A clean sweep of all three practice sessions plus a one-two in qualifying adds up to a perfect start to the season so far for Mercedes.
Their rivals’ hopes that won’t continue on Sunday can be summed up in one word: Temperature.Cooling was Mercedes’ undoing at this race 12 months ago. It was a particularly hot Austrian Grand Prix, and that combined with the relatively high altitude of the track and the limiations of the cooling configuration Mercedes used at the time contributed to their first defeat of the season up to that point.
Of course they are unlikely to repeat the same mistake twice. All the same, the forecast for Sunday’s race has been revised since the weekend began, and predicted temperatures are now a fair bit higher – closing on 30C.
And as Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted on Saturday, they have made one change to their car which could have an unintended consequence for its performance. Switching from a silver to black livery to show their support for diversity and opposition to racism is a noble gesture. But it may also compromise the car’s heat rejection.
“The messaging and the marketing is very important,” said Wolff. “But if performance is being harmed, that’s obviously not great.
It would be easy to exaggerate the role Mercedes’ livery could have in this. But Red Bull and Ferrari are eyeing the expected turn in the weather forecast and hoping it will play to their advantage.
“We were blessed last year with a particularly warm conditions and a Mercedes that was not equipped to run in warm conditions so they dropped away quite a bit,” said Red bull’s head of car engineering Paul Monaghan. “[But] I don’t suppose they’re going to fall into that helpful trap for us tomorrow.”
However he said Red Bull’s decision to qualify Verstappen on the C3 medium compound tyre instead of the C4 soft was in anticipation of the change in weather.
“If you look at Friday’s longer runs in cool conditions the C4 tyre I think for everybody exhibited a reasonable amount of drop-off or degradation,” he said. “And the yellow wall [medium] tyre looks to stand up a little bit better.
“Now if the forecast is correct and tomorrow’s even warmer than today, which again will make it we think a bit harder for the C4 to survive. So we’ve opted to try and give ourselves a better tyre for the first and make our selections from there.”
Alexander Albon, who will start two places behind his team mate in fifth, qualified on the soft tyre.
“So if the C4 struggles tomorrow then we’re on a C3 with Max, and equally if the C4 is stunning tomorrow, we’re on a C4 with Alex,” said Monaghan. “And we can pull Max in at a point and put him onto something else.
“So it’s all to play for, really. At least we’re not lining up on the same tyre two spots behind the pole-sitter.”
Things can surely only get better for Ferrari after a grim qualifying session saw Charles Leclerc lead their cars in seventh, while Sebastian Vettel failed even to reach Q3. Sporting director Laurent Mekies said the team is also casting a hopeful eye over the weather forecast.
“It’s much hotter again tomorrow,” he said. “And it will change a little bit the pecking order. It won’t be a revolution, but things will change.
“On top of that, the field is very tight. So I’m not talking about the Mercedes, of course, but certainly behind them the field is very tight.
But how well will Leclerc and Vettel be able to fight given the hit Ferrari’s straight-line speed has taken in the past 12 months. Their two drivers have lost more speed in the official trap than everyone else in the field.
At this race last year Leclerc qualified on pole position and was the quickest driver through the speed trap, clocking 325.7kph. This year he is at the opposite end of the table, a whopping 13.3kph slower. Vettel has lost 8.3kph.
That, along with the significant loss in lap time by all three Ferrari-powered teams, is another indication that Ferrari’s power unit is not the force it was 12 months ago.
