Formula One: Mercedes in comfort zone, but Lewis Hamilton wary of threats to his crown
- Mercedes boss Toto Wolff concedes that it is possible that Hamilton will have a new fourth engine of the season and a grid penalty for Sunday’s race in Turkey
Eleven months on from a spectacular victory for Mercedes in treacherous rain-hit conditions that secured him his seventh drivers’ title with three races remaining, the 36-year-old Briton is this year only two points ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with seven to go.
That knife-edge advantage offers him little protection and he knows also that he may face a grid penalty if forced to take a fresh power unit, as the Dutchman did two weekends ago in Russia, for a contest likely to be run in similarly wet weather.
Last year’s event was the first at Istanbul Park for nine years and was run on a newly resurfaced and very slippery track that, like Sochi last month, conspired to deliver a high degree of jeopardy and drama.
On both occasions, Hamilton used his experience and race-craft to overcome inauspicious circumstances and deliver stunning victories rewarded by drawing level with Michael Schumacher’s title tally and posting an unprecedented 100th F1 triumph.