Valtteri Bottas started the season strong with a victory in the thrilling FORMULA 1 ROLEX GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2020. Only half of the field was able to finish the race, which ended in dramatic fashion.
After a moment of silence as a stand to end racism, during which many of the drivers took a knee at the start-finish line, racing was underway around the Red Bull Ring in Austria. It felt like an eternity since we finished the 2019 season in Abu Dhabi 217 days ago.
Valtteri Bottas took pole position Saturday, winning out in a tight qualifying battle with his teammate, who dropped to P5 after a penalty. Hamilton’s penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags promoted Max Verstappen to the front row of the grid, with Lando Norris and Alex Albon starting on the second row.
As the lights went out for the first time this season, Bottas got away well from the front of the grid. As did Norris in his McLaren from the second row of the grid. Verstappen and Norris were wheel-to-wheel into the first corner, as were Albon and Hamilton.
Three cars (Norris, Hamilton and Charles Leclerc) were forced to take a wide line off the circuit in the first corner, but none prompted the attention of the stewards. Hamilton was squeezed on the outside of turn 4 when he was alongside Albon and the pair nearly collided.
After the first lap, Bottas was able to pull out a 2-second lead, thanks to the wheel-to-wheel battles of the cars behind. Hamilton was stuck behind Albon until he was able to get by before the braking zone of the third corner on lap 9, thanks to some DRS assistance.
Tragedy struck for Verstappen 11 laps into the race when his car appeared to lose power at the end of the start-finish straight. The car was repeatedly activating anti-stall, a system designed to stop the car from stalling when a driver spins. He limped back to the pit lane, but his team could not troubleshoot the problem. He forfeited his P2 position to Hamilton, turning the race into a Mercedes 1-2.
Ricciardo was also struck by reliability gremlins just 7 laps later, dropping out of P9. It’s believed that his car was stuck in third gear.
Esteban Ocon was chasing down Kevin Magnussen on lap 26. He made a lunge on the inside of the tight turn 3. Simultaneously, Magnussen appeared to suffer a front-right brake failure and spin violently into the runoff area. The safety car was deployed to recover Magnussen’s car.
Most of the teams took advantage of the “free” pit stop under the safety car conditions to change to the hard compound tyre, except for Sergio Perez who opted for the medium tyres. Many teams double-stacked their drivers, including Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.
Perez nearly collided with Norris while leaving his pit box. Perez stayed off the fast lane, slotting in behind the McLaren driver.
The race restarted on lap 31 and everyone got away well. Future Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was battling with both Ferrari drivers, attempting to overtake Leclerc and fend off Vettel. Vettel locked up into the third corner, carrying far too much speed up the inside of Sainz. He collided with the McLaren and spun around out of his P8 position.
Shortly after the restart, the Mercedes duo were able to pull out a sizable gap to the Red Bull of Albon. Hamilton appeared to be mounting an attack against Bottas, getting well within the DRS zone. But it was not all good news at the Mercedes pit wall.
On lap 43, both Mercedes drivers were warned of gearbox sensor issue and instructed to stay off the kerb. Neither driver appeared to be complying with the engineers on the pit wall. After multiple warnings about how “critical” the issue was, both drivers began to stop running over the kerbs. Bottas was warned that the condition of his car was in worse condition.
The 10-second lead that the Mercedes had accumulated since the last restart was wiped out by a second safety car period. This time it was to remove the powerless Williams of George Russell.
Romain Grosjean also joined the list of cars that suffered mechanical issues after suffered a brake failure, like his teammate.
During the safety car, some cars took advantage of another pit stop. Most notably, Albon pitted to fit a set of used soft compound tyres, the fastest compound available.
The race resumed, although the safety car was deployed again almost immediately. Kimi Raikkonen lost his front-right tyre in the penultimate corner preparing for the restart, becoming the seventh retirement in the race. Raikkonen had pitted under the safety car for fresh tyres.
Before the safety car was deployed, Albon had a good battle with Perez. The Red Bull youngster was able to get through the inside of the Racing Point in the third corner.
The safety car pulled into the pit lane with just over 10 laps remaining in the race. Bottas launched earlier than the previous two restarts. So much so that he almost caught up to the safety car as it pulled into the pit lane.
On fresher tyres and the quicker compound, Albon was all over Hamilton. He attempted a move around the outside of turn 3, but couldn’t make it stick. He tried again around the outside of the following corner. He got by, but the pair collided mid-corner and Albon was sent spinning into the gravel. The incident was remarkably similar to Brazil last season. The incident earned Hamilton a 5 second time penalty.
Leclerc started a late charge. He started by getting around the outside of Norris in turn 4, who nearly ran the Ferrari driver off the road after locking up. He then lunged up the inside of Perez in turn 3 the following lap to take a net P2.
Perez was awarded a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, taking away his chance of a podium position. Norris made a dive up the inside of Perez in the first corner in the late stages of the race. The two collided, but both continued without any serious issues.
Albon and Kvyat were added to the long list of non-finishers in the closing stages of the race. Albon parked on the side of the circuit and Kvyat had a rear suspension failure in spectacular fashion.
As the checkered flag was waved, Bottas took the first victory of the season in a Mercedes 1-2 finish on the road. But Hamilton’s time penalty dropped him off the podium. Leclerc claimed the second step of the podium with Norris narrowly earning his first career podium finish. Norris also earned an extra point for setting the fastest lap.
With the F1 season now well and truly underway, the teams will be staying in Austria for a second race next weekend through the beautiful Austrian countryside.
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Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