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Sector times
| Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valtteri Bottas | 16.011 (2) | 27.905 (1) | 18.984 (1) |
| Lewis Hamilton | 15.898 (1) | 27.934 (2) | 19.024 (2) |
| Max Verstappen | 16.093 (4) | 28.045 (3) | 19.256 (3) |
| Lando Norris | 16.162 (7) | 28.159 (4) | 19.305 (5) |
| Alexander Albon | 16.165 (8) | 28.232 (7) | 19.347 (6) |
| Sergio Perez | 16.120 (5) | 28.180 (5) | 19.362 (7) |
| Charles Leclerc | 16.423 (18) | 28.215 (6) | 19.260 (4) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 16.134 (6) | 28.293 (9) | 19.446 (9) |
| Lance Stroll | 16.190 (9) | 28.278 (8) | 19.451 (10) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 16.085 (3) | 28.436 (11) | 19.478 (11) |
| Sebastian Vettel | 16.272 (13) | 28.400 (10) | 19.381 (8) |
| Pierre Gasly | 16.239 (12) | 28.456 (13) | 19.565 (13) |
| Daniil Kvyat | 16.199 (10) | 28.455 (12) | 19.530 (12) |
| Esteban Ocon | 16.402 (17) | 28.647 (14) | 19.576 (14) |
| Romain Grosjean | 16.222 (11) | 28.719 (15) | 19.740 (16) |
| Kevin Magnussen | 16.438 (19) | 28.756 (16) | 19.970 (20) |
| George Russell | 16.396 (16) | 28.945 (18) | 19.717 (15) |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | 16.331 (15) | 28.892 (17) | 19.952 (19) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 16.291 (14) | 28.948 (19) | 19.918 (18) |
| Nicholas Latifi | 16.476 (20) | 29.378 (20) | 19.903 (17) |
Speed trap
| Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 322.5 (200.4) | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 321.6 (199.8) | -0.9 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Mercedes | 321.2 (199.6) | -1.3 |
| 4 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 320.4 (199.1) | -2.1 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Renault | 320.1 (198.9) | -2.4 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 320.0 (198.8) | -2.5 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | Mercedes | 319.7 (198.7) | -2.8 |
| 8 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | Honda | 319.1 (198.3) | -3.4 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | Renault | 319.0 (198.2) | -3.5 |
| 10 | George Russell | Williams | Mercedes | 318.3 (197.8) | -4.2 |
| 11 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 318.3 (197.8) | -4.2 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | Renault | 318.0 (197.6) | -4.5 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Honda | 317.7 (197.4) | -4.8 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | Honda | 316.8 (196.9) | -5.7 |
| 15 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda | 316.8 (196.9) | -5.7 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | Renault | 315.3 (195.9) | -7.2 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 314.8 (195.6) | -7.7 |
| 18 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 313.2 (194.6) | -9.3 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Mercedes | 313.0 (194.5) | -9.5 |
| 20 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | 312.4 (194.1) | -10.1 |
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Over to you
Can anyone stop Mercedes from starting the year with a one-two? What can Ferrari salvage from their tough start to 2020? And who will be ‘best of the rest’?
Share your views on the Austrian Grand Prix in the comments.
2020 Austrian Grand Prix
- FIA issues new Austrian GP results after correcting Kvyat error
- Russell sees Mercedes as only possible alternative to Williams in 2021
- Hamilton: No “bad blood” with Albon after second collision in three races
- 2020 Austrian Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres
- 2020 Austrian Grand Prix Star Performers
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
4th July 2020, 23:31
I wish Ferrari would cheat again this year, that way they would be closer to Mercedes.
This way only real chance is Verstappen. Good news is, everyone else is bunched close toggether. If anything it is only Mercedes, that are a lot faster then midfield.
Sonny Crockett
5th July 2020, 9:27
Ferrari clearly cheated last season and gained championship points as a result.
Thanks to Covid-19 there are teams that are struggling financially that could really do with the money they should have received last year that was ‘stolen’ from them by Ferrari.
That’s the impact of Ferrari’s cheating. The cards are already stacked in their favour due to the nature of the concord agreement. Now they’ve literally taken money from other teams yet they don’t seem to have paid any penalty for it, save for the embarrassment of their real performance now being revealed.
Not a Ferrari fan
5th July 2020, 10:38
Ferrari cheated, you say. Really? What evidence do you have to show that? What punishment did they receive from the stewards?
Sonny Crockett
5th July 2020, 13:46
Let’s ask Ferrari to release the details of their ‘secret agreement’ with the FIA.
Like Donald Trump’s tax returns, it’ll never happen because they know the content will let all hell loose!
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
5th July 2020, 10:45
@jureo Considering that Ferrari is behind their customers, they clearly have a drag problem. Clear that whatever the fia closed off it hurt Ferrari, on the other hand I don’t see anyone complaining that all mercedes cars are smoking like crazy from the exhaust.
AMG44 (@amg44)
4th July 2020, 23:49
Ferrari with a legal engine is not that strong now. McLaren is the team on the up and soon (hopefully) will join the top 3.
Hope heat doesn’t effect the Black Mercedes too much. Wouldn’t like to see that boring Silver livery return so soon.
Neiana (@neiana)
5th July 2020, 2:23
@amg44 if only Fernando had waited a bit, eh?
knightameer (@knightameer)
5th July 2020, 7:46
Waiting and team choices are not Alonso’s best qualities my friend.
proud_asturian
5th July 2020, 0:24
Ferrari cheating – “bad”
Mercedes cheating – “innovation”
Scottie (@scottie)
5th July 2020, 2:01
I’m sure Ferrari’s position is due to not only their engine, but also the higher downforce configuration. In this case, with the warmer temperatures, I think the telling thing is going to be if they can keep their tires better than the rest. With a car that slides less through the corners, they may be able to have one less stop than the rest of the field.
