Istanbul Park, the venue for the Turkish Grand Prix, now has new owners - and Formula 1 could be set to return.
Having been off the calendar for the past three seasons, Istanbul is where Lewis Hamilton made history by winning his record-equalling seventh world championship. That victory came in 2020, with Hamilton beating Sergio Perez by a huge 31 seconds to go level with F1 legend Michael Schumacher in the all-time rankings.
Turkey initially joined the F1 calendar in 2005 but only for the next six years before falling away. The Covid-19-impacted seasons gave the track an opportunity to return, though, with 2020 and 2021 allowing Istanbul to have a temporary place in the schedule.
FIA chief Mohammed Ben Sulayem is claimed to have recently met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks, and now the tender to operate the circuit for the next 30 years has been awarded to Can Bilim Egitim Kurumlari AS, a company which is part-owned by Lale Cander, the chairman of Pirelli's Turkish branch.
"Istanbul Park track will be a centre of attraction. Formula 1 is extremely prestigious, and it increases the prestige of the country," Cander told Turkish newspaper Habertunk. "There will be countries that will be removed from the calendar in 2026, so races can be held again in Turkey. Apart from Formula 1, we will bring other races to Istanbul Park."
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Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey's tourism minister, previously stated that the keys to Istanbul Park would be given to a bidder who was able to ensure F1's return to Turkey in time for the 2026 season.
Your turn! Should Formula 1 bring back the Turkish Grand Prix? Join the debate in the comments section.
Lewis Hamilton became world champion for the seventh time at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix (Clive Mason/Getty Images)The winner of the first Turkish Grand Prix 19 years ago was Kimi Raikkonen, who was driving a McLaren-Mercedes. Felipe Massa of Ferrari dominated by winning the next three races before Jenson Button's triumph with Brawn in 2009. Hamilton then claimed first on the podium a year later before Sebastian Vettel won for Red Bull in 2011.
Hamilton came back with a bang in 2020 and subsequently claimed the world title, but it was Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who took first place in 2021. If Formula 1 does return to Istanbul Park, Hamilton will hope not to have to deal with what he described as a "terrifying" track in 2020.
"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," the Brit said. "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 [Portugal] was when we had the brand new surface there."
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