Grand Prix 2020 Austrian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

The long 4 month 7 month drought of F1 is soon to be over. as on 15th March 5th July we will finally be getting 2020 season underway (Virus permitting
😷
) .I can guarantee 1 thing that the 1st race of this decade cant be any worse than the 1st race of the previous decade which seemed to set the tone for the poor decade that would follow. as 2010 Bahrain GP is ranked up there with the 2019 French GP & others as some of worst F1 races in history. so bad that they were started a discussion to have mandatory 2 stop races. but we will see who will follow in steps of Giuseppe Farina, Bruce McLaren, Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher & Fernando Alonso as the 1st Grand prix winner of the new decade, which is starting in the most peculiar & odd way of its whole 70yrs. so no pressure on Sundays winner as will have to keep up the world champion streak & even the 1 that didn't founded 1 of F1 most successful teams

but on Australia, there history of motor....., wait Austria you say. sorry about that guys, Austraila & Austria very easy to mix up :facepalm:

Luckily Austria also has had a long history with F1 stretching back 55 years, even if it doesnt feel that long if grand prixs have been in short bursts. but so many drivers & other major people in F1 history have come from this small country. Lauda, Berger, Rindt, Wurz, Wolff, Marko & the mighty Patrick Friesacher. the history starting at the zeltweg airfield very close to red bull ring. where the top 3 on the grid after qualifying in 1964, was the British trio of Graham Hill, John Surtees & Jim Clark. but all 3 retired before half distance & actually a weird race when you look at it because bandini won his only GP of his 42 race career from 7th on the grid only 9 finished 2 on the lead lap. a brit finished on the podium but 3 laps down & Jack Brabham finished last 29 laps down (whats the point :dunno:) Then austria had to wait 6 years when they would race at fearsome Österreichring between 1970 & 1987 when it was stopped on safety grounds for many reasons as the final pole lap averaged 159mph despite narrow track little run off & the 2 big accident at the start, was the final nail in the coffin. Then Austria would have to wait 10 yrs til the Next GP after It huge overhaul by herman tilke funded by Phone Operator A1 we would return from 1997 to 2003 bringing some notable moments 1998 where we unusual front row of Fisichella & Alesi, also 1st rumoured use of ferrari team orders. which would rear its ugly head in 2002 that is 1 of F1 infamous moments & also known for horrible crash between sato & Heidfield at turn 3. Then in modern times it takes a distinct turn because in a way we are lucky to be racing at the red bull ring at all. because less than a year after the final GP at A1 ring in 2003. The grandstands & pits were demolished. but construction was halted making it completely unusable. & so many people tried but fail to resurrect it, it looked bleak for the great circuit but 5 years later in 2009 Red Bull decide they were going bringing it back to life (2nd time lucky after 2005 when he refused to spend money on it) in time for the 2011 DTM series. then after Doomed from the start New York race. Bernie said a spot became available on F1 Calendar which Red bull Enquired & the rest since 2014 is history

but now in modern times it is quite strange to be starting it in Austria because this will be the 1st time the season has started in Europe since 1966 when Monaco GP was season opener, also when you think of 12 months ago coming into Austria 2019. the title was dead Hamilton was 76 pts clear of the next non Mercedes driver & we were just waiting for when we crowned Lewis as the 6x world champion not if, but this whole season is going to be extremely odd as it will be the 1st ever double headers in F1 history even if its Austrian & Styrian GP. also British/70th anniversary. maybe some circuits that will host as a 1 off with portugal. Mugello (for Ferrari's 1000th) Hockenheim, Imola, Bahrain "Oval" & a season that might stretch into january as the sport tries to get 8 to make a World Championship & 16 races to fulfill the F1 TV contracts. no podiums the trophy will be collected by the drivers on the grid & both top 3 interview will take place like they do post qualifying last season on the grid as well. no pen interviews for obvious reasons instead they will be in front of the team garages. & F1 cars that will last more than a season for 1st time since the 70's. which will be a strange end to this era before maybe the biggest rule change for F1 in many decades. is looking like an intriguing season which hopefully Australia Austria will give us some answers.
  • how good are Mercedes. as they sandbagged last year looked like the 3rd quickest car & ended up winning 9 of 1st 10 races
  • Are Red bull hiding championship challenging pace. will we finally after many years. get to see how Verstappen copes under pressure of a title battle. because up til now he could win 5 races retire from other 15 & consider it very successful
  • are ferrari troubles are bad they seem & have found an answers in the lockdown. can Leclerc & Vettel on track relationship be repaired or will it be a free for all , also does Vettel get a contract renewed for 2021 does vettel get drive in 2021
  • will Vettel be freed from pressure & will Sainz rise to the pressure of proving why he should be at Ferrari next season
  • can Force India racing point provide a huge surprise become the 1st team to be able to challenge the big 3 for 1st time since enstone team with grosjean in 2013
  • is this the beginning the end for Haas, as they are debating their future
  • Can Mclaren & Renault take the Next Steps that the budgets they pressure them into
  • is this Williams new car finally capable of giving Russell a car to get into B race & out of the doldrums
  • Will Aquafresh become the new title sponsor after all the livery already there
  • Will Riccardo have many suspious technical failures after taking 50m from Renault while only racing for them for 8 months. before jumping ship for McLaren
  • will Esports drivers like Albon, Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc & Russell have an advantage on the other drivers who havent done any driving in this shutdown period
  • what will Lewis Hamilton say, now there is no fans
  • will we see the same intensity as we had in november, as football has struggled with that since the return
 
