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

Back in the day the German GP used to be followed a week later by the Austrian GP. This was when Hockenheim was a bizarre flat out blast out in to the forest and back again with a mickey mouse stadium section to pull the punters in. Hockenheim was neutered to create more grandstands and make it more TV friendly.

Austria was probably the most majestic circuit on the calendar with long, sweeping curves set in the Styrian hills which were a challenge for cars and driver alike. The Osterreichring, like Hockenheim, was then neutered to make it, supposedly, safer and dump more spectators in and around the circuit. It was renamed the A1 ring from 1993 to 2006, presumably as an homage to the London to Edinburgh trunk road. In 2011 it became the Red Bull Ring after the fizzy drink company rebuilt all the infrastructure whilst keeping the layout the same.

Now, one week on from the Austrian GP we have another race but this time not requiring the teams to drive about 450 miles and set up the whole circus again as we are staying at the Red Bull Ring and a new race has been created, the Styrian Grand Prix. Styria is, of course, the region of Austria where the track is located.

Last Sunday F1 won me back, for a week at least, with an exciting, incident packed race around the "The Ring". I suspect we will not see the same this weekend but I do hope that Verstappen's car will allow him to have a go at the Mercs and Albon won't have his race ruined again. Look for some sort of reaction from Lewis Hamilton after the series of troubles he experienced last Sunday.

A few notes of trivia. Racing drivers Helmut Marko and Jochen Rindt are/were both from the region as are Dietrich Mateschitz (well durr) and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition to these luminaries Styria gave us the Eurovision winner in 2014, Conchita Wurz. However, Conchita wasn't the first Eurovision winner from Styria, the lead singer of Teach-In came from here as well, and they won the competition for Holland in 1975.

Final piece of Trivia, two winners of Miss World come from here in 1969 and 1987.
 
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I’m confused why they stopped the session in Q1. There were cars on fast laps, and Giovanazzi stopped his car after the finish line.

Surely, they should have just double yellow flagged turn 3, and let anyone who was already on a lap to complete...

true but it was the safest thing to do a downhill braking zone. rain had increased. they couldnt take the risk. because like Germany 2007 we all know what happens when 1 car locks up
 
Quick question - how long before we all admit we might have judged Pierre Gasly a tad early? He was pretty mighty today in a car that had no business being that high up.
 
Quick question - how long before we all admit we might have judged Pierre Gasly a tad early? He was pretty mighty today in a car that had no business being that high up.

yeah he was pretty good yesterday. but you can only judge on what you see & a Top F1 team isnt a finishing school. we can only judge on what we see when your seeing gasly getting beaten by toro rosso being lapped by his teammate in consecutive races in all places of red bull. a demotion to toro rosso was inevitable & albon is doing better than gasly.

but i would love to see him come & prove everyone wrong
 
Inevitable is a funny one. Mid season driver changes are very rare and, I'm sure someone will check this out, someone (a none pay driver) only getting half a season at a team is practically unheard of. For that someone to be a kid in their second year of F1 going up against a driver who has been touted as the greatest thing since soap was invented seems even harsher. Given that teams have held on to the likes of Webber and Kimi for years who were just as far (if not worse) off their team mates at times makes it harsher.

As much as I like Alex Albon he didn't come in last year and suddenly put that car further up the field that Gasly did but yet his performances were somehow presented in a better light. Meanwhile Gasly went to the junior team and quietly put the results in. I just don't think he was given a fair shake of the stick.

Reminds me of a comic funny I saw in Roy of the Rovers once. Manager puts his arm round a young player and says "Hey kid I'm putting you on as sub. it's your big shot! 3-0 down with 5 mins to go"
 
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In terms of making the championship interesting, I think it would be ideal this weekend if both Mercedes were to fail with their electronics issues.

why? At the moment, Mercedes have such an incredible advantage over the rest of the field, that we can guarantee that they’ll dominate at Hungary, and probably GB. The first real opportunity for Red Bull to challenge on a level playing field will probably be Spain or Belgium.
 
RasputinLives

I think Albon got more breathing space because Red Bull already ended up with egg on their face over promoting Gasly and not picking Sainz who might well come back and haunt them in a Mclaren or Ferrari ( I hope ) so if Albon fails should they go back to Kyvat who's already been dropped once .... when it will be Verstappen's turn to be dropped then if he produces a string of rubbish races

When will Red Bull decide they need to look outside their academy ? He was thrown at the deep end after 1 season but then people will say Vettel succeeded and so far Verstappen has

I am sure Red Bull won't come out and admit they promoted Gasly for the right reasons
 
🥺 The rendering of their National Anthem was something else ! And all the little children ......? All of them white of course.
 
Both Ferraris out. Already an excellent race.
Charles taking lessons from Seb at putting his car where it shouldn't be.
You couldn't make it up. What a shambles.
 
F1 won me back last weekend. This weekend it has alienated me again.

I think we have seen how the rest of the season will play out. :yawn:
 
Lando is really showing himself to be an exciting prospect... McLaren just need to get towards Mercedes' level.

I do wonder whether McLaren currently have the best driver pairing of any team?
 
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