Türkiye’s finest: Top five Turkish Grand Prix moments

Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Morgan Holiday

Racing action at Istanbul Park Circuit in 2021, the last time Formula One held an event at the venue | Credit: Formula One

The Turkish Grand Prix, a driver and fan favourite, was announced to be returning to the Formula One calendar in 2027. The Istanbul Park Circuit alongside the Ministry of Youth and Sport signed a new five year contract with F1, to host its first event since 2021.  

The track, which has aspects of other historic and iconic tracks like Interlagos in Brazil and Silverstone in the UK, first held a race in 2005. Making a brief return to the calendar during the COVID-19 impacted years of 2020 and 2021, this circuit has been host to some iconic moments over the years. 

2005 - McLaren’s opposing fortunes: Montoya's mistake and Räikkönen’s win

The inaugural race saw Kimi Räikkönen take to the top step of the podium, however, things were not so successful for his then-teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya. The Finnish driver recorded a grand slam after qualifying on pole and leading every lap of the race, recording a crucial fifth victory of the season in his battle with Fernando Alonso for the title. 

Despite the Finn’s performance, the healthy lead that Alonso and Renault had built in the World Driver Championship (WDC) and World Constructors’ Championship (WCC) standings respectively meant that the driver and team could be reassured of both titles. Even so, the mistake of Montoya would prove costly. 

Räikkönen and Alonso were the two main protagonists of the 2005 championship battle, making Montoya’s mistake even more difficult for the Finnish driver | Credit: Formula One

Until the penultimate lap of the race, the McLaren teammates were running in first and second. However, when Montoya attempted to overtake a backmarker driver, he collided with them. As Montoya carried the subsequent damage to his diffuser because of the contact, Alonso passed him with ease and finished in the final podium position. 

At the end of the 2005 season, Alonso took the first of his two titles with 134 points. Having achieved seven race victories and a total of 14 podium finishes during the course of the season, his podium in Türkiye meant that Alonso’s lead over Räikkönen was never reduced and the Spaniard’s title win was almost assured.

2006 - Battle for the championship between Alonso and Schumacher

The second edition of the Turkish Grand Prix, also the 14th round of the championship, saw a championship hopeful and a seasoned championship winner go head to head for the runner-up spot. Felipe Massa, who remains the most successful driver at this circuit, took pole position and victory, however, he was not the driver to make headlines on that occasion.  

Just like the year before, Alonso led the championship standings by 10 points coming into the race, but this time it was ahead of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher. The front two rows of the grid were occupied by the Ferrari pair, Massa and Schumacher, followed by the Renault pair, Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella. Those four were the only drivers to emerge unscathed after an opening lap accident. 

After a slow stop for Schumacher behind his teammate, he and Alonso battled over the course of the final 15 laps for the runner-up position on the podium. As Massa crossed the line to take his first ever F1 win, it was Alonso who managed to keep the multiple world champion at bay to hold onto second place. 

Alonso finished marginally ahead of Schumacher enroute to win his second world championship title at the end of the 2006 season | Credit: Formula One

2007 - Hamilton's out of reach podium and title

As far as rookie seasons go, Lewis Hamilton’s first season in F1 remains one of the most successful in the sport’s long history. Winning his first race on his seventh race start, the British driver was considered a championship contender until an unfortunate incident in Türkiye which saw his title hopes slip away.

Hamilton held a lead in the championship standings over then-teammate Alonso but the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Massa had a significant pace advantage around the track on this occasion. After an incredible start by Räikkönen and Massa, Hamilton found himself dropping behind them both.

Although Hamilton’s McLaren wasn’t as quick as the Ferraris ahead, any chance of trying to challenge for position was gone when a puncture saw a significant drop in performance. In the end, Hamilton had to settle for a fifth place finish and his championship advantage was reduced to five points.

Hamilton finished 2007 in the runner’s up position, losing the title by a single point | Credit: Formula One

2010 - Drama for Red Bull and McLaren 

2010 held one of the most dramatic races in the history of the track with two of the front-runner teams involved in incidents that would go on to define their seasons. Involved in the incidents were Red Bull and McLaren, 

In the Red Bull garage, this race saw Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber begin their bitter fight to the chequered flag as they battled for their maiden WDC title. Over at McLaren, the tense relationship between Hamilton and Jenson Button reached a boiling point after an attempted passing manoeuvre. 

During the race, Webber was the lead Red Bull as he had been since the start after qualifying on pole. However, behind him, Vettel was fast approaching and determined to challenge for the lead of the race after Webber had to conserve some of his fuel. After an attempted passing manoeuvre by Vettel, both Red Bull cars collided with Vettel out of the race and Webber sustained heavy damage. 

Vettel retired from the race but went on to win the first of his four consecutive world championship titles at the end of 2010 | Credit: Formula One

Things were not much easier handled for the McLaren pair of Hamilton and Button. After the retirement of Vettel and Webber’s dropping down the order, the McLaren pairing found themselves running first and second. 

Whilst both drivers were cautioned about changing weather conditions and to conserve fuel, the British drivers were determined to battle for the lead of the race. On Lap 48, after back and forth between them both, Hamilton emerged ahead of Button which was the order they finished the race in. 

This would be McLaren’s second 1-2 finish of the season, allowing them to take the top spot in the WCC standings ahead of Red Bull with 172 points. Although his teammate finished ahead of him, Button retained his second place position in the WDC standings. 

The McLaren pairing didn’t make contact like the Red Bull pairing however the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix was no less exciting for the British pairing | Credit: Formula One

2020 - Hamilton makes history with a record equalling seventh championship title

In 2020, Hamilton was hoping to make history by becoming only the second driver in F1 history to win seven WDC titles. However, the weekend did not go exactly as planned as Hamilton struggled for performance. 

Qualifying only sixth as Lance Stroll took the first pole position of his career, the championship title seemed set to be decided at the following round in Bahrain. This all changed as the rain started to come down, creating wet weather conditions that Hamilton has always been known to flourish in. As other drivers found themselves spinning off-track or retiring from the race, the British driver brought himself back into race winning contention against Perez.

In the end, Hamilton crossed the line almost 30 seconds ahead of Perez to secure his title. With this title, it marked the seventh consecutive year where a Mercedes driver won the WDC title. 

Hamilton became only the second driver in F1 history to win seven titles | Credit: Formula One

With the news that other tracks such as Spa-Francorchamps and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will be changed to rotational tracks, racing action returning to Istanbul Park Circuit has been met with praise. 

2027 is confirmed to have 24 rounds so Türkiye’s return to the calendar means that other hopefuls to join the F1 calendar such as Argentina and India will have to wait until 2028 at the earliest. With the new regulations proving to carry out on the promises of closer racing and more overtaking, F1’s return to Türkiye is sure to be exciting.