2021 Turkish GP, Ferrari race report: Charles P4, Carlos P8

Valtteri Bottas won the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix for Mercedes, as Max Verstappen finished second to take the lead of the World Championship. Sergio Perez crosses the line in third.

Scuderia Ferrari had hoped for dry conditions ahead of Sunday’s race, opting for a low downforce configuration on the SF21 car of Charles Leclerc, but weather predictions were not confirmed and with some drizzle coming down, intermediate tyres were certainly the right call for the start of the race in such conditions.

At the start Charles Leclerc kept third place behind the top two and was ahead of Sergio Perez, who moved up to fourth from sixth. Carlos Sainz, who was at the back of the grid due to his engine penalties, alongside Daniel Ricciardo, also kept his position, although the Spanish driver would have hoped to make up a few places in the first few corners. A few early spins, for Nicholas Latifi and Mick Schumacher, aided Carlos’ path up the order. Solid pace for the Spanish driver, who managed some great overtakes in difficult conditions, passing George Russell and Kimi Raikkonen, rising six places in seven laps after his engine penalty.

A brilliant race at that stage for a hard-charging Carlos and the Ferrari was in points on lap 15 after overtaking Sebastian Vettel for 10th. But there was contact between the two sides as the Spanish driver bustled his way through. Yuki Tsunoda was up next and Carlos once again did not waste time behind, overtaking the Japanese racing driver.

On the other hand, Charles Leclerc was able to keep up with Bottas and Verstappen, while Hamilton was catching up from behind. Carlos changed his intermediate tyers on lap 37, but sadly it was a slow pit stop and the Spanish driver lost a lot of time. Race-leader Charles asked his Ferrari team if he could finish the race without changing tyres: “Yes, you can stay with this set to the end,” Ferrari respond.

A very risky move from the Maranello team which eventually decided to pit Charles with 11 laps until the end, but unfortunately the Monegasque driver was not able to put heat in the tyres and was passed by Sergio Perez, losing P3. A fourth place finish for Charles, with Carlos P8, at the end of a race in which Ferrari had the potential for a better result.

Turkish Grand Prix – Here are the complete race results from today’s 2021 F1 World Championship race at the Istanbul Park circuit.