By lap 18 of the Turkish Grand Prix, everything seemed to be going superbly for Lance Stroll.
He’d started cleanly from his first ever pole position, edged clear of his team mate Sergio Perez, and made the switch from wet weather to intermediate tyres along with the rest of the field. He was leading a race for the first time in his career, and his margin over Perez was more than 10 seconds.His fortunes swung sharply over the remaining 40 laps, however. Stroll took the chequered flag ninth, 72 seconds behind the race winner and 40 seconds behind his team mate.
Three things went awry for this to happen. The begin with, his intermediate tyres grained and lost grip – a problem which did not affect his team mate. Other teams had flagged up this potential problem earlier in the weekend.
Stroll built that 10s lead partly through a series of quick laps at the beginning of his second stint. Did he take too much out of the tyres too soon?
His loss of pace left Racing Point little option other than to make a pit stop. Had anyone other than his team mate been directly behind they might have been tempted to leave Stroll out in the hope that his tyres would clean up. But they couldn’t risk him compromising the races of both their cars, and Perez was on the radio complaining his team mate was holding him up.
The final blow for Stroll was that his fresh intermediate tyres didn’t perform any better. It wasn’t until the final laps of the race that he began to lap quicker than Perez, by which time he’d been passed by several other drivers.
Perez has always had a superb touch for preserving his tyres, and so it proved again today, with a 48-lap stint on his intermediates which delivered a fine second place. Only two drivers took them further: Daniil Kvyat on 49 laps, and race winner Lewis Hamilton with a 50-lap stint. By the end of the the Mercedes driver’s intermediate looked more like slicks.
Intriguingly, Mercedes bucked a tyre choice trend across the rest of the field. While their rivals (Williams aside) started on used wet weather tyres, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took the start on fresh sets. And when they came in for their first (in Hamilton’s case, only) tyre stops, the Mercedes drivers switched to worn intermediates, while the others opted for fresh rubber.
Following the team’s notably poor performance in qualifying, these contrary tyre selections may indicate how Hamilton found enough pace to win on Sunday.
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2020 Turkish Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
2020 Turkish Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 9 | -9 | -5 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 11 | 8 | 8 |
| Charles Leclerc | 12 | -2 | 8 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | -2 | -4 |
| Alexander Albon | 4 | -1 | -3 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 15 | 6 | 10 |
| Lando Norris | 14 | -1 | 6 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 5 | -2 | -5 |
| Esteban Ocon | 7 | -12 | -4 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 16 | 4 | 4 |
| Pierre Gasly | 19 | 6 | 6 |
| Sergio Perez | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Lance Stroll | 1 | 0 | -8 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 8 | 0 | -7 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | 10 | -1 | |
| Romain Grosjean | 17 | 1 | |
| Kevin Magnussen | 13 | 3 | -4 |
| George Russell | 20 | 3 | 4 |
| Nicholas Latifi | 18 | -2 |
2020 Turkish Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2020 Turkish Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’36.806 | 58 | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’38.193 | 1.387 | 57 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’38.431 | 1.625 | 53 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’38.754 | 1.948 | 56 |
| 5 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’39.099 | 2.293 | 54 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’39.413 | 2.607 | 56 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’39.586 | 2.780 | 53 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’39.662 | 2.856 | 53 |
| 9 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’39.743 | 2.937 | 57 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’39.921 | 3.115 | 55 |
| 11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’39.961 | 3.155 | 47 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’40.392 | 3.586 | 50 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’40.677 | 3.871 | 54 |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’40.814 | 4.008 | 51 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’40.948 | 4.142 | 45 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1’41.006 | 4.200 | 55 |
| 17 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’41.019 | 4.213 | 53 |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’43.281 | 6.475 | 38 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’43.495 | 6.689 | 32 |
| 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’51.122 | 14.316 | 11 |
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2020 Turkish Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Giovinazzi | Wet (8) | Intermediate (3) | ||
| Nicholas Latifi | Intermediate (8) | Intermediate (30) | Intermediate (1) | |
| Romain Grosjean | Wet (8) | Intermediate (28) | Intermediate (13) | |