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If McLaren can maintain the development pace given the bad news regarding cash flows due to covid then next season, with Lando and Danny in the car they really could be up and around the podiums on a regular basis. I don't see them turning that into a title challenge but they are going to get back towards their best.
 
Also, as Lando is from Bristol (have I mentioned that before) and Ron Dennis is no longer involved in McLaren, it actually feels nice to have a driver I am really happy to support and with Danny joining next year, I'm a McLaren man, I am.
 
finished the Austrian GP about late last night. when i was going to post this but seemingly fell asleep mid post. Im thinking im going to have to petition F1. that we should start every season in Austria. that was incredible. cant think the last time i enjoyed a season opener like that. if that was a Football team nevermind next week. id be chanting "can we race here every week". it did the almost impossible it managed to top last yrs Austrian GP. which was the CTA 2nd highest rated race in 2019 only beaten by chaotic madness of germany

on Lewis, you know i give my support to all the british drivers. i want to give him the benefit of the doubt because he was on 35 lap old hards (why they didnt pit under safety car who knows. it was a slam dunk to me :dunno: can only think of double stacking) & the old hard tyre wouldve struggled for heat under 2 Safety cars. so he couldve just understeered into albon. but more i looked at the incident more i kept feeling he should given albon more room. who wouldve won the GP today


Bottas good drive, might be harsh but i think lewis 2nd on grid wouldve won & i still dont think he has the the consistency to win a championship, but id love to be proved wrong & history says he will be a world champion now either as driver or team

Norris what a drive to produce that fastest lap on the final lap. to get on the podium is very special. & Mercedes engine in that car next year could be very exciting. 1st brit in a podium beside lewis since 2014 Australian GP

then for me the driver of the day how did leclerc get that piece of crap into 2nd place, over the break vettel talents/reputation have seemingly got better & better. people thinking he was driver of 2009 - 13 or 2015 - 2017. but if binotto now gets questioned why did you not offer a contract to vettel. he can just say did you see the Austrian GP. another clumsy stupid move. that has cost them points. what he was thinking i dont know as never in a million years was move ending in anything different
 
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but more i looked at the incident more i kept feeling he should given albon more room.
who wouldve won the GP today
Albon started overtaking already in the turn, at the entrance to which Hamilton was still completely ahead.
Ie, in order to leave Albon more space during this maneuver, Hamilton had to initially move away from the trajectory. The key point of the incident is that Albon's rear wheel hit Hamilton's front wheel, not the other way around.
And it is noteworthy that Masi-who oversees the stewards-justifying the stewards ' decisions,
described the situation exactly the opposite.
 
The unpleasant thing is that Red bull is clearly conducting psychological pressure
and hyping the situation through the media.
Horner and Albon have already said they expect an apology from Hamilton.
And an apology for what?
For a debatable incident?
 
It just goes to show how much the dominance of Mercedes has got to Christian Horner and Red Bull.It's ironic that they spend all weekend protesting about the Mercedes, and then as soon as something goes against him he's demanding an apology.
 
