Hamilton fastest in Turkish qualifying, opens in 11th for engine penalty

Lewis Hamilton smashed the track record in Istanbul for the fastest overall time in qualifying Saturday, but he will start at P11 after being assessed a 10-place grid penalty for taking his fourth engine of the year.

However, Mercedes will still feature a driver at the pole position for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas finished qualifying right behind his teammate to earn his second pole of the 2021 season.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lewis Hamilton*	Mercedes	1:22:868
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.130
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.328
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.397
5	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	+0.458
6	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	+0.609
7	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+0.838
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.086
9	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.437
10	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	+1.500
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	Q2
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	Q2
13	George Russell	Williams	Q2
14	Mick Schumacher	Haas	Q2
15	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	Q2
16	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	Q1
17	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	Q1
18	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	Q1
19	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	Q1
20	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	Q1

* Hamilton opening in P11 due to 10-place grid penalty.

Due to Hamilton's penalty, chief rival Max Verstappen will move up to second on the grid with Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top five.

Hamilton leads Verstappen in the F1 standings by a mere two points entering Sunday's race.

Hamilton won the 2020 edition of the Turkish GP, which was the first time the race had been held since 2011. Verstappen, who opened in P2, ultimately finished sixth in last year's race.