| Kevin Magnussen | Wet (8) | Intermediate (26) | Intermediate (21) | |
| Lewis Hamilton | Wet (8) | Intermediate (50) | ||
| Esteban Ocon | Wet (1) | Wet (9) | Intermediate (47) | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Wet (8) | Intermediate (49) | ||
| Pierre Gasly | Wet (10) | Intermediate (23) | Intermediate (24) | |
| Sergio Perez | Wet (10) | Intermediate (48) | ||
| Sebastian Vettel | Wet (8) | Intermediate (25) | Intermediate (25) | |
| Charles Leclerc | Wet (6) | Intermediate (24) | Intermediate (28) | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Wet (10) | Intermediate (23) | Intermediate (25) | |
| Max Verstappen | Wet (11) | Intermediate (7) | Intermediate (25) | Intermediate (15) |
| Alexander Albon | Wet (12) | Intermediate (22) | Intermediate (24) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Wet (7) | Intermediate (39) | Intermediate (11) | |
| Lando Norris | Wet (9) | Intermediate (27) | Intermediate (22) | |
| Lance Stroll | Wet (9) | Intermediate (27) | Intermediate (22) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Wet (8) | Intermediate (22) | Intermediate (20) | Intermediate (7) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Wet (10) | Intermediate (22) | Intermediate (26) | |
| George Russell | Intermediate (32) | Intermediate (10) | Intermediate (15) |
2020 Turkish Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 22.490 | 34 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.518 | 0.028 | 18 |
| 3 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 22.602 | 0.112 | 12 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 22.684 | 0.194 | 9 |
| 5 | George Russell | Williams | 22.692 | 0.202 | 32 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.787 | 0.297 | 43 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 22.853 | 0.363 | 46 |
| 8 | George Russell | Williams | 22.888 | 0.398 | 42 |
| 9 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 23.180 | 0.690 | 50 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 23.208 | 0.718 | 32 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 23.288 | 0.798 | 33 |
| 12 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 23.398 | 0.908 | 7 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | 23.417 | 0.927 | 8 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 23.470 | 0.980 | 10 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 23.475 | 0.985 | 10 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 23.537 | 1.047 | 33 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 23.650 | 1.160 | 36 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 23.669 | 1.179 | 10 |
| 19 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 23.686 | 1.196 | 36 |
| 20 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 23.687 | 1.197 | 30 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 23.730 | 1.240 | 9 |
| 22 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 23.860 | 1.370 | 8 |
| 23 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 23.910 | 1.420 | 10 |
| 24 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 24.022 | 1.532 | 8 |
| 25 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 24.256 | 1.766 | 11 |
| 26 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 24.275 | 1.785 | 6 |
| 27 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 24.552 | 2.062 | 8 |
| 28 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 24.738 | 2.248 | 8 |
| 29 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 25.163 | 2.673 | 10 |
| 30 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 25.401 | 2.911 | 33 |
| 31 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 25.432 | 2.942 | 8 |
| 32 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 25.719 | 3.229 | 1 |
| 33 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 26.686 | 4.196 | 8 |
| 34 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 30.765 | 8.275 | 8 |
| 35 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 31.356 | 8.866 | 30 |
| 36 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 31.422 | 8.932 | 36 |
| 37 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 36.599 | 14.109 | 38 |
| 38 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 153.964 | 131.474 | 34 |
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Pedro (@)
15th November 2020, 21:06
Uhuh, uhuh, just like it was the right call to pit perez at imola in a track notorius for being dificult to pass
David (@davidjwest)
15th November 2020, 22:02
It was a great race as the changing conditions suited different cars at different times.
Racing Point were fastest in the wettest part of the race up until lap 10 or so, then Ferrari and Red Bull had strong performances until the track was almost dry when finally Mercedes (or Hamilton at least) were quick and McLaren seemed very quick right at the end.
Racing Point look to have a car that works its tyres hard which is an advantage in wet weather and disadvantage when it got drier, Perez did well to look after the tyres, Stroll didn’t bother to do that it seems.
sumedh
16th November 2020, 4:48
A suggestion: What is the basis for the ordering of drivers in the tyre strategies data. Can we have it as per finishing order / starting order?
Badger74 (@badger74)
16th November 2020, 9:30
Looking at the charts it seems the McLarens had some serious pace on Sunday once they got into clear air