What an exceptional off-season it has been! The teams had already travelled to Australia in March, ready to race, until the race was cancelled in the last minute. The global COVID-19 pandemic had just broken out, and the F1 world was affected as well. Although race after race was cancelled or postponed during the spring, the silly season was hotter than ever. Ferrari dropped the news bomb by announcing, that the Scuderia and the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel were to part ways at the end of the 2020 season! However, it's shocking to think, that Sebastian doesn't have a contract for next year! There were a lot of rumours but very little actual information about the reasons leading to this. Shortly after this news Ferrari announced, that they had signed McLaren's Carlos Sainz for the 2021 season. Other big moves were announced as well: Ricciardo was to leave Renault and move to McLaren at the end of the season.
Finally the long-delayed 2020 F1 season was kicked off last weekend at Spielberg, Austria. Actually this has been the longest break between the seasons since 1960s! Mercedes brought an updated car already to the season-opener, whilst the Red Team will have an updated car not until for the Hungarian GP in a fortnight. It was such a beautiful moment, when the lights turned green and the new cars were released from the pits. Certain facts were obvious right from the beginning of the qualifying; Mercedes had maintained their position as the team to beat. Such midfield teams as Racing Point and McLaren had clearly raised the bar for this season. Honda had done excellent job during the off-season, and Red Bull showed strong pace especially in the hands of Verstappen. Ferrari had had doubts in terms of their car performance after the winter tests already, and one thing was affirmed: the Red Team were struggling with their pace.
Verstappen was the only driver to come out on the medium tyres in Q2. The strategy was risky, but the flying Dutchman made it work. Bottas was the fastest man of the session, edging teammate Hamilton by 0.081s only. Albon was third in the sister Red Bull. The horrific truth of the poor car performance of Ferrari was revealed, as Sebastian was knocked out of Q3! For the first time in his Ferrari career he was out of top ten because he wasn't fast enough. I mean no technical issues or penalties. Teammate Charles was the last driver to make it into the decisive last session, so Ferrari were definitely facing a disaster! The comparison between Charles' 2019 pole lap and this year's lap in qualifying was crushing; Ferrari were lacking straight line speed massively, and the red car had actually lost almost a second of performance compared to last year!
The battle for pole was purely between the Mercedes drivers. Bottas took provisional pole by 0.122s to his teammate. Verstappen in third was six tenths off the pace already and teammate Albon was a second down. Leclerc was only 7th after the first runs, with McLaren's Sainz and Racing Point's Perez ahead of him. Bottas saw time on the table but tried a bit too hard on his second flyer; the Finn hit gravel in Turn 4, which led into an off. Yellow flags came out. Hamilton completed his lap but ended up 0.012s too slow to deprive his teammate of the first pole of the season. Expectedly, Verstappen was "the best of the rest", qualifying third. The second row was completed by McLaren's Norris, which was a refreshing surprise. Albon and Perez locked down the third row, with Leclerc and Sainz in the fourth row. Racing Point's Stroll and Renault's Ricciardo completed the top ten.
Red Bull had made a protest against Hamilton on Sunday morning, because the Briton hadn't slowed down under the yellow flags brought out by his teammate. Due to this infringement Hamilton got a 3-place grid penalty, which dropped him down to P5. Verstappen, on the other hand, was promoted to the front row. The Dutchman was the only top ten driver to start to the race on the yellow-marked medium compound.
What a memorable moment it was, when the lights went out for the first time this season! Pole position hasn't always been easy to defend at Austria, but Bottas took a flawless start, holding on to his lead. Verstappen was slightly in trouble with his harder tyres, and McLaren's Norris was aggressively lurking behind the Red Bull ace. Hamilton, too had aggressive opening laps. After making his way past Norris and Red Bull's Albon, the Briton had his eyes nailed on Verstappen. However, Verstappen wasn't meant to succeed at his team's home track. Max's RB16 was suddenly hit with a technical failure on lap 11. He was able to nurture the car back into the pits, but the Dutchman's race was over. The promising tyre advantage slipped through his fingers! Due to Verstappen's retirement Hamilton was second in the race already.
Actually Verstappen started a series of DNFs. Ricciardo's Renault also suffered a technical failure, as did Stroll's Racing Point. The most dramatic retirement was that of Magnussen's on lap 26. The Dane suffered a sudden brake failure, which made him go off and get stuck on the gravel. Magnussen couldn't get his Haas off the gravel, and safety car was deployed. The Mercedes drivers made a double stop, with race leader Bottas pitting first for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. Other top drivers followed the Mercedes duo, opting for a similar tyre choice. The only exception to the rule was Racing Point's Perez, who switched to the yellow-marked medium compound.