Albon started overtaking already in the turn, at the entrance to which Hamilton was still completely ahead.
Ie, in order to leave Albon more space during this maneuver, Hamilton had to initially move away from the trajectory. The key point of the incident is that Albon's rear wheel hit Hamilton's front wheel, not the other way around.
And it is noteworthy that Masi-who oversees the stewards-justifying the stewards ' decisions,
described the situation exactly the opposite.

i disagree Albon was ahead & he was on far better tyres. new softs to old hards. i want give the benefit but i think the more i look Hamilton kept squeezing albon & going further wider. he knew albon was alongside in his mirrors & if your taking the inside then you got to stay inside. cant take the normal line.

Screenshot_20200706-104534_YouTube.jpg
 
i disagree Albon was ahead & he was on far better tyres. new softs to old hards. i want give the benefit but i think the more i look Hamilton kept squeezing albon & going further wider. he knew albon was alongside in his mirrors & if your taking the inside then you got to stay inside. cant take the normal line.
But do you at least agree that the blow was from Albon, not Hamilton?
It is also clear that Hamilton did not move the steering wheel in the direction of Albon.
For comparison, there were examples in this race.
By the way, Vettel collided with Sainz during the restart.
And Sainz didn't get any punishments.
So why was there a racing incident with Vettel Vs Sainz but Albon Vs Hamilton didn't?
 
By the way, in the first laps, Hamilton passed Albon in a similar situation,
without bringing the overtaking to a collision,
although Albon also left not a lot of space.
 
Trying to overtake around the outside was also going to risky at that corner, as for once there is a gravel trap there, instead of those huge run off areas.
 
Can I just say, big up Alex Albon for having a go. I wonder if Hamilton is trying to reach the same level as Senna where no one stopped him from overtaking or tried to overtake as they knew he would simply drive in to them or push them off the track.
 
Trying to overtake around the outside was also going to risky at that corner, as for once there is a gravel trap there, instead of those huge run off areas.

True - but unless you have a big straight-line speed advantage, that's one of the few ways of making an overtake stick. That being said, the only reason we're talking about this is because Mercedes messed up their strategy (again) - it seemed obvious that they should have stopped for tyres...
 
Stewards.

Their first decision was caused by Red Bull questioning the Mercedes with their movable steering wheel, everyone knew they would do it but similar queries have taken place before, some have succeeded and some have failed but Red Bull were within their rights.

In the third part of qualifying Hamilton put all four wheels off the circuit so the lap time was removed. In his second run Bottas caused a yellow flag; Hamilton was fairly close so the stewards who adjudged that he had not committed an offence. Red Bull later showed the stewards some video which made the stewards change their judgement. They were in their rights to change this.

At the first safety car there was a mad rush to change tyres. Norris was just in front of Perrez but there was a problem at McLaren so they were level as they came out into the pit lane they were level. The pitlane is a wide one so the drivers are allowed to run side by side hence there was not an offence.

The Vettel offence the stewards probably adjudged that since Vettel had dropped to the back of the field it was sufficient penalty in itself.

The later collision involving Hamilton looked to me like it was Hamilton' fault. He was more than half a car length behind Albon, was on a line which would have pushed Albon onto the grass but took no action to correct this situation and so it was Hamilton's fault. Both the BBC commentators and Jennie Gow said that it was Hamilton's fault and was even worse than the previous collision between the two drivers where Hamilton was penalised as well.

And why should it be Karma when Verstappen's engine blew? He did nothing wrong and no, there is no conspiracy to stop Hamilton winning the WDC.
 
True - but unless you have a big straight-line speed advantage, that's one of the few ways of making an overtake stick. That being said, the only reason we're talking about this is because Mercedes messed up their strategy (again) - it seemed obvious that they should have stopped for tyres...
Most likely, both Mercedes to the moment of appearance of the safety car have already passed the enter to pit lane. And by the time they had this opportunity, those who were behind them had already get new tires.
I.e., if the team had called Bottas and Hamilton for new tires,they would have lost their positions.
Perhaps it would make sense to separate the tactics for the pilots.
But again... one of the pilots had won anyway. Although it may be due to the collision of another pilot.
 
Red Bull later showed the stewards some video which made the stewards change their judgement. They were in their rights to change this.
Well yes... using as evidence the image from the camera, which is located almost half a meter above the level of the pilot's eyes, and for addition using slow-motion viewing for credibility, because the yellow signal in the frame flashes for only one second....
Convincing proof of Hamilton's guilt in qualifying...
 
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