I was so excited about the start of the F1 season so it was a bit challenging to focus on answering the reporter's questions. However, due to my overwhelming passion for F1 racing, I love talking about the sport any time! While answering the questions I heard on TV, that Red Bull had made a protest against Hamilton this morning, due to not slowing down under the yellow flags in the final segment of the qualifying. The protest had led into a 3-place grid penalty for the reigning world champion. The penalty had promoted Verstappen to the front row, whilst Hamilton had dropped down to P5. Statistically, pole didn't play such a remarkable role at Spielberg as at some other circuits. Last year Verstappen drove to victory after starting to the race from P8.
What a memorable moment it was, when the lights went out for the first time this season! Bottas made the pole position count and held on to his lead. Verstappen was a bit in trouble with his medium tyres, and McLaren's Norris seriously challenged the Dutchman at the start. Hamilton, too had an aggressive opening laps. After passing Norris and Red Bull's Albon he had his eyes nailed on Verstappen. Unfortunately the flying Dutchman wasn't meant to succeed at his team's home track. On lap 11 his RB16 was hit with a technical failure, which proved crucial. Max managed to nurture his limping RB16 into the pits, but there was nothing to be done to fix the issue. Max, who was to have an advantage in terms of the medium tyres, had to face a possible victory to slip through his fingers! What a devastating moment! Hamilton benefitted from this turn, as he was in P2 already.
There were more technical failures to come. Renault's Ricciardo was the next victim. The Australian's black and yellow Renault crawled on the track but he managed to bring it into the pits, just to retire the race. Racing Point's Stroll joined the DNF club only a few laps later. It was a bit surprising to see so many retirements in the race.
Lap 26 saw some action for Haas' Magnussen. The Dane suffered a brake failure, which led into an off for him. The Haas pilot got stuck on the gravel, and safety car was deployed. At this point Hamilton had decreased his gap to race leader Bottas from 7 seconds into 3 seconds only. Both Mercedes drivers drove into the pits for a double stop, switching to the white-walled hardest compound. They were followed by the other top drivers, also opting for a similar tyre strategy. The only exception was Racing Point's Perez, who opted for the yellow-marked medium compound.
On lap 30 the safety car came in, and the race was resumed. Bottas controlled the race perfectly, keeping his teammate firmly behind. However, there was drama further back in the midfield. Sebastian had had a tame start to the race, and the German was in P8. At the restart he made an over-optimistic move on McLaren's Sainz, which led into contact between the two. Sebastian span and dropped down to P15. It truly proved a costly move. Sebastian had struggled with poor car performance since the beginning of the race, and this mistake certainly didn't make his race look any brighter.
Meanwhile Perez was driving an excellent race. He made a classy overtaking move on Norris, snatching P4 from the British McLaren pilot. Hamilton had closed the gap to Bottas, and the reigning world champion had a DRS advantage on his teammate. In spite of the convincing double lead, there were dark clouds lurking over the Silver Arrows. Both drivers were told on the team radio to stay off the kerbs. There was a gear box related sensor issue in both cars, which was said to be critical. Hitting the kerbs caused vibration, which activated the issue. So the powerful favorites proved vulnerable after all.
Lap 51 saw Williams' Russell to hit problems. Due to a techical failure his car stopped on the track, which brought out the safety car for the second time. The Mercedes drivers still had a strong double lead, with Perez third, Albon fourth, Norris fifth and Leclerc sixth. The Mercedes duo decided to stay out, whilst Albon, Norris and Leclerc pitted for the second time. They had differing tyre choices, as Albon opted for the softs, whilst both Norris and Leclerc switched to the mediums. However, Russell's Williams was cleared rapidly out of the way, and the race was back on in a few laps.
Once again Bottas controlled everything and maintained his lead. In terms of the midfield, there was more drama to come. Kimi, who had just pitted for a fresh set of soft Pirellis, witnessed his front-right tyre go off coming into the last corner! Sparks were flying, and Sebastian was just barely able to avoid hitting the Iceman's limping Alfa Romeo! Kimi's wrecked challenger stopped on the track, so safety car was out for the third time already! I can only imagine, what race leader Bottas might have thought at that point, as he was to defend his lead one more time. With Kimi being out of the race, there were only 13 cars racing round the Spielberg circuit!
The closing laps of the race were adrenaline-filled. Bottas maintained his ice-cool attitude at the third restart and held on to his lead. Teammate Hamilton, on the other hand, was in serious trouble with Red Bull's Albon. The Thai driver aggressively attacked the Briton on the outside, but there was no room for the Red Bull pilot. Albon and Hamilton collided, and the Thai driver span, dropping down to the back of the pack. To me it seemed like a racing incident, but the stewards took the incident into investigation. Hamilton was handed a 5-second time penalty for causing the collision.
Meanwhile Leclerc surprisingly found some extra pace. He made a classy overtaking move first on Norris, making his way to P4. Next he had his eyes targeted on Perez, whose sculp the Monegasque picked up next. Unbelievable but true, Charles was already third in the race! Red Bull's day turned into pitch-black, as Albon, too suffered a technical failure only a few laps before the chequered flag. Zero points for the energy drink team must be a nightmare on a season, which could turn out as short as 15 races! Norris, too found some extra boost towards the end of the race and attacked Perez. The Briton's stubborn move proved successful in spite of a slight contact between the two. Norris was now fourth in the race. Starting the final lap, Hamilton was 5.8 seconds ahead of him. To make it on the podium for the first time, Norris would have to close the gap into under 5 seconds... And the man was on a mission! Norris banged the fastest lap time on the very final lap, decreasing the gap into 4.8 seconds!
Bottas took a well-deserved 8th career win, which was his second at Austria. A flawless race from the Finn indeed! Leclerc finished the runner-up, which came as a surprise to the man himself due to poor car performance (lacking straight line speed especially). Norris was naturally over the moon to score his maiden podium in F1! Hamilton had to settle for P4 due to his penalty. Sainz completed a perfect day for McLaren by finishing fifth. Perez, who had also been given a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, finished 6th, with Gasly 7th for AlphaTauri and Ocon 8th for Renault. Giovinazzi scored two points for Alfa Romeo, leaving Sebastian the last driver to score points. In the build-up to the season, who could have anticipated this struggle for a points finish for Sebastian?
It was no surprise, that Mercedes' name is found on top of the constructors' standings. But who would have thought to see McLaren in P2? Ferrari are in P3, although they definitely don't deserve to be there. Red Bull, on the other hand, have zero points in their bag! It's not a good start to the season, regarding the fact, that no one knows, how long it's going to be. For Ferrari, too there's only one way and it's upwards and onwards! Forza Ferrari!
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