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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Would Racing Point finished 3rd if they have Lando Norris?

I am wondering what George Russell could do in that car because he is being wasted at Williams

Vettel - I think is on no one's shopping list right now well certainly not highly

RasputinLives You got a crystal ball or something because Albon was almost as bad as Gasly in the other Red Bull
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It looks like the world drivers title will be between the two Merc drivers and Verstappen as I'd very much doubt Ferrari can claw all the gap back.

No points for Ferrari engine powered cars - this looks not good
 
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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?


Mclaren may have the best driver pairing next season.. Ricciardo is probably secretly smiling to himself about his prospects at this point
 
I doubt Lando Norris would have finished 3rd today in a Racing Point but he would have beaten Alex Albon to finish 4th.Its just that Racing Point have an opportunity to score big points at the moment, especially as the Ferrari is a heap, but Racing Point are being let down by having Stroll and Perez driving for them.
 
I do wonder whether McLaren currently have the best driver pairing of any team?
Mclaren may have the best driver pairing next season.. Ricciardo is probably secretly smiling to himself about his prospects at this point

I still think Mercedes have the best driver pairing. Bottas is a top tier driver, it's just that Hamilton is on a different level to everyone else, as we saw in Qualifying.
 
I still think Mercedes have the best driver pairing. Bottas is a top tier driver, it's just that Hamilton is on a different level to everyone else, as we saw in Qualifying.

I rate Ricciardo higher than Bottas.

I think Ricciardo would be closer to Hamilton racing wise. Norris is showing his potential so he just be suddenly high on Merc and Red Bull's list now
 
I doubt Lando Norris would have finished 3rd today in a Racing Point but he would have beaten Alex Albon to finish 4th.Its just that Racing Point have an opportunity to score big points at the moment, especially as the Ferrari is a heap, but Racing Point are being let down by having Stroll and Perez driving for them.

Then you will have to wonder what Alonso could do with the car then
 
I rate Ricciardo higher than Bottas.

I think Ricciardo would be closer to Hamilton racing wise. Norris is showing his potential so he just be suddenly high on Merc and Red Bull's list now

I don't know. I don't think Ricciardo has ever really had as strong an edge over his team mates. Verstappen was better than him. While he beat Seb, you get the impression some of that was circumstantial. With Ocon and Hulkenberg, he has a small edge, but hasn't really shown dominance over either.
 
It seems astounding that the teams have gone from incredible unreliability last week, to this week, all of the cars, other than Ocon (and the Ferraris) make it to the finish without any problems!
 
Championship standings are really looking great for McLaren:
  • Lando Norris third in the championship after the Mercedes Drivers
  • McLaren second in the constructors championship ahead of Red-Bull
  • McLaren has the DHL Fastest Lap award for both races
While I'm sure that RBR will take the second and third spots in the constructors and drivers battles, Will be a tight battle between McLaren, Racing Point and Ferrari for third in the championship (I'm sure Ferrari will come back at some point).
 
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It looks like Renault have taken being beaten by Racing Point badly and unleashed there inner Christian Horner.
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that was certaintly the difficult 2nd album. after a cracking race but it was optimistic to have 3 brilliant gp's in a row. also as we know when lewis hamilton is in league of his own like he has been this weekend its almost impossible to have battle for the lead. i still think that mercedes would always flatter themselves here because they now are back to having the best engine (but then they seemed to have the best legal engine all along ;)) & red bull ring is a power track

abit disappointed in Albon today. i know that he was struggling all weekend with bad understeer. that would've impacted his race but without the pitstop he would've finished 30+ secs behind Verstappen & should've finished behind Perez. but for the dejavu with a collision at Turn 4. but at least he has done the bare minimum which is still more than other red bull drivers have done. Perez driver of the day shouldve got highly deserved 4th, again showing his quality on tyre wear. then ferrari leclerc having a severe case of brain fade. making a bad weekend even worse
 
im not getting involved, just be cautious you cant win it on 1st lap. you can only lose it on the 1st lap. so dont get involved

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:censored: it, Im Getting involved

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I don't know. I don't think Ricciardo has ever really had as strong an edge over his team mates. Verstappen was better than him. While he beat Seb, you get the impression some of that was circumstantial. With Ocon and Hulkenberg, he has a small edge, but hasn't really shown dominance over either.

Compared to the teammates Bottas has had prior to Hamilton - Ricciardo 's teammates were certainly of higher calibre
 
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