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It's not the most traditional way to prepare for a big race. But then 23-year-old Lewis Hamilton is considered a bit of a high flyer. The British Formula One star narrowing missed becoming world champion last year when he was a rookie driver. This season he says he wants to slay all his opponents - on the track of course. (SOUNDBITE) LEWIS HAMILTON, MACLAREN MERCEDES TEAM DRIVER, SAYING: "Istanbul is, I think, one of the two circuits that is actually anti-clockwise. So, it is quite challenging for the all drivers especially the turn 8, which you are talking about. Turn 8, we will pulling around 4-5gs for I think it is around 8 seconds and if you are doing that every lap it is very very tough on the left hand side of the driver's neck." Lewis may have won the pre-race prize for bizarre stunts. But Ferrari team mates Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are ready for a fight. Raikkonen - the current world champion - has won two of the four races so far. While Massa has won the previous two Turkish grand prix. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRARI F1 DRIVER FELIPE MASSA SAYING: "Two years ago was my first victory here in Turkey so it is a very special race for me and then last year I repeated the victory so, hopefully, now I can have the third one." (SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRARI F1 DRIVER KIMI RAIKKONEN SAYING: "It always depends every race if you're lucky or unlucky with the traffic. You can get many cars, so then, you might not get any traffic with a lot cars so, maybe it makes a difference, I don't know." Qualifying races are taking place over the next two days and Hamilton's fans are hoping he'll stay firmly on the ground throughout. Sonia Legg, Reuters.