Lance Stroll takes stunning Turkish F1 GP pole in wet as Hamilton struggles

Lance Stroll claimed pole at the Turkish Grand Prix for Racing Point, his first in Formula One. Stroll overcame wet, treacherous conditions and his team pulled off some fine tyre strategy at the Istanbul Park Circuit to nail the top spot. Max Verstappen was in second for Red Bull, with Stroll’s teammate Sergio Pérez in third. Lewis Hamilton, attempting to secure his seventh title here, was in sixth but crucially in front of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was in ninth. The Red Bull of Alexander Albon was in fourth and the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.

In the final runs in Q3 on a track that remained wet but which was drying the drivers headed out on full wet tyres and continued to lap as the water cleared and the times came down. Verstappen had demonstrated a real advantage throughout, seconds up on his rivals in the early stages, and he maintained the edge early on the final laps. However, Racing Point took the risk to put their drivers out on intermediate tyres which were tricky at first but soon came good.

With visibility still difficult from the spray these were testing conditions and highly tense as the clock ticked down and Pérez threw down the gauntlet with the fastest lap on the inters. Following his lead the other teams switched too but the two Racing Point drivers had the extra laps of heat in their rubber and it was crucial.

Pérez looked to be on top but it was the Canadian, in his fourth season in F1, who put it together perfectly on the final lap. He concluded with a time of 1min 47.765sec, almost three-tenths clear of Verstappen.

Mercedes, who lost their 100% pole record for the season, could not master the lack of grip and had not challenged for the top spots throughout qualifying but Hamilton is still in every position to close out his seventh world championship and to match Michael Schumacher’s record. Having already surpassed Schumacher’s record of poles and wins, it will ensure he is the most successful driver in the sport’s history.

Hamilton leads Bottas by 85 points and if he is 78 ahead after this round the title will be secure. A win would seal it, as would any finishing position in front of the Finn. Bottas must finish eight points clear of Hamilton to extend the title fight to another round.

Lewis Hamilton struggled but is still set to win his seventh world title on Sunday as he qualified ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Photograph: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

This has not been an easy weekend for any of the teams. The great anticipation at returning to Istanbul Park, which has not hosted a race since 2011, turned to disappointment when the track suffered from a lack of grip. The circuit was resurfaced just two weeks ago and the new tarmac is proving to be very slippery. The tyres are not coming up to their operating temperature window and many drivers have noted how treacherous the subsequent lack of grip is proving.

Hamilton described it as “terrifying” to drive on Friday. Lap times in practice were three seconds down on those of 2011, whereas the increased pace and downforce of these cars should have seen them going much quicker. Verstappen topped both sessions on Friday, with Red Bull coping better with the conditions. Rain on Saturday morning only exacerbated the problem on a track that had very little rubber laid down, and the drivers did few laps but once again Verstappen was on top, with Hamilton putting in only three laps and Bottas four.

The cars began clearing the water during Q2 as the times began dropping lap by lap. Yet the two Mercedes drivers were still not troubling the top of the timesheets, which Verstappen and Red Bull led.

The rain had stopped when the session began but the track was already sodden and the cold temperatures were also exacerbating the lack of grip, making for exceptionally tricky conditions. A tough challenge was made all the more difficult when the rain returned, causing the session to be stopped eight minutes into Q1.

The rain cleared as did the skies to some extent and the session resumed 45 minutes later, only to be stopped again when Romain Grosjean beached his Haas in a gravel trap.

Renault’s Esteban Ocon was in seventh and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi in eighth and 10th.

Lando Norris was in 11th for McLaren and his teammate Carlos Sainz in 13th. Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc were 12th and 14th for Ferrari and Pierre Gasly in 15th for AlphaTauri.

The Haas of Kevin Magnussen went out in 16th, with his teammate Grosjean in 19th. Daniil Kvyat was in 17th for AlphaTauri, with George Russell and Nicholas Latifi in 18th and 20th for Williams.