Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Red Bull Ring, 2020

Hamilton smashes field by 1.2s in rain for Styrian Grand Prix pole

2020 Styrian Grand Prix qualifying

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An exceptional performance by Lewis Hamilton at a rain-lashed Red Bull Ring saw the Mercedes driver take pole position by 1.2 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz Jnr made it three different cars in the top three. He’ll share the second row of the grid with last week’s winner Valtteri Bottas.

Q1

The prolonged period of heavy rain which arrived at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday had already forced the cancellation of final practice when the qualifying hour rolled around. Teasing, the rain relented for a while as 3pm approached, only to return with a vengeance. Clearly, qualifying could not begin at its allotted time, as was duly postponed.

It finally began after a 46-minute delay on a track which was soaked but nonetheless passable. It was full wet weather tyres all round for the field as they assembled at the pit lane exit, led by Sebastian Vettel, some queuing for more than two minutes, anxious not to miss what could be the best of the conditions.

In the event almost all of Q1 ran to schedule without interruption. Lap times steady fell throughout, but a largely flawless show of driving by the field kept cars out of barriers.

Romain Grosjean, the last driver onto the track, was the first one off it, skidding into the turn four gravel on his out-lap. He rejoined but only drove as far as the pits, where he stopped with a suspected water pump problem, and took no further part in the session.

Most drivers opted to take second, fresh sets of wet weather tyres as the session wore on, to benefit from the superior grip of unworn tread. Seven drivers resisted the temptation including both Mercedes and both McLarens. The Red Bull pair did too, though Alexander Albon was only 14th, and Daniel Ricciardo did the same. Both Ferrari drivers made it through, but

George Russell took advantage of the adverse conditions to secure Williams’ first appearance in Q2 for more than a year. But Antonio Giovinazzi brought the session to an early end, crashing his Alfa Romeo at the end of the lap. After being told to rejoin he dragged debris onto the track, then came to a stop as the session was red-flagged.

Kimi Raikkonen joined his team mate in elimination, while Nicholas Latifi was over a second off his flying team mate and also went out. Sergio Perez also dropped out along with Grosjean.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

16Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’21.372
17Sergio PerezRacing Point-Mercedes1’21.607
18Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes1’21.759
19Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’21.831
20Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari

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Q2

Hamilton and Verstappen swapped quickest times throughout the second part of qualifying, ending up separated by a tenth of a second. They were half a second clear of the chasing pack, which was led by Lando Norris, the McLaren driver in good shape having had therapy for the pain he suffered yesterday.

A week earlier only one of the Ferrari drivers made the cut for Q3. The same happened again, but this time it was Charles Leclerc who progressed no further than Q2. Sebastian Vettel had a messy moment on the kerbs at the exit of turn one, but gathered it up and claimed the final place in the top 10 by a tenth of a second from his team mate.

The two Ferraris were followed, impressively, by Russell’s Williams in 12th place. Daniil Kvyat, who was involved in an incident with Leclerc, joined the Ferrari driver in progressing no further. The second Racing Point and Haas, of Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen respectively, were also eliminated.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11Charles LeclercFerrari1’19.628
12George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’19.636
13Lance StrollRacing Point-Mercedes1’19.645
14Daniil KvyatAlphaTauri-Honda1’19.717
15Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’20.211

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Q3

The conditions had visibly worsened further as the final 10 drivers took to the track for the pole position shoot-out. Verstappen set the pace initially, but Hamilton unleashed the potential of the Mercedes with his final two runs.

The first lifted the black W11 seven-tenths of a second clear of the field. His final effort added another half a second to that margin.

Red Bull told Verstappen “we’ll give you all the performance for this final lap”, and he began his decisive effort with the fastest time of anyone through sector one. But Hamilton, running behind him, soon pegged that back. Verstappen remained on course for a substantial improvement in his time, but as he reached turn nine he found a pit-bound Vettel at the apex.

The Red Bull snapped sideways, and though Verstappen’s awesome reflexes kept it out of the wall, his chance to improve was gone. Nonetheless he secured the second spot on the front row.

Pierre Gasly briefly had the AlphaTauri up in third place, but slipped back over the final runs. Sainz took advantage, placing his McLaren in a superb third, cheering “ole, ole, ole” as the team confirmed the result. Esteban Ocon, who had a disappointing qualifying session one week earlier, put his Renault an excellent fifth, Bottas separating him from Sainz.

