But whenever there is a special racing livery, it will always be different.
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After the long straights of monza and Sochi, in October, F1 came to Turkey across Eurasia, the last leg of the flight season.
After a nine-year absence, the Turkish Grand Prix returned to the F1 calendar in 2020, and the smooth "ice" surface of the track coupled with the low rainfall made Stoll's first pole position in his career, and also achieved Hamilton's seven-time champion to equal Schumacher.
This year's Turkish Grand Prix also experienced "twists and turns", with it removed from the calendar at the beginning of the year due to the international travel ban affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and later returned to the calendar due to the schedule that took over from the Singapore Grand Prix, but it was not finally confirmed until the opening day approached.
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What to focus on: Can a special edition livery for Red Bull Racing bring good luck?
Red Bull Racing has just released a special white racing livery designed for races in Turkey, paying tribute to Honda, a power unit partner who is about to bid farewell to F1. This weekend was supposed to be Honda's last Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The special edition design retained the Red Bull logo, yellow air intakes, and blue tail fins, but was replaced by a white-based design in other respects. Rider numbers were also placed on a red circular background similar to the national flag, with the Japanese word "Thank You" added to the sides.
Honda returned to F1 with McLaren in 2015, but the partnership did not end smoothly in 2017. The 2018 season began to establish a partnership with Little Red Bull, laying the foundation for the cooperation with Red Bull the following year. Since teaming up with Honda, both Big and Small Red Bull Racing have won grand prix victories, but last October Honda announced it would leave F1 after the 2021 season.
Verstappen will fight for his eighth victory of the year at this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix and will recapture his lead in the drivers' standings, with him currently trailing Hamilton by just two points.
At monza and Sochi, two circuits where Mercedes have the upper hand, Red Bull and Verstappen have been able to block their opponents as much as possible. Returning to the more typical Istanbul Park circuit, Red Bull will regain the initiative, and last year's practice session here verstappen was very fast, only later the weather conditions deteriorated.
Another big shift on the card is the power unit, Red Bull has replaced verstappen in Sochi, and now the thorny issues fall on Mercedes and Hamilton, Toto Wolff said they would assess the situation of the power unit at every stop and said that DNF was not acceptable in the final sprint of the championship battle. Therefore, if the weather is rainy on the weekend, it is not excluded to open a new power unit for Hamilton as soon as possible.
Whether it is a head-on confrontation or Hamilton chasing from the end of the team, the championship battle between the two will surely become more and more intense.
Track introduction
Intercity Istanbul Park, Turkey, which first hosted the F1 Grand Prix in 2005, counterclockwise, 5.338 km on laps, 14 corners, 2 drs zones, 58 laps in the main race, 309.396 km, the track record of 1:24.770, created by Juan Pablo Montoya in the first year to this day.
Located in Akfirat, about an hour east of Istanbul, construction began in 2003 and was personally operated by F1's royal track designer Hermann Tilke and completed in August 2005 at a cost of $40 million.
The inaugural F1 Turkish Grand Prix was held on 21 August of the same year, a dramatic race won by then-McLaren driver Raikkonen, who collided with king Schumacher while trying to get out of the snare.
There is no doubt that the Istanbul Park Circuit is one of the best-designed circuits ever designed by Hermann Tilke, and over the years some parts of the track have been compared to similar circuits in Spa in Belgium, Interlagos in Brazil and Laguna Seca in the United States. Still, Turn 8 remains the crown jewel of the track, an incredibly high-speed, bumpy, multi-bending downhill left-hand corner that is a fairly high test of drivers' courage and determination.
Tires and race strategy
As the Turkish Grand Prix in place of Singapore on the calendar, Pirelli has prepared three formulas for this weekend: hard tyres C2, neutral C3 and soft tyres C4. Compared with last year (after 9 years to return to the F1 calendar) in November, this year is one month earlier, and the tires are also one gear softer.
Pirelli made the decision to soften the first gear based on data collected from last year's race, and the smooth surface of the track led to low grip and low tire wear, although the track evolved fairly quickly.
Just before last year's Turkish Grand Prix, the track was resurfaced with asphalt, which has matured over the course of a year and has just been thoroughly cleaned by a high-pressure current. So softer tire combinations, higher asphalt roughness and higher temperature possibilities will all give riders a better grip when driving than last year.
Istanbul Park Circuit is the most famous of turn 8, which has been described as one of the best corners in F1. Turn 8 is 640 meters long (12% of a lap) and is an uncompromising high-speed bend with 4 bends and a centrifugal force of more than 5 G on the car and tires.
Therefore, this is a very demanding track for the tires, the car will be biased towards high downforce tuning to ensure sufficient grip, and the tires will be tested by all aspects of pressure.
Many other corners also place harsh demands on the tires: Turn 1 undergoes a large downhill before going uphill, and the back straight is also an uphill bend that includes a dive, nicknamed "Faux Rouge" in homage to Spa. The layout of the entire track makes full use of the natural elevation of the area.
This year's weather is still a question mark for the race. It's a month ahead of 2020, and last year was wetland conditions, the team didn't collect much relevant tyre data, especially the C4 tyres, which never appeared in Istanbul, and Friday's practice opportunity was crucial.
Hamilton won last year's race and was crowned the "Seven Champions", the race strategy adopted a one stop, 8 laps of full rain tires plus 50 laps of half rain tires, in addition to the other three are also a stop, most drivers have chosen the two stop tactics.
Weekend weather
Judging from the current forecast, the possibility of rain over the weekend is decreasing. The possibility of rain on Saturday is on the larger side, which will affect the third practice and qualifying, and the Sunday main race will basically be dry, and the temperature is much higher than last year, which is good news for the tire heating up.
Match time
First practice: Friday, October 8 16:30-17:30
Second exercise: Friday, October 8, 20:00-21:00
Third exercise: Saturday, October 9, 17:00-18:00
Ranking: Saturday, October 9 20:00-21:00
Regular Round: Sunday, October 10, 20:00-22:00
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