F1 comes back with a bang. (Literally.)
It may have been an agonising 217 days since the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi but the much-delayed opening Austrian Grand Prix of the 2020 season managed to be worth the wait.
By the end of qualifying, the main stories were clear – the dominance of Mercedes and the struggles of Ferrari. Mercedes look pretty mean in their new, black livery and their speed is just as menacing; they appear to have a half second advantage over the rest of the field, which looks ominous for the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, their former main rivals have seemingly slipped back into the midfield, with Sebastian Vettel knocked out in Q2 and his teammate only just surviving to ultimately manage seventh on the grid.
The drama on Sunday started early. Having originally avoided a penalty for not slowing under yellow flags during his final qualifying run, Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty less than an hour before the race after Red Bull had questioned the stewards’ original decision.
It would not slow him down too much though. By lap 10, Hamilton was ready to inheret second place when Max Verstappen’s Red Bull decided it was done for the day. A massive disappointment for the Dutchman, who seemed to be in a strong position after Red Bull’s gamble in Q2 resulted in him starting on harder tyres than those around him.
He would prove to be far from the only retirement, though, with just 11 cars actually reaching the chequered flag.
Hamilton had closed up rapidly to his teammate after Verstappen’s retirement but a combination of safety cars and orders from the garage to take things easy – as engineers panicked about gearbox issues caused by the aggressive kerbs – meant he never managed to attempt an overtake.
After the third and final safety car, Mercedes found themselves in something of a predicament – they had not stopped for new tyres, whilst a string of cars behind them had done so. Immediately after the restart, Alexander Albon was all over the back of Hamilton and, within a few corners, we had a déjà vu of Brazil last year as they collided and Albon was left pointing in the wrong direction.
Hamilton received a five-second time penalty and would also be denied a spot on the podium as young Lando Norris – fresh from his best ever qualifying result – stormed through with the fastest lap of the race to finish 4.8 seconds behind the world champion and become the third youngest F1 podium finisher ever.
Charles Leclerc took an unlikely 2nd considering Ferrari’s pace this weekend – thanks to some daring but clinical overtaking late on – and Carlos Sainz completed the top five. The Spaniard may currently be questioning his decision to switch to the Scuderia next year, with McLaren on an upward trajectory and Ferrari going in the opposite direction.
Bottas begins this season as he did last year’s, with a win, but can he keep it up this time and really take the fight to Hamilton? The 2020 season is already looking like it could be a two-horse race.
Leclerc Spares Ferrari’s Blushes
It was a chastening weekend for those in red, but Leclerc did, at least, manage to salvage something positive for them with an unlikely podium, albeit one which required a fair slice of luck.
Whilst all the noises coming out of Ferrari since pre-season testing have been clear in tempering expectations, nobody could have foreseen quite how far they have fallen; Leclerc’s qualifying time was a little under a second slower than his pole time at the same circuit last year.
This has reminded people of the elephant in the room – namely, the private settlement reached between Ferrari and the FIA regarding their engine last year. It surely cannot be a coincidence that all three Ferrari-powered teams are suddenly struggling and that the factory team are no less than 0.7 seconds down on the straights alone… Whatever trick they were pulling last year, they are clearly no longer able to perform it and it has starkly exposed their 2020 car’s deficiencies; it has a severe amount of drag and, if you watch Sebastian Vettel’s onboard footage, is just a real handful.
Those wondering whether Vettel – with the knowledge that he will be out of the team come next year – would be out to prove a point and back to his best, had an early hint towards a potential answer as he clumsily ploughed into the back of Sainz early on. The four-time world champion is beginning to look disillusioned with the sport – can he find his mojo again with a new project or is this the end?
A Messy Weekend for the World Champion
It was not the ideal start to Hamilton’s quest for a record-equalling seventh world championship. The Briton dominated the practice sessions but was pipped by his teammate when it mattered in qualifying and would eventually be handed a penalty after Red Bull continued their tirade against Mercedes, having already lodged a protest against the Silver Arrows’ DAS system.
Once back up to second, he would endure a frustrating spell stuck behind his teammate, with those in the garage nervous of gearbox issues and desperate for their drivers to stop pushing, before his chances of taking the lead were further scuppered by numerous safety cars. Mercedes then made a mistake by not pitting for new tyres during the final safety car period, which led to the collision with Albon.
The Red Bull driver stormed around the outside of Hamilton at Turn 4, only for the pair to connect front and rear wheels on the exit. Hamilton took full responsibility for their uncannily similar accident at Interlagos last year, but this one was a little more complex.
There has been much debate as to whether the five-second penalty was deserved. Some – mostly in the Red Bull camp, obviously – have said that he got off lightly, whilst some have called it a racing incident. It was mostly just unfortunate.
Albon, in hindsight, perhaps should have been more patient – he had far better traction and would surely have been able to pass Hamilton in a less risky situation within a lap or so. Putting himself on the outside of a car on cold, worn, hard tyres at a downhill corner always had the potential to end in tears. Hamilton was something of a passenger as he understeered wide and then Albon’s overspeed effectively drove him into Hamilton’s front left tyre.
Equally, though, whilst he was slightly behind on corner entry, Albon was almost a car length ahead by the exit of the corner. Would a more-experienced driver have left just that extra few centimetres of room, knowing that the other car was likely to run wide? Maybe, but daring manoeuvres like this are why Albon is in the Red Bull; he will get there. Ultimately, it was the outcome that resulted in the penalty for Hamilton – if Albon had been bumped wide slightly and recovere to maybe 4th, there would likely have been no action taken. For a neutral driver’s perspective, check out Marcus Ericsson’s tweet.
Once Hamilton’s penalty was confirmed, Mercedes could potentially have swapped the drivers to help him cling on to a podium place, but that was not done either.
However you look at it, this is not how Hamilton would have envisaged his campaign starting and he already has a 13-point deficit to make up on a reduced calendar.
The Austrian Grand Prix in 60(ish) Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
How will the new socially-distanced F1 play out? Will it have a significant impact? Not particularly – it’s easy to forget that there is no crowd and the McLaren garage didn’t exactly observe social distancing whilst celebrating their podium.
Who has the fastest car? Mercedes, it would appear emphatically.
Will anyone have made any dramatic changes since pre-season testing? Not to the untrained eye as yet, but Ferrari may do by next weekend.
Can Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue their winning streak in Austria? Nope.
How will Sebastian Vettel approach his final season at Ferrari? About the same as the last two years so far, unfortunately.
