Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas wins wild opener in Austria

By Asher Fair | Jul 5, 2020

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Formula 1 (Photo by MARK THOMPSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /

Valtteri Bottas dominated a wild 2020 Formula 1 season-opening Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring as nine of the other 19 drivers dropped out.

Valtteri Bottas may have dominated to open up the 2020 Formula 1 season in the Austrian Grand Prix, the first of two races at the Red Bull Ring, just like he dominated the 2019 season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, but the season opener turned out to be quite a wild affair.

Bottas was the only leader of the 71-lap race around the 10-turn, 2.683-mile (4.318-kilometer) road course in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. He held off teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.689 seconds to win, but Hamilton was issued a five-second time penalty for making contact with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon following the final restart.

Albon restarted in third place behind the two Silver Arrows and had newer soft tires compared to their older hard tires. He had gotten by Hamilton in turn four before Hamilton made contact and spun him around. Albon stayed in the race but dropped out of the top 10 before he ended up being forced to retire with an electronics issue.

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As a result of Hamilton’s time penalty, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulled a second place seemingly out of nowhere on what was a terrible weekend for the Scuderia. He finished in 2.700 seconds behind Bottas.

Additionally, McLaren’s Lando Norris secured his first career podium finish in third place, bettering his previous career-high result of sixth, which he recorded in both the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix last year. Norris had been more than five seconds behind Hamilton on the final lap, but he ran the fastest lap of the entire race on lap 71 to secure third.

Hamilton ended up being scored in fourth place.

McLaren secured a double top five result with Carlos Sainz Jr.’s fifth place finish. Racing Point’s Sergio Perez had a chance at a podium late as well, but he dropped out of the top three and was issued a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pits. He finished in sixth and did not lose any positions due to his penalty.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly muscled home a solid seventh place finish ahead of Renault’s Esteban Ocon, who hadn’t competed in a race in more than a year and a half, in eighth. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi finished in ninth ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who could not overcome a spin, in 10th.

Only one other driver was left in the race, as nine drivers were forced to retire with a variety of issues, and that was William rookie Nicholas Latifi, who finished in 11th place in his debut.

Among the drivers who were forced to retire, the biggest contender was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started on the front row alongside Bottas after Hamilton was issued a three-position grid penalty for ignoring the yellow flags in qualifying when Bottas spun out.

Verstappen was running in second place and may have had a good chance to win late due to the race’s two safety car periods, but an electronics issue sent him to the garage early on.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Race Results
1st – Valtteri Bottas
2nd – Charles Leclerc
3rd – Lando Norris
4th – Lewis Hamilton
5th – Carlos Sainz Jr.
6th – Sergio Perez
7th – Pierre Gasly
8th – Esteban Ocon
9th – Antonio Giovinazzi
10th – Sebastian Vettel
11th – Nicholas Latifi
12th – Daniil Kvyat
13th – Alexander Albon
14th – Kimi Raikkonen
15th – George Russell
16th – Romain Grosjean
17th – Kevin Magnussen
18th – Lance Stroll
19th – Daniel Ricciardo
20th – Max Verstappen

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Formula 1 is set to return to the Red Bull Ring for another race, the Styrian Grand Prix, next Sunday, July 12. This race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 9:10 a.m. ET.

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