Lewis Hamilton [photo: sports Rush]
Lewis Hamilton will start his Sunday race at the 10 grid place following a penalty that he faces for having an exceeding number of engines.
Mercedes have taken the fourth extra part, to reduce the risks of the Briton suffering a failure during the tight championship run-in. Only three engines are suitable for the competition.
The Red Bull driver trails Hamilton by two points in the championship after recovering from the back of the grid following his own engine penalty to finish second behind the seven-time champion in Russia at the last race.
Hamilton topped first practice at Istanbul Park, 0.425 seconds ahead of Verstappen, and also headed the time sheets in the second session, in which Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was second, 0.166secs behind the Mercedes.
Verstappen was 0.635secs off the pace in the second session, in which the understeer he was suffering in the first session had been replaced by oversteer.
Leclerc, who was third fastest in the first session, looked competitive all day in the Ferrari, which is fitted with an engine with the upgraded hybrid system to which he gave a debut in the last race in Russia.