Originally posted on my old blog 09/07/2020
Wow. What a season opener that was! I think we can safely say the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix was worth the wait. Whilst the opening third of the race seemed to suggest an easy Mercedes 1-2, it shortly unravelled into a chaotic and extremely entertaining race of attrition, which only saw 11 cars make the chequered flag. The drama started before the race had even begun, with Red Bull filling a complaint about Mercedes’ DAS (Dual Axis Steering) system, which was quickly dismissed, and also requesting a review of Lewis Hamilton’s failure to slow under yellow flags in qualifying, which resulted in a 3 place grid penalty for the Brit. The race got away pretty cleanly, which was a relief as I was already so overexcited and tense I probably would have imploded had there been a collision! Bottas soon established a 2 second lead and it was looking like once he had to look after his tyres a bit Verstappen would be able to pounce on his mediums. However, it was not to be. The first of 9 retirements, Max’s car went into anti stall, and no matter how many times he swore down the team radio, it just wouldn’t work, breaking the hearts of both his fans and everyone who saw him as the only hope for upsetting a Mercedes dominated race.
As Vettel battled his way through the field from P11, Ricciardo also retired, followed shortly by Lance Stroll. Whilst everyone so far was able to place their car back in the pits, this was not to continue, and when Magnussen’s car found itself deeply planted in the gravel out came the safety car, triggering the first round of pit stops. Everyone bar Perez opted for hards, the Mexican choosing mediums and proceeding to nearly wipe out Lando Norris with what I’m shocked was not deemed an unsafe release from his box. Hamilton wasn’t able to catch his teammate on the restart but there was drama further back in the field. As Sainz attempted to make a move on Leclerc he was tagged from behind by Vettel, who promptly found himself facing the wrong way round on the track. I love Seb, but clashing with the guy who is replacing him next year and then spinning AGAIN is literally the most Vettel thing that could happen. As Russell crept tantalisingly close to the points in P12, the Mercedes continued to lead the field, despite repeated warnings from the team to stay of the kerbs (and thus drive less aggressively), due to a sensor issue. It was quite comedic listening to the desperate radio messages followed by both drivers looking like they were aiming their cars straight for the kerbs, but after a message from James Vowles (Mercedes chief strategist) they both backed off – a good thing as the word ‘kerbs’ was starting to loose any meaning to me.
Grosjean retired on lap 50, handing Haas a disappointing DNF for both cars. This was followed by disaster for Russell, who after a promising performance all weekend had to pull over to the side of the track with a smoking engine, bringing out a second safety car. At the front of the field Albon, Norris and Leclerc pitted for fresh rubber, with the two Mercs and Perez choosing to stay out. The safety car came in, but not for long. In a bizarre incident, Kimi Raikonnen’s right front wheel flew straight off, narrowly missing Vettel. The Finn had pitted on lap 53 but had spent a couple laps trundling along behind the safety car and once he properly accelerated the wheel nut fell out of the wheel, which promptly said goodbye! It could have been very nasty indeed if the wheel had collided with anyone, so quite a relief overall. Just as the safety car was deployed for the third time Albon pulled off an overtake on Perez, but backed off upon seeing yellow flags; he was rightfully allowed to retake the position under the safety car.
With 11 laps left the safety car came in for the final time and the action on track heated up even more. In the blink of an eye, elation turned to heartbreak for the Red Bull crew as they watched Albon pull off an overtake on Hamilton, only to be shunted into the gravel. It was painful to watch, given that Albon was on for his first podium, and possibly even a win. It was one of a number of similarities the race bore to the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Hamilton denied the Thai driver a podium whilst attempting to overtake him. Both occasions saw Hamilton handed a 5 second penalty, which resulted in a McLaren driver getting their first podium (spooky). Leclerc used his new tyres to his advantage, overtaking Norris and then Perez for third place, placing his Ferrari on the podium – something that had been unthinkable following their disastrous qualifying and pace. This was followed the announcement of Hamilton’s penalty, which in my opinion was deserved. Alex was very much in front and as such Lewis could have allowed him a bit more room, rather than keeping on the power and squeezing his competitor off the track. As Albon retired from the race, Norris got his elbows and pulled off a ballsy move on Perez to claim 4th. At this point the realisation set in that if Lando could get the gap between him and Lewis (which I think stood at 5.4?) down to under 5 seconds, he could grasp his first podium. As Kvyat became the race’s final retiree, Lando put in a breath taking final lap, achieving both fastest lap and his first Formula 1 podium. It was a tense few seconds, waiting for the gap between the two British drivers to show up on the screen, but when it did, showing 4.8 seconds, I was screaming with happiness. Bottas, having led every lap, took 1st.
I would say I couldn’t have asked for a better race for the sport to return with, but I was a bit disappointed we were robbed of Verstappen battling with the Mercedes. Oh well, we’re back in Spielberg this weekend where the odds will hopefully be more in Red Bull’s favour. Along with Haas and Williams they were one of the only teams not to score points, which with the length of the season remaining unknown could have big implications. Very few people would have predicted that podium, which in my view makes it a great race. It filled me with pure joy to see both Norris and Leclerc succeed, and it will be interesting to see if Bottas can maintain the momentum he carried through this weekend across the whole season, and really take the fight to Hamilton.
