Despite a truncated 2020 season, Formula 1 made a very much anticipated return to Istanbul Park. All drivers were looking forward to driving on this track, especially for the famously known Turn 8. Unfortunately, the combination of the newness of the asphalt, an overnight track wash, cool temperatures and the hardest range of the tires compound made the practice sessions almost impossible for the drivers to enjoy. The track was too slippery, and it was a struggle to get heat into tires. 

At the end of a frustrating Friday, Hamilton called his running " a bit of a disaster ".

The Briton also questioned the interest of spending too much money in an unnecessary resurfacing of a track which is now worse than Portimao in terms of grip

"This track is such a fantastic circuit, and I really don't fully understand when they spend millions to redo a surface of a track," 

"I know it had been around for a long time, but they probably could have just cleaned it maybe instead of wasting all the money. Now the track is worse than Portimao was when we had the brand new surface there."

"The tires aren't working, and you see it. It's like an ice-rink out there. You don't get quite the enjoyment of the lap as you would normally get from Istanbul, and I don't see that changing. "

"It's terrifying the whole way around. It's almost like there's wet patches all over, so as you're on the slicks, you're accelerating, and it goes so fast."

Pirelli opted to bring for the Turkish GP, for the last time this season, the hardest tires compound. With the track being this green, it was expected the optimal window temperature would be a tricky equation to solve.

"You're way, way below the temperature window of those tires there," Hamilton explained.

"They're so hard and they work in a certain window, so if you're 10 or 20 degrees below, then they're not working. If you're 20 degrees over, they're not working.

"This surface is so smooth. The older circuits, it's much more open between all the stones, so it works the tires more, whereas this one is super closed and flat and shiny, and I guess the oil seeps from the tarmac I guess, or whatever they put down.

"It's shit with a capital S."

Regarding the trimming of the car ahead of the qualifications and the race, Hamilton conceded he didn't succeed in setting up his W11, with his entire focus on the tires' job. 

"I've not changed a single thing with the car today, because if the tires aren't working, then you don't really know what the balance issue is, and it's literally just tires," Hamilton said.

"But you see other people are getting them to work, you can go from one lap to the other, and all of a sudden, you find a second because the tires worked in a couple of corners.

"Obviously the Red Bulls are doing really well with it, and we've definitely got some work to do tonight to try and figure out what we can change. It will be difficult for the fans to understand, because there are fundamental things you can 't change on the car. "

Ultimately, considering their struggles, Hamilton simply concluded " We'll just have to do the best job we can. "