The 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. What. A. Race. It is such a pity that the current situation didn’t allow fans to witness the first race of this decade. There was nothing but action, action, and action, and I can assure you it is a joy to write about the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. There were penalties, fines, crashes and mechanical failures, spins, good luck, bad luck. It had everything. There are a lot of stats and facts to pull away from this race. Some were positive, and some were negative. Let’s get into it!
- Valterri Bottas won his 2nd season opener in a row and got his 8th career race win. He also started on pole position and led every single lap.
- 7 drivers retired during the race this year. Last year at the Austrian GP, there were no retirements at all.
- Lando Norris* set his first career fastest lap on the last lap, which got him his first podium.
- Lando Norris also became the 3rd youngest driver to score a podium in Formula 1, after Max Verstappen, and Lance Stroll.
*On Saturday, Norris was in an interview with Sky Sports at the Red Bull Ring discussing his amazing qualifying result, when McLaren CEO Zak Brown came up to him with a phone in his hand. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain gave the McLaren driver a call to congratulate him for qualifying 4th, which turned to 3rd, for the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
- McLaren scores their second podium in three races, the first being with Carlos Sainz at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. Both the races resulted in Lewis Hamilton taking penalties for colliding with Albon, and the McLaren cars actually finishing 4th on the road.
- Sebastian Vettel finished in 10th place for the first time in 241 Grands Prix.
- For the first time since Australia 2014, Hamilton is not the highest Briton in the world championship.
- Hamilton continues his 4-year streak of failing to score a podium in Austria.
READ MORE: Hamilton Given 3-Place Grid Penalty After Red Bull’s Protest – 2020 Austrian GP
- The Prancing Horse of Leclerc came in an astonishing 2nd place, despite being 0.924s off pole position in qualifying.
- Esteban Ocon scored points on his return to Formula 1 in 8th place and bringing Renault there first Austrian points in 17 years.
- Pierre Gasly brought AlphaTauri their first points under their new name. He finished in 7th position, the same position he finished in last year with sister team Red Bull.
- Racing Point’s Checo Perez finished in 6th, equalling his best Austrian finish, which he originally achieved in 2014.
- Antonio Giovinazzi scored his first points in Austria last year, finishing in 9th place. This year, he equalled that result in the C39.
- Williams rookie Nicholas Latifi crossed the line last, finishing in 11th place. However, the Canadian still equalled teammate George Russell’s best career result on his debut.
This is the end of this post; there were plenty of facts and stats to take away from this race, and this post has all of them. Stay on the lookout for new posts; there will be more to come about the Austrian Grand Prix.
