Max Verstappen is relishing the chance to race at the Turkish Grand Prix for the first time – particularly with the "cool" intensity of turn eight.

This weekend sees the first time Formula One has been to Turkey since 2011, when Sebastian Vettel won for Red Bull.

Verstappen, who will look to deliver just a second race win for the Austrian constructor in 2020, has only previously experienced the Istanbul Park circuit – and the long, downhill left-hander nicknamed 'Diabolica' – in video games.

The 23-year-old is excited to feel the full force of the circuit first hand, telling reporters: "It looks very interesting.

"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 eight, 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."

The g-force at turn eight during the last grand prix at this circuit was measured at close to 5G, which equates to a pull of roughly 27 kilograms on the side of a driver's head.

There have been discussions over whether drivers will choose to use padding to support their heads, but Verstappen, at least, has a particular reason to refuse.

"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 than I'm running with padding! So, it will be the same also this weekend."

Touchdown in Turkey. Very happy to be here  pic.twitter.com/x4QudVZqUU

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) November 11, 2020