F1 2020 Austrian Grand Prix

© J. Francois Barnard – July 5, 2020

The much anticipated 2020 Formula 1 season has started - not in Australia as usual, but Austria. The Formula 1 Rolex Großer Preis von Österreich 2020 took place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, finished first in all three practice sessions ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, while Max Verstappen third fasted in the first and last session. Sergio Pérez came third in the second session. The new rookie, Nicolas Latifi, crashed out in turn one during the third practice session, and it was red-flagged.

During qualifying, we were not surprised to see Mercedes finishing 1^st and 2^nd. Bottas qualified on pole, with our hopes rising that he will be able to give the reigning world champion a run for his money in 2020. Max Verstappen, the winner in Austria in 2018 and 2019, now qualified third.

Perhaps we can expect stiff competition in the midfield this year?

Lando Norris in his McLaren qualified 4^th, ahead of Albon's Red Bull. In 5^th place was Sergio Pérez, nicknamed "Checo," who drove his Racing Point smoothly as always.

Towards the end of 2019, Ferrari was still improving, which led us to believe that they will be strong championship contenders in 2020. But with Charles Leclerc in 7^th place and Sebastian Vettel in 11^th, we have to think the rumours were true that Ferrari cheated in 2019!

Deutsche Welle reported on March 6, 2020, that the FIA was probing into the technical advances Ferrari made after the mid-season break in 2019. McLaren, Mercedes, Racing Point, Red Bull, Renault, AlphaTauri and Williams demanded a full and proper disclosure over the months-long investigation into Ferrari's 2019 engine and whether its fuel flow contravened the 2019 F1 rules.

But it seems as if Ferrari managed to get the FIA to sweep their sins under the carpet, and agreed to sin no more. Hence their underperformance.

Talking about sins - Lewis Hamilton was summoned to see the stewards after the qualifying sessions. He allegedly ignored yellow flags during Bottas's wandering into the gravel during Q3. He was, however, cleared of any wrongdoing after they concluded that he received conflicting signals.

Not so, complained Red Bull. They gave evidence from Hamilton's 360-degree onboard camera that the Brit could see the yellow flags, and the stewards gave him a three-place grid penalty. That meant that Red Bull's Alex Albon could start ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The race started without incident, and by lap nine, Lewis Hamilton was in third place. By lap eleven, Max Verstappen could not resolve an electrical issue which forced him to retire from the race. Stroll retired on lap 21.

In the end, no less than nine out of twenty cars did not finish the race! So, if you think that Latifi's eleventh place was not bad - he was still dead last.

Image credit: The Sun

Bottas did a sterling job by leading every lap of the race, winning the first race of 2020. It is his second win at the Austrian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished second but was demoted to fourth due to a five-second time penalty. Charles Leclerc crossed the line in third but moved up to second due to Hamilton's penalty. Lando Norris was promoted to third place, making him the third-youngest driver to finish on the podium in Formula One history.

The race classification: