Austria: Giovinazzi seizes his chance 🎥
ALFA-SAUBER PROFITED In the very first race of Formula 1 2020 in Spielberg, which was characterized by many technical failures, the Hinwil team scored world championship points. The first winner of the season is Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes. Antonio Giovinazzi scored his first ever world championship points a year ago at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. It looked like [...]
At the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Antonio Giovinazzi scored his first ever championship points a year ago. After starting on the back row of the grid, it didn't look like it.
You also need a little luck
However, the Italian stayed out of all the scuffles and brought the Alfa Romeo Sauber C39 home in ninth position. However, only eleven of the 20 competitors completed the 71 laps.
Antonio Giovinazzi: "I'm really happy with the result. After our difficult qualifying, we achieved the maximum. Of course, you need a bit of luck in such a chaotic race, but we were ready to grab every opportunity with both hands. We worked hard for this and I'm happy for everyone here in Spielberg and back home in Hinwil and Italy."
Räikkönen on three wheels
Kimi Räikkönen, who also had a chance of scoring points, retired in spectacular fashion. The Finn lost the right front wheel of his C39 in the double right-hand bend before the home straight, but was able to avoid an accident.
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: "Our race pace was a clear improvement on qualifying. We were able to better exploit the potential of the C39. As a team, we kept a cool head during this eight-car race to score points. We will investigate the problem with Kimi's car and make sure that we can fight for a top 10 finish with both cars here next weekend."
Eighth GP win for Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas emerged as the first winner of the season. The Finn, who started from pole position, never relinquished the lead, but could well have come under greater pressure as the race progressed. However, his first rival Max Verstappen in the Red Bull Honda retired with a defect.
His team-mate Alexander Albon collided with second-placed Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes while attacking him and spun back into the rear of the field. The world champion was handed a 5-second time penalty for this and had to settle for fourth place.
New (hidden) face from the podium
The beneficiaries were Charles Leclerc in the better of the two colorless Ferraris and Llando Norris in the McLaren-Renault. Thanks to the fastest race lap on the last lap, the 20-year-old Briton overtook Hamilton to finish on the podium for the first time. As there is a strict obligation to wear a mask, as in all other races, the television viewers only got to see the new face half covered.
The highlights from Spielberg are under this Link on YouTube. They show the turbulent course of the race behind the dominant start/finish winner Valtteri Bottas.
The Formula 1 entourage will remain in Spielberg for next weekend's Styrian Grand Prix. The official standings for the first round of the 2020 World Championship can be found here Link.
