2021 Turkish Grand Prix

The 2021 Turkish Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Rolex Turkish Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race, held on 10 October 2021 at Istanbul Park in Tuzla, Istanbul. It was the sixteenth of twenty-two rounds of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. As of 2025^[update], this was the last Turkish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton, driving for the Mercedes team was fastest in the final segment of Saturday's qualifying session, however a ten-place grid penalty meant he started Sunday's race in eleventh place, promoting his team-mate Valtteri Bottas to pole position. Bottas won the race and scored the bonus point for the fastest lap, with Red Bull Racing drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez finishing second and third.

The event took place from 8–10 October at Istanbul Park in Tuzla, Istanbul, with the race covering fifty-eight laps of the fourteen-turn circuit. It was the ninth running of the Turkish Grand Prix, all of which have taken place at the same venue. It had previously been scheduled for 11–13 June (replacing the cancelled Canadian Grand Prix), but was postponed due to unfavourable quarantine requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey and the travel restrictions from Turkey imposed by the British government. On 25 June, the event was readded to the schedule following the cancellation of the Singapore Grand Prix, which was scheduled for 1–3 October. On 28 August, it was pushed back one week to 8–10 October due to the reduction of the number of Grands Prix into the calendar. This was the second consecutive year in which the Turkish Grand Prix had appeared on the calendar as a replacement round.

While the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix had been held behind closed doors, the 2021 edition was to have spectators in attendance. Three previous Turkish Grand Prix winners entered this event in the form of Lewis Hamilton (who won the event twice previously in 2010 and 2020), Sebastian Vettel (who won the 2011 event), and Kimi Räikkönen (who won the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix in 2005).

Ten constructors entered two drivers each for the race, with no changes from the regular season entry list. Mission Winnow, the title sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari, was banned for this race. The name and sponsor logos were not used in any races from the French Grand Prix to the Italian Grand Prix for legal reasons, but were used at the Bahrain, Emilia Romagna, Portuguese, Spanish, Monaco, Azerbaijan, and Russian Grands Prix. Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri both ran tribute liveries to Honda, their engine supplier, on what was due to be Honda's home race, the Japanese Grand Prix. The Red Bull cars ran with a predominantly white livery, inspired by the livery with which the Honda team won their first Formula One World Championship race, the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The AlphaTauri cars featured arigato, a Japanese word for "Thank you".

Sole Formula One tyre-supplier Pirelli supplied their middle range of compounds in terms of hardness (the C2, C3, and C4). The track surface was water-blasted after the smooth tarmac provided little grip at the previous year's event. Following the first two practice sessions, Pirelli's Formula One boss Mario Isola stated that their tyre selection was "too aggressive". Isola stated that this was because Pirelli had only learned that the track was to be water-blasted after they had made their tyre choices. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said he hoped the track surface would still be slippery to boost his team's hopes of a good result at this race.

Going into the event, the Mercedes team led Red Bull by thirty-three points in the Constructors' Championship standings, whilst Mercedes driver Hamilton held a two-point lead over Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in the Drivers' Championship standings, with third-placed Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas twelve points ahead of fourth-placed McLaren driver Lando Norris and thirty-one ahead of fifth-placed Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez. Five drivers including Hamilton also tried out a prototype glove design in the first practice session, designed to improve safety by preventing burns similar to those suffered by Romain Grosjean at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

A trio of free practice sessions took place on Friday and Saturday, each an hour in length. Hamilton set the fastest time of the first free practice session for Mercedes ahead of Red Bull driver Verstappen and Ferrari driver Leclerc. Hamilton was fastest for the second praction session ahead of Leclerc and Bottas. Whilst the first two practice sessions were held in dry conditions, the third one was held in the wet and ended with AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly fastest ahead of Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Pérez. The first two practice sessions ran without major incident, whilst the third one was briefly red flagged after Williams driver George Russell beached his car in the gravel.