamous turn-8 and other features.
Only 3 driver’s on the grid had ever driven on the track before. And for Lewis Hamilton, it was an emotional return back to the circuit he won his GP2 title in an emphatic fashion in 2006.
As the track had not hosted a major racing event for several years, was resurfaced. But the new track was extremely smooth and drivers complained about a lack of grip during the FP1.
Only 10 drivers managed to finish the 58-lap-long race in wet conditions. Lewis Hamilton faced the most difficult race of his life that evening. But the former World Champion says it was just as tricky for anyone else present.
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Lewis Hamilton shares his experience driving in the 2020 Turkish GP
Lewis Hamilton and other F1 drivers were terrified of the conditions at Istanbul Park. The drivers lacked grip and there were multiple incidents in the lead-up to the race.
And things got worse after the whole weekend experienced rainfall. The damp event made the race more challenging as driving on the track seemed like driving on ice!
Lewis Hamilton shared his experience driving in Istanbul that day to TV host Stephen Colbert. He said, “We hadn’t raced in this track for nearly 10 years. And they had just resurfaced the circuit, so it was like a new tarmac on a highway!”
Ahead of the race day, several locals were spotted riding their cars and performing laps in the circuit. This was don’t by the circuit officials to lay down some rubber and add grip.
But the efforts went in vain as it rained later washing away any rubber laid on the track. The park officials were criticised for doing track resurfacing so close to the race.
“But I don’t know why it was so dirty. Usually, over the weekend the surface gets better with the rubber from the tyres. But this time it was not happening, maybe it was a cheap job!”
He adds, “Usually when it rains it is the most difficult to race in general. But on this track, it felt like driving on ice. I don’t think any of the drivers had experienced that during our careers.”
But the Briton put a superb display of wet weather racing. He fought through the F1 midfield t claim his win. Hamilton fought his way through the midfield and claimed his 10th win of the season.
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