Hamilton Vows Maximum Attack from 11th on the Grid in Turkey

Lewis Hamilton. (Reuters)
Lewis Hamilton. (Reuters)
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Hamilton Vows Maximum Attack from 11th on the Grid in Turkey

Lewis Hamilton. (Reuters)
Lewis Hamilton. (Reuters)

Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton promised "maximum attack" in Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix and would not rule out winning from 11th on the grid.

The Mercedes driver was quickest in qualifying at Istanbul Park but a 10-place penalty for exceeding his season's engine allocation, a strategic move, left the Briton with plenty of overtaking to do in the race.

Hamilton won in Turkey last year, in wet and slippery conditions, after starting sixth.

He also stood out in his pre-F1 days when he roared back from 19th to second in a GP2 race in the dry in 2006.

This time he risks losing his championship lead unless he finishes ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who is two points adrift with seven races to go and lines up on the front row with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas on pole.

"I was third already at turn one last year so that made a bit of a difference," said Hamilton, now chasing a record eighth title.

"It's a much different weekend, a much different track grip, so we're faced with different circumstances this weekend," he added.

"My eyes are still solely set on winning the race. It's going to be very hard, from 11th, but not impossible ... so just staying on my toes and making sure that we deliver maximum attack tomorrow."

Hamilton has three other Red Bull drivers ahead of him on the grid, with Verstappen's Mexican team mate Sergio Perez on the third row while Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, from Red Bull's sister team AlphaTauri, are fourth and ninth.

McLaren's Lando Norris, who lines up seventh, said he expected to stay ahead of Hamilton for only a couple of laps.

"I'm not going to say I'm going to beat him because I'm not," said the 21-year-old, who started on pole in Russia and nearly won.

Hamilton said he would just take it one step at a time, and had to get through the opening lap safely first from his midfield position.

"If I can be higher up early on, then great. I've got to stay out of trouble of course, and that will be probably my priority initially, and then see if it's possible to pick them off one by one."



Bayern Munich Advances in Club World Cup with 2-1 Win over Boca Juniors

Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
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Bayern Munich Advances in Club World Cup with 2-1 Win over Boca Juniors

Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)

Michael Olise fired Bayern Munich into the knockout stages of the Club World Cup, scoring in the 84th minute for a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors on Friday night.

German champion Bayern made it two wins in Group C and advanced to the round of 16 with a game to spare.

Olise secured the victory at Hard Rock Stadium after Miguel Merentiel had put Boca in position for a draw with a brilliant solo goal in the 66th.

Bayern, which tops the group, took the lead on Harry Kane's clinical finish in the 18th and went on to miss of a slew of chances before Merentiel's equalizer.

South American teams had been unbeaten in their first nine games of this expanded Club World Cup.

Bayern looked like it would be held until Olise's cool finish. Collecting Kane's layoff inside the box, the forward curled a powerful first-time effort low into the bottom corner.

Bayern has the luxury of resting players for its final group game against second-place Benfica on Tuesday, which could be bad news for Boca. Argentine giant Boca, which plays Auckland City, needs Bayern to beat Benfica to have any chance of advancing to the next round.

“We knew it wasn't going to be easy, we knew we were coming into a hostile environment, hot weather, it was tough. It's a massive tournament. We are playing against the best teams in the world. We just have to compete to our highest level and we should be able to beat most teams,” said Kane.

“We have to find a way (to advance). A draw would’ve been great but it’s up to us to compete and do our best and I would not be surprised if that happened,” said Boca Juniors coach Miguel Angel Russo.