2020 Austrian GP Race 1: Final Thoughts

[SS454]

One of the most entertaining season opening races that I can remember.

FIA gained back some credibility before the race started as during qualifying it was clear Lewis exceeded track limits in Q3 lap 1, and then ignored yellow flags on second lap. FIA claimed to not have the onboards available, which is very very suspicious since all cars have that available instantly. But in the end they did the right thing and Lewis was given a modest 3 place penalty.

Reliability issues are a welcome drama. While unfortunate to see Max and Albon retire, also another double DNF for HAAS, it brought some excitement to think Mercedes may fail as well while leading the race as no car can beat them in outright pace.

A strong race from Bottas, but Lewis looked to be significantly faster. To believe Bottas will put a title fight against Lewis is probably unrealistic, but here's hoping. I am also hoping Mercedes' sensor issues are not fixed before next weekend, as it may be the only chance of them not being 30 ahead.

Red Bull continue to be aggressive with strategy. Starting Max on Mediums and then putting Albon on Softs late in the race. Despite a car that can't outright compete with Mercedes, they potentially could have been in position for the race win.

Albon/Hamilton wreck. I certainly didn't see any malicious driving by Lewis, he didn't turn into or accelerate into Albon. However, Albon clearly put his car ahead by mid corner. The argument of Albon not being patient could be true, but I think Albon had to attack at that stage when his tires were fresh and the Hard tires weren't into operating temps yet. Plus it would have been very difficult to fight Mercedes on the straights. A racing incident that had a deserving penalty.

McLaren, very impressed by them. Their pace was a bit up and down, but they did great in qualifying and was there when it counted at the end of the race. Huge congrats to Lando Norris. I think he could be noted as a potential driver of the race.

Racing Point has to be put down as a big disappointment. Their pace was good, but not great considering it's a 2019 Mercedes. Reliability issues are what they are since even the factory Mercedes had similar problems. But at the end of the race Perez got eaten up. I personally think it was more down to Perez than the car. Just another example to me that Perez is overrated.

Ferrari: Vettel does not have a handle on the SF1000 at all. Great drivers adapt to the car they are given and Leclerc is doing a better job at this point. Unfortunately Vettel's spin had nothing to do with the Ferrari being poor to drive, his lunge was beyond optimistic. Mark that down as another wheel to wheel racing mistake by Vettel. I worry about his motivation this year given Ferrari basically sacked him, and he's driving a car that likely has no chance of winning in what may be his final season.

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc however drove the best he could out of what he had. I kept an eye on the onboard's and saw his Ferrari was about 6 kph slower than Stroll's Racing Point when Stroll was complaining of engine problems. Ferrari benefited from a lot of luck, but it should be noted the pitwall did a great job on the strategy and Ferrari got a far better result than they should have. Charles even had one of the fastest laps of the race. Not bad for a car so slow on the straights.

Driver of the Race: Charles Leclerc

I certainly don't expect Austria Race 2 to be as good as race 1, as I think a lot of the issues will be sorted out. But I do think having a crammed season could result in uncharacteristic mistakes by all the teams, which as I stated from the start, is a welcome drama.

[Brembo]

I'm believing more than ever that Bottas is being truthful when he says he's racing to win, not there to move over for Lewis at all. Just the fact that he didn't move over for Lewis form the jump and kept going in 1st place shows he's no Butler for sure. Lewis will have to win even against his team mate to be WDC .