With little meaningful football this weekend (Andorra v. England is on in the background - Saka just scored to make it 2-0 🥳), I've got no Fantasy Football to write about. Fortunately though, it's F1 Race Weekend so I still have something to write about 🙂

This weekend is the Turkish Grand Prix and today was a fairly decent qualifying session. Both Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have taken engine penalties meaning that Hamilton will take a 10 place grid penalty and Sainz will start in last place.

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Q1

Having had rain earlier in the morning, the track hadn't quite dried out when qualifying began. To add to the drama, many teams were predicting more rain within the first qualifying session so most of the cars queued at the end of the pit lane to get out and set a lap time as early as possible.

The queue of traffic compromised everybody's out lap and with nobody getting their tyres adequately up to temperature, they all stayed out to get a faster lap time. All this, with the promise of rain and the inevitable drama that comes with it.

In the damp conditions, lots of cars struggled for grip, ran wide and had their lap times deleted for exceeding track limits.

Unfortunately (for me), the rain never really came and my hope for additional drama left me disappointed. Instead, the track dried out and those completing their laps later in the session took advantage. The big surprise being the elimination of Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher getting through to Q2.

Eliminated: Ricciardo, Latifi, Giovinazzi, Raikkonen and Mazepin.

Q2

With Sainz knowing that he'd start in last place, he didn't set a time and decided to save his engine / tyres. It feels harsh on Daniel Ricciardo that he was eliminated by a driver who would start in last place but them's the rules 🤷‍♂️

The Mercedes seem to be a class above this weekend and were over half a second quicker than their nearest competitor - Max Verstappen.

Eliminated: Vettel, Ocon, Russell, Schumacher and Sainz.

Q3

Once again, it was Mercedes who dominated with Bottas initially going quickest before Hamilton bettered his time later in the session. This time, Verstappen was only three tenths off the pace which combined with Hamilton's grid penalty puts him on the front row with Bottas.

Charles Leclerc was the last man to cross the line and in leaving it as late as possible, benefitted from the best conditions and qualified in 4th (meaning he'll start in 3rd).

Highlights

So not the most exciting qualifying session this season but it does set up an intriguing race tomorrow. Mercedes look dominant and perhaps justifies why Hamilton took a penalty for this race. If Hamilton can make his way through the field and Bottas can keep ahead of Verstappen, then hopefully we'll get a bit of drama with the 2 title contenders fighting it out once again.

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Starting Grid

1. Bottas
2. Verstappen
3. Leclerc
4. Gasly
5. Alonso
6. Perez
7. Norris
8. Stroll
9. Tsunoda
10. Vettel
11. Hamilton
12. Ocon
13. Russell
14. Schumacher
15. Ricciardo
16. Latifi
17. Giovinazzi
18. Raikkonen
19. Mazepin
20. Sainz

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