In spite of the 60-day shutdown concerning all teams, the F1 world was yet very much alive. Actually the shutdown period saw the craziest silly season for a very long time! Ferrari dropped a news bomb by announcing, that the Scuderia and the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel were to part ways at the end of the 2020 season! There were many rumours and allegations but very little actual information on the reasons leading to this decision. Personally I had taken it for granted, that Sebastian's contract with the Red Team would be renewed. I obviously still hadn't learned, that nothing in the F1 world should never ever be taken for granted! Only days after the breaking news Ferrari announced, that they had signed Carlos Sainz to their line-up for the upcoming season. The Renault ace Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, was to leave Renault and join McLaren for 2021!
There have been 215 days since the previous GP weekend! So it was about time to get the season underway. Mercedes, the reigning world champions, brought an updated car already to the season-opener. Ferrari, who hadn't been happy with their performance after the winter tests in March, will bring an update not until for the Hungarian GP weekend in a fortnight. The only driver to debut in F1 this year is Nicholas Latifi, who replaced Robert Kubica at the wheel of Williams.
It was a beautiful moment, when the lights turned green and the cars were released from the pits. This was the moment, when anything was possible. Red Bull's Verstappen, who has always felt at home at Red Bull Ring, went fastest. McLaren's Sainz, the future Ferrari ace, was second, followed by Racing Point's Perez. Already in the free practices it had seemed, that both McLaren and Racing Point had raised the bar this year. Although Racing Point had caught everyone's eye due to their distinguished similarity to Mercedes' last year's car. The first runs saw Sebastian fourth and teammate Leclerc in modest P9. Mercedes clearly didn't release their whole potential at the beginning of the first session. Bottas went 4th, with the reigning world champion as far behind as in P12. With 6 minutes remaining, Alfa Romeo's Kimi Räikkönen was the driver at the knock-out zone. However, in no time Hamilton was back in his normal form, making his way up to P2. The second runs put the limelight on Racing Point's Stroll, who made it on top of the timesheets! He was deprived of the top spot by Verstappen, but the Canadian had clearly an impressive start to the brand new season. On the contrary to Verstappen's teammate Albon, who had to settle for modest P12. Haas' Magnussen was the first driver to be eliminated in Q1, alongside with the Alfa Romeo duo of Giovinazzi and Räikkönen and the Williams duo of Russell and Latifi.
As the second session started, the Mercedes teammates were the first drivers to come out on the soft tyres. This time Hamilton was faster of the Silver Arrows, pipping his Finnish teammate by two tenths. The Ferrari duo, too opted for the red-marked fastest tyre wear. At this point it was obvious, that the Italian team were struggling badly with their pace. Charles was in P5, seven tenths off the pace, not to mention Sebastian, who was a shocking second behind the pace-setting Mercedes! McLaren's Norris caught me by surprise being third fastest after the first runs. The other midfield teams stood out of the crowd as well, as Perez in Racing Point was fifth and Ricciardo in Renault was sixth. Verstappen was the only driver to come out on the medium compound. Max made it 8th in the standings, with 8 tenths down on Hamilton. After a second flyer the Dutchman improved and jumped 6th. The second runs saw unexpected consequences. Bottas made it on the top spot, edging Hamilton by 0.081s. Albon in the sister Red Bull put together a magnificent lap and made it 3rd in the standings. Teammate Verstappen had to opt for a fresh set of soft tyres for his second run, but he aborted his flyer, as his banker lap was enough to get him into Q3. Catastrophically, Sebastian was unable to improve his lap time, and for the first time in his Ferrari career, the German was out of the top ten due to not having the pace! I mean, that there were no penalties or technical failures, which would have caused the German the elimination. I was absolutely shocked, couldn't believe, what I had just seen! Teammate Leclerc was the last man to make it into the final segment, so this proved to be a catastrophic qualifying session for Ferrari! Alongside the shocked German, out of Q3 were the Alfa Tauri teammates Gasly and Kvyat, Renault's Ocon and Haas' Grosjean.
Once again Mercedes released their party mode in the decisive last session. Bottas put together an outstanding lap, claiming the provisional pole by 0.122s to his teammate. The Silver Arrows stamped their authority all over the place, as Verstappen in P3 was already six tenths off the pace. Teammate Albon was fourth, 9 tenths down already. Sainz was fifth, Perez sixth and Leclerc seventh, but they had all made their first attempts on the used set of soft tyres. Due to the lack of fresh soft tyres, Norris, Stroll and Ricciardo opted for one run only. Bottas was absolutely determined to take the pole, as the storming Finn set the first sector purple on his last flyer. However, he tried a bit too hard, ending up hitting the gravel in Turn 4, which made his Mercedes turn into the most expensive lawn-mover! The yellow flags didn't effect Hamilton's run, but the Briton's lap was 0.012s too slow to deprive his teammate of the first pole of the season. Mercedes were in a league of their own with Red Bull's Verstappen being the "best of the rest". The sensation of the first qualifying of the year for me was McLaren's Norris, who made it as high as P4! Red Bull's Albon and Racing Point's Perez locked down the third row, followed by Ferrari's Leclerc and Sainz in the sister McLaren. Racing Point's Stroll and Renault's Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.
The grid for tomorrow's race certainly looks interesting. Max in P3 is the only driver in the top ten to start to the race on the medium rubber. Sebastian in P11 is free to choose his tyres, but it isn't much of a comfort to be honest. Ferrari have work to do not only in terms of a single-lap pace but in terms of race pace as well. It could be a dual between the Mercedes teammates, but Max will definitely have his say in terms of the victory! All I can say is, that I hope for the best for Sebastian. On one hand it's hard to see him struggle, but on the other hand I will cherish every moment of this season, as there's no guarantee, that Sebastian will be on the grid next year!
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