Safety car came in on lap 30, and the race was resumed. Bottas kept his head cool and everything perfectly controlled. However, there was drama further back in the midfield. Sebastian had had a tame start to the race, and the German was driving in P8, split by the McLaren drivers. After the restart Sebastian made a way too optimistic move on McLaren's Sainz, which led into contact between the two. Sebastian span and dropped down to P15! Sebastian had struggled with poor car performance throughout the race, and the costly mistake of his own certainly didn't make his race look any brighter.
Although the Mercedes duo had a secured double lead, the reigning world champion team proved vulnerable after all. Both drivers were told on the team radio to stay off the kerbs. There was a gear box related sensor issue in both Silver Arrows. Hitting the kerbs caused vibration, which activated the issue. The issue was said to be critical.
Safety car was deployed second time on lap 51. Russell's Williams stopped on the track due to a technical failure. Behind the two Mercedes Perez was third, Albon fourth, Norris fifth and Leclerc sixth. In spite of the safety car, both Bottas and Hamilton decided to stay out, whilst Albon, Norris and Charles pitted for the second time. The trio had differing tyre choices; Albon opted for another set of soft Pirellis, whilst Charles and Norris switched to the medium rubber.
Once again the Finn had everything perfectly under control at the restart. In terms of the midfield, there was more drama to come. Alfa Romeo's Räikkönen, who had just pitted for a fresh set of soft Pirellis, suddenly witnessed his front-right tyre go off coming into the last corner! Sparks were flying, and Sebastian had to work hard to avoid hitting his ex teammate. The Iceman's wrecked Alfa Romeo came to a halt on the grass, and safety car was brought out for the third time! I can only imagine, what race leader Bottas might have gone through in his mind at this point! Amazing but true, Kimi's Alfa Romeo marked the 7th retirement in the race! There haven't been this many retirements in one race for a long time!
Bottas wasn't to be surprised at the third restart, either. The closing laps were absolutely adrenaline-filled. Bottas maintained his lead, but teammate Hamilton was in serious trouble with Red Bull's Albon. The Thai driver made an aggressive move on the Briton on the outside, but there was no room for the Red Bull pilot. The move led into a collision, and Albon span, dropping down to the back of the pack. To me it seemed like a racing incident, but the stewards shared a different view. Only a few laps later Hamilton was handed a 5-second time penalty for causing the collision.
Charles seemed to find some extra pace towards the end of the race. First he made a classy overtaking move on Norris, making his way to P4. Then the Monegasque attacked Perez, whose sculp he picked up next. Against all odds Charles now had his eyes targeted on the podium finish! Red Bull's day, on the other hand, turned pitch-black, as Albon, too faced a technical failure only a few laps before the chequered flag. What a nightmare start to the season for the energy drink team! Norris, too attacked Perez, who had also been given a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. In spite of slight contact, Norris' move proved successful. The hungry Briton was now fourth in the race. Starting the final lap, there were 5.8 seconds separating Hamilton from Norris... Norris knew, what he had to do to make it on the podium for the first time in F1. On the final lap he banged the fastest lap time and decreased the gap to Hamilton into 4.8 seconds!
The cool-headed Finn took a well-deserved 8th career win, which was his second at Austria. Charles finished the runner-up, which came as a surprise to the man himself as well. Super happy Norris completed the podium for McLaren, leaving Hamilton in P4. Sainz completed the success for the orange team by finishing 5th. Perez was 6th, Gasly 7th, Ocon 8th and Giovinazzi 9th. Sebastian ended up scoring one point for the Scuderia. I'm sure P10 wasn't in his mind in the build-up to the season-opener! Seeing Mercedes top the constructors' standings is no surprise, but who would have predicted to see McLaren second?
The season-opener affirmed one thing: the Red Team are in serious trouble with their car performance. The lack of straight line speed cannot go unnoticed. The SF1000 is almost a second slower than its predecessor! Something needs to be done immediately. Fortunately we don't have to wait long until the next race, as Spielberg hosts another race already next weekend. This summer really is a dream come true for a passionate Formula 1 fan, as there are eight races in 10 weeks! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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