F1 results: Hamilton wins Styrian Grand Prix, Ferraris clash

Lewis Hamilton won the Styrian Grand Prix, the second round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship season at the Red Bull Ring, as Ferrari suffered the ignominy of its cars colliding on the opening lap.

From pole position, Hamilton led the battling Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and McLaren’s Sainz on the opening lap, as the Ferraris collided at Turn 3, which caused an immediate safety car to allow the marshals to clear the track of debris. Sebastian Vettel toured into the pits with no rear wing, while Charles Leclerc – who initiated the contact by lunging up the inside – needed a fresh front wing. Vettel’s car was retired immediately, while an apologetic Leclerc continued with floor damage but retired a couple of laps later.

At the restart, Hamilton led Verstappen, Sainz, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Alex Albon (Red Bull). Bottas passed Sainz for third on Lap 6, and Albon also DRS-ed past him two laps later. The Renaults duelled over sixth position, delaying each other and allowing Sainz to pull away, and the Racing Points to catch them. Daniel Ricciardo finally passed Esteban Ocon, at the third attempt, on Lap 20.

Verstappen pitted first to switch from softs to mediums on Lap 24, to protect from being undercut by Bottas, with Hamilton pitting two laps later and Bottas staying out much longer. Bottas stopped on Lap 34, rejoining behind Verstappen – but saving 10 laps on his new mediums.

Hamilton was untroubled out front, managing a 5s-plus gap over Verstappen, who was suffering some front wing endplate damage, so Max’s attentions turned to keeping Bottas at bay on his fresher tyres. Bottas got into DRS range with six laps remaining, as Verstappen reported “shocking” driveability exiting Turn 3 due to his higher rear tyre wear.

They swapped positions on Lap 67, as Verstappen refused to cede the runner-up spot without a fight, but Bottas sealed the deal a lap later to finish second.

Sainz suffered a poor pitstop due to a left-rear wheel that refused to engage, losing his fifth place to Ricciardo – and two further spots to both Racing Points. Sergio Perez vaulted up the order from 17th on the grid, passing Ricciardo for fifth with 22 laps to go. He then chased Albon, setting a sequence of fastest laps in his chase of the Red Bull, but Albon clung to fourth despite some contact that broke Perez’s front wing.

McLaren switched Sainz and Lando Norris in an attempt to catch the Ricciardo/Stroll battle with 10 laps to go. Stroll snatched sixth from Ricciardo at Turn 3, with Norris also passing Ricciardo. Norris passed Stroll on the final lap, and then grabbed fifth from an ailing Perez at the final corner, with the Mexican finishing just ahead of Stroll and Ricciardo with his damaged car.

Ocon retired from seventh place with a suspected cooling issue that caused his engine to overheat.

F1 Styrian Grand Prix race results

ClaDriverChassisEngineLapsTimeGapkm/hPoints
1 Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes71 1:22’50.683   25
2 Valtteri BottasMercedesMercedes71 1:23’04.402 13.719  18
3 Max VerstappenRed BullHonda71 1:23’24.381 33.698  15
4 Alex AlbonRed BullHonda71 1:23’35.083 44.400  12
5 Lando NorrisMcLarenRenault71 1:23’52.153 1’01.470  10
6 Sergio PerezRacing PointMercedes71 1:23’53.070 1’02.387  8
7 Lance StrollRacing PointMercedes71 1:23’53.136 1’02.453  6
8 Daniel RicciardoRenaultRenault71 1:23’53.274 1’02.591  4
9 Carlos Sainz Jr.McLarenRenault70 1 lap   3
10 Daniil KvyatAlphaTauriHonda70 1 lap   1
11 Kimi RaikkonenAlfa RomeoFerrari70 1 lap    
12 Kevin MagnussenHaasFerrari70 1 lap    
13 Romain GrosjeanHaasFerrari70 1 lap    
14 Antonio GiovinazziAlfa RomeoFerrari70 1 lap    
15 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauriHonda70 1 lap    
16 George RussellWilliamsMercedes69 2 laps    
17 Nicholas LatifiWilliamsMercedes69 2 laps    
  Esteban OconRenaultRenault25    
  Charles LeclercFerrariFerrari4    
  Sebastian VettelFerrariFerrari1    

F1 Styrian Grand Prix race fastest laps

ClaDriverChassisEngineLapsTimeGapkm/h
1 Carlos Sainz Jr.McLarenRenault68 1’05.619  236.894
2 Max VerstappenRed BullHonda70 1’06.145 0.526 235.010
3 Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes68 1’06.719 1.100 232.989
4 Sergio PerezRacing PointMercedes68 1’07.188 1.569 231.362
5 Lando NorrisMcLarenRenault66 1’07.193 1.574 231.345
6 Alex AlbonRed BullHonda68 1’07.299 1.680 230.981
7 Valtteri BottasMercedesMercedes62 1’07.534 1.915 230.177
8 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauriHonda69 1’07.827 2.208 229.183
9 Daniel RicciardoRenaultRenault65 1’07.832 2.213 229.166
10 Lance StrollRacing PointMercedes65 1’07.833 2.214 229.162
11 Kevin MagnussenHaasFerrari69 1’08.009 2.390 228.569
12 Romain GrosjeanHaasFerrari69 1’08.047 2.428 228.442
13 Daniil KvyatAlphaTauriHonda60 1’08.378 2.759 227.336
14 Kimi RaikkonenAlfa RomeoFerrari57 1’08.382 2.763 227.322
15 Antonio GiovinazziAlfa RomeoFerrari54 1’08.512 2.893 226.891
16 George RussellWilliamsMercedes36 1’08.601 2.982 226.597
17 Nicholas LatifiWilliamsMercedes68 1’08.806 3.187 225.922
18 Esteban OconRenaultRenault22 1’09.321 3.702 224.243
19 Charles LeclercFerrariFerrari3 1’35.379 29.760 162.979

The race as it happened

 

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