If they still tear up their tires though, it will show that indeed, they have a draggy car that won’t help them in any scenario. I’d be surprised if they take such a big step backwards though.
Nick
5th July 2020, 5:06
The car is not enough of a evolution that it is likely to have noticeably different tire wear traits. As we’ve seen with Mercedes on side and Williams on the other, the larger character traits of these chassis continue season after season.
knightameer (@knightameer)
5th July 2020, 7:47
Knowing Ferrari and their ability to produce crap, don’t be surprised if their car is indeed bad in everything.
anon
5th July 2020, 10:10
@scottie the thing is, the commentators were remarking on the poor handling balance of Ferrari’s car and how many steering corrections the drivers were having to make.
We will see, but that suggests that even if Ferrari’s car is producing a reasonable amount of downforce, it’s still not great as it would indicate it’s an imbalanced distribution that’s causing erratic handling and probably will be compromising their ability to manage the tyres.
LEMAYIAN (@lems)
5th July 2020, 6:59
What worries me more than anything is a red car being shown blue flags to let a black car pass. It scares me really how far they’ve fallen as everyone thought after all these years with the regs being much the same, they’ll finally win a title, either a WCC or WDC, but instead they’ve regressed which is just appalling 😟😟😟
knightameer (@knightameer)
5th July 2020, 7:24
Nice Ferrari, Nice. Pin hopes on everything else other than your car and team management.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th July 2020, 7:28
Can anyone stop Mercedes from starting the year with a one-two? – No, or at least, not on pure pace.
What can Ferrari salvage from their tough start to 2020? – P5 and P6 at best.
And who will be ‘best of the rest’? – RP at least with Checo.
As for race day being warmer than the qualifying day: Not much hotter, though, as it’s only an increase of 3 degrees from 24 to 27.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
5th July 2020, 10:46
@jerejj What do we define as “best of the rest”, this year. This weekend it looks like best of anyone other than Mercedes or Verstappen.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th July 2020, 10:51
@keithedin Admittedly, difficult to define based on this first Red Bull Ring-weekend alone. Maybe, the latter two events of this opening triple-header of races give a bit clearer picture of that.
AliceD (@aliced)
5th July 2020, 8:36
The F1 show has shot itself in the foot by hamstringing Ferrari and allowing Mercedes to pull even further ahead with their tyre warming device, disguised as steering. I am only really interested in who is going to win and when it is a one horse race, then there is not much point in watching. The only chance the other teams have against Mercedes is better tyre management. How exciting, let’s see who can go the slowest and make their tyres last the longest.
LosD (@losd)
5th July 2020, 10:06
@aliced So you’re suggesting FIA should have ignored an illegal engine, while banning a legal device, in the name of entertainment?
Rules are rules. You can change the rules within how they are governed, but you can’t play around with them, just because you don’t like the results.
Patrick (@paeschli)
5th July 2020, 10:24
As far as I know, the Ferrari engine was legal until the rules were ‘cleared up’
Sonny Crockett
5th July 2020, 9:21
Carlos Sainz must be wondering what on earth he’s done!
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
5th July 2020, 9:43
LOL. There’s always the new regulations Carlos. That potential Renault drive might be looking quite attractive to Seb.
kingkong
5th July 2020, 9:24
That, along with the significant loss in lap time by all three Ferrari-powered teams, is another indication that Ferrari’s power unit is not the force it was 12 months ago.
Webbo (@webbo82)
5th July 2020, 9:49
Looking to the weather for a change in performance?
I should try that one on my next review at work.
David (@davidjwest)
5th July 2020, 11:12
You’d have thought the teams would have worked out a way to vary the cooling on the car during the race, even if it was during a longer than normal pit-stop.
Nerrticus (@nerrticus)
5th July 2020, 11:17
Alfa Romeo still managed to be 4th and 6th in the speed trap so that straight line speed seems like it could be found.
Maybe Ferrari’s not turning the engine up to full potential. They may have to trade in some reliability for a chance to be properly competitive, especially if the Hungary update is a dud.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
5th July 2020, 11:26
Sector 1 is mostly about engine power and drag. Sector 3 is more about downforce and sector 2 is somewhat in-between.
The Ferraris clearly have a high-downforce set-up and Alfa Romeos have a low-downforce set-up. Haas is somewhat in-between, with Grosjean seemingly running less downforce. Magnussen, however, was slowest in sector 3, which suggests he was somewhat delayed by Leclerc.
Ricciardo was surprisingly quick in the first sector, even though he wasn’t that fast in the speed trap. This may make sense, as the speed trap is in sector 2, so apparently Ocon only gave him a slipstream at the beginning of the lap.