Lewis rockets to P1 as Ferrari take another blow at the 2nd Austrian Grand Prix of 2020
After an unbelievably perfect qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton dominated the Red Bull ring for his first victory after 2016. Ferrari take another blow with double DNF's.
Lewis Hamilton showed the world why he is a 6 time world champion by winning the second Austrian Grand Prix of 2020. The first double decker of F1 with back to back races at the Red Bull ring in Spielberg, Austria has been thrilling to say the least. And it was this second race that truly showcased true racing at every minute of the race.
Hamilton reigns when it rains. If you needed any proof, yesterday’s qualifying was the most you can get. With everyone spinning and twirling, Hamilton was bettering his own times and secured pole position with a massive 1.2 second lead over Verstappen who spun in his final lap of qualifying. Although, Bottas’ performance has been mediocre today. In qualifying, Bottas just couldn’t have the car under control. Even in the race Bottas got to P2 due to Verstappen’s problems by the end of the race and even then, Max gave one hell of a battle.
What has been a constant shocker since the beginning has been McLaren’s outrageous performance. While Norris secured P4 at qualifying in the previous race, Sainz cruised to P3 in yesterday’s session. Coming to the race, it was a great start for the top 3 drivers while Bottas couldn’t launch as fast from P4 to catch Sainz, right in the beginning of the race.
Struggling Ferrari – 2 words we never thought fit in one phrase
The highlight of this race was an aggressive Leclerc’s Ferrari squeezing teammate Vettel’s SF1000 who was already being punished from the other side as well. This resulted in massive damage to Vettel’s rear wing leading to his immediate retirement while Leclerc retiring one front wing change later. It was the floor damage in Leclerc’s car that lead to his retirement.
After that disappointing previous race for Vettel and a bit of a tension between him and the team due to no contract after 2020, things were already very negative for Ferrari. Team boss Mattia Binotto had even stated that he didn’t believe the Ferrari name should even be on those cars. So, when Ferrari made some serious upgrades, this second race was an important one to test what results those upgrades were giving.
It was already heart breaking for Ferrari fans to watch yesterday’s qualifying where Vettel held P10 and Leclerc held P14 after his penalty. Ferrari performing at the lower end of the midfield and now not even finishing are not signs of their dwindling performance but, more of a reminder that the relationship and mood within the team is as vital as the cars and the drivers themselves.
McLaren, Renault and Racing Point battle-zone
For the last couple of seasons, F1 was criticized for its regulations and the budget allocations that allowed certain top teams to have a much better position than others. These teams spent much more on R&D of their race cars and were therefore, significantly faster, This created the gap and the naming of midfield and front row. Although, since 2019 things have started to change and the upcoming regulation changes are also aimed to make F1 a level playing field. Especially in the hybrid era.
These are no more times when the focus or the fight remains at the top only. It has gotten so intense at the midfield that sometimes it is irrelevant to even watch who is at the front. The front runners are at such a gap from the rest of the field that it is no more fun to watch. And on that note, let me simply tell you how brutal, breathtaking, buzzing and entertaining it was to watch Perez, Sainz, Stroll, Ricciardo, Norris and Ocon fight for positions till the very last lap. And I literally mean the VERY LAST LAP.
Believe it or not, Stroll gained on Ricciardo at the 70th lap and Norris being right behind took a double overtake. Then, in the very last lap, the fight involved Sergio Perez as well who got behind Norris but finished 6 hundredth of a second ahead of teammate Stroll for a photo finish. This went on and on for the entirety of the race where Renault locked horns with Mclaren as well.
Talking of McLaren, I am not able to shift my focus away from the fact that McLaren had a podium in the last race and had P3 in qualifying in this race. This is all with a Renault engine. McLaren will swap it for a Mercedes engine next year. The power from Merc and the chassis of a McLaren with Norris and Ricciardo behind the wheel sure arouses my… senses.
