BOTTAS ON TOP AMID RED BULL RING DRAMA

Despite all that was different about the 2020 Formula 1 season opener given the major changes brought by the coronavirus pandemic, there were some reassuringly familiar themes in an action-packed Austrian Grand Prix.

So much happened during the 71-lap race at the Red Bull Ring that it emphasised again the tragedy of the pandemic, with spectators barred from attending an event that would have sent them into raptures multiple times. There was the political wrangling over the pre-season controversies ahead of the race – Red Bull’s protest of Mercedes’ dual-axis steering in particular – and a last-minute grid penalty for the reigning world champion after uncovered footage proved that Lewis Hamilton had infringed the rules concerning yellow flags in the closing moments of qualifying.

The race itself also recalled so many memories of 2019. Valtteri Bottas emerged victorious in the season opener, and Mercedes again faced dramatic and unexpected reliability concerns as it had done at the same track in the past two years. Red Bull rolled the dice on strategy with Max Verstappen, in the same way as it had done in 2019 – getting him through Q2 on the medium Pirelli tyre to start the race on the contra strategy – and there was another late, controversial wheel-to-wheel clash. In summary, the Red Bull Ring yet again delivered another thrilling grand prix.

It was a race that could be divided into three distinct phases and was ultimately a contest that was robbed of chess-like strategy planning, with heat-of-the-moment opportunistic tactical