As soon as Max Verstappen started slowing coming out of Turn 1 my head was almost in my hands. The only excitement we were guaranteed in Sunday's Grand Prix was the Red Bull driver running the medium tyre and trying to beat the Mercedes on the alternate strategy. Thankfully the racing gods had something else in mind.
To see cars finally line up on the grid and the lights go out made me giddy. An intriguing weekend started with Racing Point impressing and Ferrari seeming to have taken two steps back - most of its lap time being lost through engine performance. Qualifying saw Valtteri Bottas take a surprising pole position, pulling it out of the bag when it mattered, albeit he luckily escaped being beaten by Hamilton after he went off on his final run. Hamilton who was handed a 3-place grid penalty for failing to slow down under yellow flags as other drivers had done so, lined up P5. Lando Norris promoted up to P3, arguably outperformed his machinery as McLaren seemed convinced Racing Point would be quick.
Once again I was reminded how brilliant the Red Bull Ring is, a modest but truly unforgiving track. Its undulating layout and setting amongst the glorious mountains is a spectacular scene. The race proved to be full of incidents, penalties and astonishingly poor reliability with just 11 drivers reaching the chequered flag. Mercedes showed their advantage over the field with only Red Bull able to get near. The opening fifteen or so laps were uneventful and once Verstappen retired it seemed to suck the hope of excitement from proceedings. Suffering the most with 'curb reliability', Mercedes warned both its drivers insisting they must avoid the notoriously harsh curbs after sensor issues plagued their running. Hamilton found the situation far from ideal as he was unable to go quick enough to pressure his teammate.
Retirements from the likes of Ricciardo, Russell and Raikkonen led to multiple safety cars. Having lead throughout, Bottas controlled each one to perfection not giving Hamilton a chance to get past him. Drivers pitting under safety car towards the end provided an opportunity for fresh rubber and to close the gap to the Mercedes pair. Albon switched to the soft compound, closed the gap to Lewis and what followed almost seemed inevitable! Down into Turn 4, Albon dived down the outside and got the front end of his Red Bull ahead of the Mercedes on exit, but his rear-right made contact with Hamilton's front-left. Some argue it was a brave but brilliant move from Albon yet some believe due to the nature of the corner's downhill camber, Lewis was unable to suddenly avoid him and momentum caused the contact. Albon's hope of securing his maiden podium were dashed and the stewards just about correctly decided to give Hamilton a 5 second penalty. Although on another day this could have been deemed a racing incident.
The final laps of the race were sparked into life as everyone tried to figure out who could potentially steal 3rd position - Lando Norris?! He was made to work for it after lunging down the inside of a napping Sergio Perez at Turn 3 (who's race was fairly disappointing given the car's pace and since he was penalised for pit-lane speeding). Lando was giving it absolutely everything to close the gap on the final lap to finish ahead of Hamilton after penalties were applied. It really was edge of the seat stuff, his lap was sensational. Norris lit up the timing screens with purple sectors and secured the fastest lap of the race... which proved just enough by less than 2 tenths for his debut podium. Pure elation for Lando and McLaren after such a difficult few months for the team. Truly emotional scenes not just at the track but I'm sure in many living rooms across the UK. A convincing victory for Valtteri Bottas as he took the top step of the newly-modified podium arrangement on the grid alongside Leclerc and Norris.
Round 1 demonstrated this season may not be as close up-front and rather Mercedes are clear favourites once again. The only potential challengers may be Red Bull, despite Charles Leclerc's sublime P2 in the race somehow squeezing the maximum out of a clearly poorer car. Despite this, the midfield battle appears to be on another level compared to 2019. Ferrari for the time being have slid down the order into McLaren and Racing Point territory, a battle evident between Norris and Perez in Austria, this will undoubtedly ebb and flow as the season progresses. Add in Renault and Alpha Tauri behind it looks set to be a gripping fight for 4th in the championship. Williams are closer to Alfa Romeo and Haas which is fantastic to see and hopefully there will be more racing to come for their drivers.
McLaren will be delighted with their outstanding points haul from the Red Bull Ring, a perfect head start on their rivals in the constructors championship. Teams like Haas will be hoping for serious improvement this weekend, after mechanical failures retired both Magnussen and Grosjean. Another race in Austria isn't particularly exciting, on paper. However with teams being able to implement what they've learned over recent days and go again on Friday, coupled with the chance of rain in the forecast, that would surely make for some thrilling action in the Styrian hills.
Matt
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