Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris pose with a “End Racism” t-shirt on the podium after the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix race on July 5, 2020 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Mark Thompson / POOL / AFP)
Bottas wins Austrian GP as penalty denies Hamilton podium
Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton’s quest for a seventh title got off to a rocky start in Austria.
Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris pose with a “End Racism” t-shirt on the podium after the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix race on July 5, 2020 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Mark Thompson / POOL / AFP)
Valtteri Bottas weathered a stormy opening to the Formula One season in Spielberg Austria, leading the race from start to finish after claiming pole.
Bottas wins Austrian GP
Bottas managed to avoid incident which proved decisive but his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was not so lucky.
Hamilton was given a five-second penalty after the completion of the race which saw him demoted from his second-place finish on the track to fourth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc earned second as a result while young Mclaren driver Lando Norris scooped his first career podium.
Hamilton hazard
Hamilton who also hit with a late pre-race grid penalty that dropped him from second to fifth had clashed with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon in the latter stages of Sunday’s race, forcing him into a spin off track.
Bottas saw an early lead slashed when the safety car was deployed but the Finnish driver was calm personified and eventually prevailed in comfortable fashion.
In a race of three Safety Car interventions, run behind closed doors at the Red Bull Ring, Ferrari-bound Carlos Sainz finished fifth in the second McLaren ahead of Sergio Perez of Racing Point.
Alpha TauriPierre Gasly was seventh and Esteban Ocon eighth on his return to racing with Renault ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo and Sebastian Vettel, the four-time champion in his final season at Ferrari, finishing tenth.
Austrian Grand Prix winner Bottas
“There was definitely quite a bit of pressure on me there,” said Bottas, speaking through a face mask afterwards.
“One Safety Car was ok, but I was like ‘another one? And come on?’ Lewis was quick, but I was able to control it.”
Leclerc, who was among six drivers who refused to take the knee on the grid before the start, was surprised by the result after a disappointing start to the weekend for Ferrari. The car was well off the pace in qualifying and practice so the second place he achieved might be seen as something of a bonus.
“I did not expect this – it’s a huge surprise, but a good one. We did everything perfectly to finish second.”
Norris was thrilled to put the troubled McLaren team back on a Formula One podium, the finish also going some way towards proving the youngster belongs in the big time.
“I’m speechless – there were a few points where I thought I had fudged it. I am so proud of the team for coming back from where we were a couple of years ago.”
Tags:
