2020 is a year many will be looking to put behind them, but let’s quickly focus on it once more and dish out a few awards – some orthodox, some less so – for a season that nobody will ever forget.
Driver of the Year
There were a few contenders for this award. Max Verstappen was excellent all year and took the battle to the superior Mercedes cars more often than he had any right to. Pierre Gasly topped off a fantastic redemption arc with an unlikely victory in Monza and there were also stellar performances from Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo.
Ultimately, though, it has to go to that man again – Lewis Hamilton. At the end of a season where he broke record after record and matched Michael Schumacher‘s high-tide mark of seven world titles, it would be wrong to give it to anybody else. Car number 44 won 11 of its 16 races and, whether or not that car is the class of the field, that takes some doing. Plus, who am I to argue with Her Majesty?
Honorable Mentions: Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Pérez.
Team of the Year
Now for a more controversial choice. Yes – as previously mentioned – Mercedes were once again the class of the field. By a long shot. But there were also mistakes, such as the radio calls to Hamilton in both Monza and Sochi, and controversies, such as the ‘Tracing Point’ saga and DAS.
McLaren clinching third in the Constructors’ Championship is a huge achievement and took a real team effort. Both drivers were excellent and very consistent throughout the season, the pit crews were error-free and management topped things off with a crucial investment and the signing of Ricciardo for 2021.
Third place is huge for the Woking team and shows that they continue to head in the right direction. After all, what would the odds of McLaren finishing ahead of Ferrari have been just a couple of years ago?
Honourable Mentions: Mercedes
Race of the Year
The German Grand Prix was a fairly clear winner for the 2019 ‘Race of the Year’ but this time round it isn’t quite so clear cut. Eventful races in Italy and Sakhir produced shock winners and the cold weather in Portugal produced plenty of intrigue.
The Turkish Grand Prix takes the gong, though. Starting off with a shock maiden pole position for Lance Stroll, it was action-packed as drivers struggled with the slippery, wet tarmac after a recent resurfacing and a downpour on Sunday morning. And it proved to be just as momentous as it was chaotic, with Hamilton producing a victory thoroughly worthy of wrapping up a historic seventh world title.
Honourable Mentions: Italian Grand Prix, Sakhir Grand Prix, Portuguese Grand Prix
Drive of the Year
When Hamilton contracted Covid-19, George Russell was unexpectedly thrust into the limelight with a chance in the dominant Mercedes at the Sakhir Grand Prix. The young Briton already had a strong reputation, having never been outqualified by a teammate after nearly two seasons in the sport.
But surely this was too big of an ask? Russell only had the three practice sessions to grow accustomed to his new machinery and barely fit into the car. On Saturday, though, he would finish qualifying just two hundredths behind Valtteri Bottas and then topped that by beating his vastly more experienced teammate off the line to lead on Sunday.
Sadly, the fairytale was not to be, thanks to some horrendous luck and a Mercedes blunder – which the next award shall expand on – but Russell nonetheless grabbed the sport’s attention and is now surely one season at most away from a seat much nearer the front of the field.
Honourable Mentions: Sergio Pérez in Sakhir, Lewis Hamilton in Turkey, Pierre Gasly at Monza
Blunder of the Year
So, yes, that blunder…
Mercedes are totally infallible and unflappable…99% of the time. But that 1% tends to be pretty disastrous. Hamilton’s pit stop at Germany in 2019 was comedic and embarrassing – especially due to the team wearing effective fancy dress in honour of 125 years in motorsport – but perhaps more understandable as Hamilton had crashed and immediately driven into the pits on a wet but drying track.
The disastrous pit stop in Sakhir was perhaps more costly and equally embarrassing. Mercedes called both drivers in for a ‘safety stop’ and had to double-stack, but a radio issue led to a miscommunication and confusion as Russell drove off with some of Bottas’s tyres and the Finn then sat there for 30 seconds as that realisation dawned upon the mechanics.
Russell had to pit again for the correct tyres the following lap and, to add salt to the wound, would pick up a puncture as he raced back through the field.
Honourable Mentions: Mercedes at Monza, Racing Point at Imola
Crash of the Year
The multi-car pile-up at Mugello would have taken ‘Crash of the Year’ comfortably in recent years. But 2020 had another surprise in store for the F1 world, in the shape of the most horrifying crash in decades.
When Romain Grosjean speared into the barriers at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix and produced an instantaneous fireball, many at home and in the garages feared the worst. But, after two agonising minutes of no replays and no information, it was confirmed Grosjean had miraculously escaped and was safely sitting in the medical car.
The impact measured 53G but the Haas driver somehow remained conscious. He then found a way to escape the mangled wreckage – minus one shoe – and leapt over the barrier, aided by the heroic medical team, to safety. It is not the way Grosjean would have imagined he would enter retirement, but he is now surely just pleased to have reached it at all.
Honourable Mentions: Multi-car pile-up at Mugello, Lance Stroll in Bahrain
Overtake of the Year
Any overtake through Eau Rouge – yes, I know…it’s Raidillon actually – looks great, but the manner in which Pierre Gasly kept his foot in as Pérez squeezed him into the wall on the run up makes this one extra special.
The bravery was particularly poignant as Gasly remembered his close friend, Anthoine Hubert, who had sadly died in a crash at the same corner a year earlier.
Honourable Mentions: George Russell in Sakhir, Kevin Magnussen in Spain
Opening Lap of the Year
Whilst it was the other Alfa Romeo driver, Antonio Giovinazzi, who relentlessly made up positions at the start in 2020 – obviously helped by qualifying towards the back each time – Kimi Räikkönen surely had the best opening lap of the year.
As the pack slithered round in the freezing conditions in Portugal, ‘The Iceman’ lived up to his name, climbing from 16th to 6th in one tour of the 4.692 km circuit. There’s life in the old dog yet.
Honourable Mentions: Sebastian Vettel in Turkey, Antonio Giovinazzi at Monza
Best Day of Silly Season
‘Silly season’ got underway before a wheel had been turned in anger in 2020. With Covid-19 halting matters in Melbourne and then ultimately causing a four-month delay, there was at least some action to discuss in the driver market.
Especially so when, in the space of 24 hours, Sebastian Vettel was confirmed to be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season, Carlos Sainz was named as his replacement and then Ricciardo filled the vacant seat at McLaren.
Honourable Mentions: Vettel replacing Pérez, Pérez replacing Albon
Best Vocal Performance
Vettel’s surprise farewell song to his Ferrari team was very touching, but the performance maybe left a little to be desired. Lando Norris, however, belted out a radio check in Mugello with the confidence of a drunk man in a karaoke bar.
Honourable Mentions: Sebastian Vettel in Abu Dhabi
