A Circuit the Sport Never Forgot

For most travelers, Istanbul means the skyline of the old city, ferries on the Bosphorus and long dinners by the water.

For anyone who follows motor racing, it also means one corner.

Turn 8 at Istanbul Park is a long, four-apex left-hander taken almost flat out. Drivers speak about it the way they speak about Eau Rouge or the esses at Suzuka. The circuit around it runs anticlockwise over 5.3 kilometres of rising and falling ground on the Asian side of the city.

Formula 1 first raced here in 2005. Felipe Massa won three years in a row. In 2020, on a wet track and in front of empty grandstands, Lewis Hamilton sealed his seventh world title here.

The last Turkish Grand Prix was held in October 2021. Since then, the circuit has waited.

On 3 October 2027 the cars line up at Istanbul Park again, for the tenth Turkish Grand Prix and the first of five confirmed seasons through 2031.

1–3 October 2027: The Weekend in Brief

The Turkish Grand Prix takes place at TOSFED Istanbul Park in Tuzla, across three days:

Friday 1 October — Practice
The cars take to the track for the first time. The quietest day at the circuit, and the best one for walking the grounds and finding your seat.

Saturday 2 October — Final Practice and Qualifying
The grid for Sunday is decided. Turn 8 on a qualifying lap is the sight many visitors come for.

Sunday 3 October — The Grand Prix
Race day. An early start from the hotel, full grandstands, and five red lights going out at Istanbul Park for the first time in six years.

Session times and the supporting programme have not yet been published, and tickets are not yet on sale. We will update this page as the official timetable is confirmed.

Early October is also one of the best times of year to be in Istanbul. The days are warm without the heat of summer, the evenings are clear, and the city is back in its own rhythm after the holiday months.

True Blue Grand Prix Tours

A Grand Prix weekend asks more of a visitor than a ticket.

Istanbul Park lies about 45 kilometres from the old city, roughly an hour by road on an ordinary day. On Saturday and Sunday the motorways are usually calm in the morning, then slow sharply over the last few kilometres as everyone converges on the same gates.

True Blue Tour has looked after Grand Prix guests in Istanbul in earlier seasons, and our programmes are built on what those weekends taught us.

We time each departure around the traffic, not around the clock. Your vehicle takes you as far as the circuit's drop-off area, where one of our team meets you and walks you to the right gate for your ticket. The same person is waiting when the chequered flag has fallen and two hundred thousand people are looking for their ride home.

Around the three days at the circuit, we plan the Istanbul you came for: private airport transfers, a dedicated vehicle for the weekend, tables booked on the Bosphorus for the evenings, and Hagia Sophia, Topkapı and the bazaars with one of our own guides before or after the race.

Every programme is private and designed around the party travelling, whether that is a couple, a group of friends or a corporate group. You can see how we work across Türkiye, or read our guide to a different side of Istanbul for the days either side of the race.

Your Accommodation Partner in Istanbul

Where you stay decides what kind of weekend you have.

It is also the hardest part of a Grand Prix weekend to arrange well. Rooms near the circuit and along the Bosphorus are taken early, and rates rise as the date approaches.

There are two sensible ways to do it.

On the Asian side, close to the circuit
Short transfers, later mornings, and Sabiha Gökçen Airport nearby. The right choice when the racing is the whole point of the trip.

On the Bosphorus or in the old city
A longer drive each day, and Istanbul on your doorstep each evening. The right choice when this is also a first visit to the city.

We have prepared a hotel comparison for the 2027 race that sets out both options, with distances and transfer times to Istanbul Park. Tell us your dates and the size of your party, and we will send it with current availability.

Beyond the Circuit: Cappadocia, Kuşadası, Antalya and Bodrum

Most Grand Prix guests have flown a long way to be in Istanbul, and three days at a racetrack is a thin reason to go home.

Early October suits the rest of the country well. Each of these extensions is a short domestic flight from Istanbul.

Cappadocia
Two or three nights among the valleys and rock-cut churches, with a balloon flight at dawn and a cave hotel to return to. October mornings are crisp and the light is at its best. Our Cappadocia short break adventures shows how we approach the region.

Kuşadası and Ephesus
The Aegean coast, with one of the great cities of the ancient world behind it. We walk Ephesus early, before the cruise groups arrive, and add the Terrace Houses, Şirince and the Temple of Artemis for those who want the full picture.

Antalya
The sea is still warm enough to swim. Stay in the old harbour quarter or at a resort, with Perge, Aspendos and the Lycian coast within easy reach.

Bodrum
A few slow days by the water after a loud weekend: good restaurants, a crusader castle, and a day on a gulet at the quiet end of the season. See our Bodrum Bliss retreat.

For those with two weeks rather than one, the Grand Türkiye Journey links several of these places in a single route, and we can shape a private version around the race dates.

You can come for the race.

The country is the reason to stay.

Plan Your Turkish Grand Prix Journey

The Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix runs from 1 to 3 October 2027 at TOSFED Istanbul Park, with the race on Sunday 3 October.

Pre-register for official ticket news:
Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix 2027 — TOSFED

Official race-weekend information:
Turkish Grand Prix — GoTürkiye

Six years of waiting means demand for 2027 will be heavy, and the best hotels will be committed long before tickets go on sale. The guests who get the weekend they want are those who hold rooms early.

For those who want to make the race part of a longer journey, True Blue Tour designs private Grand Prix programmes in Istanbul, with accommodation, transfers and guiding, and extensions to Cappadocia, Kuşadası, Antalya and Bodrum. Send us your dates and the size of your party, and we will reply with hotel options and an outline programme.

Travel advisors and tour operators planning Grand Prix groups can reach our trade team through True Blue DMC.

True Blue Tour is an independent tour operator and is not affiliated with Formula 1 or the race organisers.