The First Double Header of 2020…
Pic: formula1.com
This week we have teamed up with Joanne (@joannemcdougall on Instagram) to give you an insight into F1’s first double header of the unusual 2020 season. The Austrian Grand Prix started off the season with a bang. Round one at the Red Bull Ring provided us with the F1 drama we so deserved after a long break, 9 DNFs, an Albon Vs Hamilton part 2, Lando Norris getting his first ever F1 podium (we cried) and much more that…. Will tell you about. One week on and Round two of the double header was here but with a different name, the Styrian Grand Prix! The name of the GP was not the only difference a week had made, YES, we had a wet qualifying which led to our driver line up having a bit of a switcheroo compared to the previous week. Although the race may not have had as much excitement when compared to the Austrian GP, the race still provided us with plenty of action to keep our eyes locked on our screens. We’re here to give you the rundown of the Styrian Gran Prix.
FORMULA 1 IS BACK: Race One
Written by Joanne McDougall
Pic: formula1.com
The 2020 season is finally underway after 217 days, and my goodness it did not disappoint. Chaos left, right and centre from the start to finish. This race is already a must-see classic. And if you have not caught the race yet we highly suggest you watch it. Here is your race rundown of last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Your top 3 finishers were:
#1. Valterri Bottas, Mercedes
#2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
#3. Lando Norris, McLaren
Lap 11
Max Verstappen loses power and retires 2 laps later after a suspected electrical issue. He reports the car continually went into anti-stall after being told to change a setting by his race engineer. A disappointing start for the Dutchman as several media outlets highly regarded Verstappen as a championship contender this year and have considered Red Bull the only team realistically capable of ending Mercedes’ dominance in the hybrid era after pre-season testing.
Lap 19
Daniel Ricciardo in the Renault retires after a cooling issue after a strong qualifying and race start where he looked more than capable to finish in the points.
Lap 22
Stroll is out! After finally breaking his Q3 curse the Canadian pulls straight into the garage to retire his car with the Mercedes team suspecting their customer team had a “sensor issue” - sending the Mercedes garage into high alert.
Lap 26
Kevin Magnussen spins off with a brake problem at turn 3 as Esteban Ocon cruises by in the Renault in turn deploying the first safety car of the race and turning the pit lane into a pit stop frenzy.
Lap 33
Vettel tangles with the very man replacing him at Ferrari for 2021 after an extremely optimistic lunge. The Spaniard Sainz comes off no worse than before but the 4-time world champion spins and returns to track P15.
Lap 50
Grosjean in the Haas retires after running wide ironically after his several warnings over track limits.
Lap 51
So close but so far away! There was a strong possibility for the young Brit George Russell to score his first ever points in Formula 1 after a chaotic race - but an engine problem sees him pulling over onto the grass and retiring. All resulting in a safety car. Not a great start to his 2nd season in F1.
Lap 55
Raikkonen’s front right tyre decides to clock out early from the race and fly off through the final corner narrowly missing Sebastian Vettel. Safety car is once again deployed.
Lap 62
No, you’re not watching a replay of Brazil 2019. And yes, that is 6-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the young Thai colliding once again stripping away his hopes of a podium or quite possibly race win. Was Albon’s move too aggressive? Did Hamilton leave enough room? The stewards eventually award the Mercedes driver a 5 second penalty for causing a collision on lap 66.
Lap 66
Leclerc emerges P3 after an inside dive on the Racing Point and suddenly a Ferrari podium is not looking all too optimistic for the tifosi.
Lap 67
Perez receives a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Lap 69
Double DNF for Red Bull at their home track. A disappointing start to the season for the team as Alex Albon retires. For a team withheld to be the only Mercedes title challenger in 2020, Red Bull will be keeping their fingers crossed for the Mercedes’ “sensor issues” to cause havoc in the upcoming Styrian Grand Prix.
Lap 70
We see our last retirement of the day. The newly named Alpha Tauri sees their Russian driver drive off into the escape road as his rear tyre is shredded.
FINAL LAP
It’s over?! Bottas wins in Austria with a comfortable lead over the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Ferrari are P2. Lando Norris is handed P3 and fastest lap after 2 absolute incredible runs to make sure he finished within 5 seconds of the elder Brit. An incredible weekend from the British driver at McLaren.
As the table stands, Norris is now the leading Brit in the championship and on Sunday became the youngest British driver ever to step onto the podium. And his team McLaren land themselves P2 in the constructor’s championship, 10 points behind reigning world champions Mercedes.
