Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas believes Turkey’s Istanbul Park is now “one of the grippiest tracks” on the Formula 1 calendar following Friday practice.
F1’s return to Turkey last year saw drivers struggle to control their cars on a low-grip surface during practice after it was resurfaced prior to the event.
Work has been done on the surface to ensure the 2020 issues would not return, with Friday’s FP2 lap times some five seconds faster than last year.
“It was a lot faster, I think it was over 10 seconds faster than last year in FP1,” Bottas said.
“Now there’s proper grip, and I think it is one of the grippiest tracks we have in the calendar, so that obviously makes the track more fun.
“We could take a different approach with the car set-up compared to last year, because of that, and we had to react and adjust quite a bit during the day, so I enjoyed it.
“In FP2 the feeling was actually pretty good, no big issues with the car, so I feel this could be a strong weekend for us.”
Bottas’ team-mate Lewis Hamilton topped both practice sessions, stating the track was more enjoyable to drive with the added grip compared to 2020.
“Last year, [there] was a brand new surface and the oil came up from the bitumen and they cleaned it off,” Hamilton said.
“So I didn’t really know what to expect, but jeez, [there’s] so much more grip than we’ve ever had before, it’s intense how much grip there is out there which is awesome.
“It has made it a much more enjoyable track to drive, much like it was before.”
Hamilton enters Saturday’s qualifying session with a 10-place grid penalty hanging over him, after Mercedes opted to fit his car with a fresh engine for the weekend.
