F1 Turkish GP: Verstappen not worried if “head falls off” at Turn 8

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen says he would rather his “head falls off” through Turn 8 than wear head padding at Formula 1’s Turkish Grand Prix.

The drivers are expecting to face high G-forces at this weekend’s race at Istanbul Park - particularly at the circuit’s famous triple left-hander at Turn 8, which is regarded as one of the best corners in F1.

Verstappen said he is looking forward to getting his first taste of the circuit as F1 visits Turkey for the first time since 2011.

“It looks very interesting,” the Dutchman explained. “I remember playing this a lot on the F1 game back in the day, because I thought it was always a very cool track, so I'm looking forward to driving here myself.

“I think especially like Turn 8, probably it's going to be flat anyway, but you have the g-forces on your body for such a long time, and that's quite cool.”

But following an experience during his Formula 3 days, Verstappen insisted he will not be resorting to using additional neck padding to counter the extreme forces drivers are preparing for.

“I remember my very first F3 test I did, after one day I couldn't hold my neck straight and then I had to put the padding in,” he said.

“My dad was laughing at me because I was using that, and since that day, I refuse to put padding next to my head. I'd prefer that my head falls off then I'm running with padding! So it will be the same also this weekend.”

Red Bull teammate Alex Albon joked that he would prefer his head to remain intact over the course of the weekend, revealing he does tend to use some form of extra padding.

“I prefer that my head doesn't fall off," laughed the Thai racer. "I tend to use more padding than you [Verstappen] do."

Williams’ George Russell said he is expecting the G-forces to prove “a real task”, especially at the “brutal” Turn 8.

"I've learned that it's going to be brutal for us drivers,” he told media in the pre-race press conference.

"With the current speeds of these modern-day Formula 1 cars, that should be flat, and hopefully for half of the race, it should be flat out.

"I can't remember how long the duration of that corner is, but it's 4-5G of load, which is like the equivalent of 45 kilos, 50 kilos on our necks that we have to sustain for the six seconds. That's going to be a real task."