Pic: formula1.com
The Styrian??? GP: Round two
Written By Sophie Smith
Pic: autosport.com
After a treacherous wet qualifying the drivers and their teams would’ve been happy to see that the Styrian Grand Prix was run in dry conditions. But these conditions did not mean that this race would run smoothly. With teammates colliding, a Williams within reaching distance from the points and a thrilling last lap from Lando Norris. This race may not have been as nerve-wracking as its previous weekend but it still provides lots of drama we love to see in an F1 race!
The podium sitters for the second race of the season are:
#1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
#2. Valterri Bottas, Mercedes
#3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Opening lap
In an attempt to get past his teammate, Charles Leclerc collided with Sebastian Vettel in turn 3, causing extreme damage to Vettel’s rear wing. A safety car was deployed to clear the debris from the incident. Both Ferraris entered the pits at the end of the opening lap with Vettel’s race coming to a quick end as he was retired from the race. After suffering front wing and floor damage, Charles Leclerc’s front wing was replaced in a bid to save the car from having to retire also...
Lap 4
The Safety Car returned to the pits and racing resumed. The Williams driver, Russel saw himself running in 11th place, within reaching distance of the points, but sadly left the track at turn 6 and headed for the gravel. The Williams driver managed to recover from the mistake but re-joined t the race at the back of the field in 18th position. At the end of lap 4, it was determined by Ferrari the damage caused to Charles Leclerc’s car was too large to continue the race and Charles entered the pits to retire his car. With both Ferrari cars out of the race this meant that the team had no way of gaging if their updates to the car had been successful or not, causing the team even more distress after a poor start in the season.
Lap 8
No podium for you! Carlos Sainz falls from 3rd position on the grid to 5th after being passed by Valterri Bottas and Alex Albon.
Lap 14
We see Sergio Perez after starting 17th, enters the points by overtaking Lando Norris for 10th position, starting an ongoing battle between the two drivers for the duration of the race.
Lap 24
Box-Box! Max Verstappen running in 2nd, is the first driver to pit.
Lap 25
Ocon is Out! After suffering a cooling issue, the French driver Esteban Ocon enters the pits to retire his car.
Lap 27
Race leader Lewis Hamilton pits, leaving his teammate Bottas to take the lead.
Lap 32
Unlucky again! Sainz suffers a slow pit stop costing him another three positions!
Lap 34
Bottas pits handing back the lead to his teammate Hamilton. After all drivers had made their first pit stop the order of the top 10 on the grid was: Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Albon, Ricciardo, Stroll, Perez, Sainz, Norris and Gasly.
Lap 48
Perez clenches 5th! The Racing Point driver overtakes the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo after passing is teammate Stroll two laps earlier.
Lap 62
After struggling with his pace Sainz lets his teammate Norris pass for eight position and to race further up the grid.
Lap 66
Battle for 2nd. After slowly chasing him down since the first round of pit stops, Bottas overtakes Verstappen to reach second place. The two car battling it out for the remainder of the lap, with Verstappen even clenching the place back from him in a few attempts. Inevitably the Mercedes pace was too fast for the Red Bull.
Lap 68
Sainz and Verstappen pit! Having large enough gaps behind, both drivers pit for some fresh tyres in an attempt to get that extra point from the fastest lap.
Lap 69
Contact! Perez attempts an overtake on the car of Alex Albon for 4th place at turn 4. The cars made contact resulting in the Racing Point driver breaking his front wing and falls back, closing the 15 second gap behind him. Lance Stroll, who had been behind the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo for nearly 30 laps, makes an overtake in attempt for 6th position going into turn 3. Stroll runs deep causing both drivers to take the run off. Stroll takes 6th position while Ricciardo falls to 8th behind Lando Norris.
The Final Lap
LAST LAP LANDO! On the final lap we see Norris pass Stroll for 6th position on the straight after turn 3. The excitement does not end here with the McLaren driver going on to catch the wounded car of Perez at the final corner of the track to take 5th place! Fastest lap is taken by Carlos Sainz after making the decision to pit for fresher tyres on lap 68. Hamilton takes the chequered flag to achieve his first win of the season and 85th of his career. Hamilton is followed by Bottas and Verstappen to make the podium and a Mercedes 1-2.
Pic: planetf1.com
The drivers’ standings now alter to see Bottas in first with a 6-point lead over his teammate Hamilton who is trying to match the 7 World Championships of the legendary driver Michael Schumacher. The Brit Lando Norris follows closely behind in 3rd.
Who do you think will take the World Championship title in 2020? Let us know on Instagram @fs_formulas.
Thank you to Joanne for collaborating with us this week
See you next Send It Saturday!
Sach & Soph
x