Having been third in Q2, Norris was a disappointed sixth, which will become ninth after his grid penalty. That will promote Albon, Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel qualified 10th.

Top ten in Q3

1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’19.273
2Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’20.489
3Carlos Sainz JnrMcLaren-Renault1’20.671
4Valtteri BottasMercedes1’20.701
5Esteban OconRenault1’20.922
6Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’20.925
7Alexander AlbonRed Bull-Honda1’21.011
8Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda1’21.028
9Daniel RicciardoRenault1’21.192
10Sebastian VettelFerrari1’21.651

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2020 Styrian Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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125 comments on “Hamilton smashes field by 1.2s in rain for Styrian Grand Prix pole”

    1. Lewis absolutely blistered the field today. Rain, the great equalizer, threw some of the grid into disarray, but Hamilton was having none of it. In quali 1 & 2, job done. In q3, job obliterated.

  1. Lewis has to be the best rain driver on the grid

    1. ‘Has to’? With 1.2 secs, he is. Even before today he has always been.

      1. You might want to calm down a bit. Tricky conditions and no two drivers meet the exact same condition.

        1. You ‘find’ the conditions – that’s why the weather is seen a skillbase equaliser.

          1. GtisBetter (@)
            11th July 2020, 16:48

            You don’t “find” the conditions. That is nonsense. You can find a gap. But the weather decides how much rains falls and dictate track conditions. And then it also depends how much water the total amount of drivers can clear of the track.

            It’s also not an equalizer. That is some romantic notion. Still same teams at the top and same teams at the bottom. It does require a certain skill and people who have it shine a bit more. But Hamilton couldn’t do pole in a haas or maybe even in a Ferrari.

          2. But is Mercedes 1.2s faster than the Red Bull? Of course not. Furthermore, RBR are known for their downforce and areo, which is a great factor in wet and mixed conditions. Thus we can conclude that ICE aside, wet weather is indeed a driver equalizer.

            The data suggests Lewis would have put the Red Bull on pole if he was driving it.

          3. You don’t find the conditions? Okay… Watch multiple races with Senna Vs Prost in the wet and tell me it’s not about ‘finding’ grip and defining the line (raw racing, with minimal technical influence). Watch any of the wet karting championship races (you can basically remove performance prejudice from these races too).

            The fact is, Hamilton nailed it – as he always does. Max was overdriving and caught the less efficient lines on multiple occasions (clear from watching the onboard footage).

          4. @passingisoverrated

            It’s also not an equalizer. That is some romantic notion.

            Grand Prix de Montecarlo, 1984

          5. @ Swiftnesses
            You’re right I think. In the wet you have to search constantly for the right line, feeling the track, applying the inputs as smoothly and accurately as possible at exactly the right moment. The idea that Hamilton lucks into a good qualifying time, or is just ‘a bit better’, is one of the most absurd I’ve ever read here.

          6. Somebody not raced in the wet @passingisoverrated ?
            I can assure you after ten years at the top of amateur 250 gearbox racing it certainly shows when someone has talent rather than speed.

            Today True talent showed.

            Regardless of JB pretending otherwise the sheer statistics show LH as the greatest wet driver we have seen.

            Simply look it up…

          7. DRG…I’m not surprised at all, by the response of JB.

        2. Tony Mansell
          12th July 2020, 1:18

          I’m not going to calm down ! All time great sesh and the rain master reigned. If you don’t like this enough to wet your bed than you no longer racing fan

  2. That lap by Hamilton…WOW. I’m not his biggest fan, but take a bow.

    1. Well today/tonight Red Bul wont bow and will dig all the videos to protest Ham’s lap time… lets watch and see :)

    2. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      12th July 2020, 4:06

      Amazing lap, Russell wasn’t too bad either. Imagine Lewis and George as teammates at Mercedes, the others may as well stay warm and dry in the garage whenever it starts raining.

  3. Ham shows why he is still the Benchmark. The best driver on the Grid. Smashed Max and Bottas in equal machinery and conditions.

    1. Ermm… when I was watching, Max was in a different car —which was clearly quite a handful… Nevertheless, Max was magnanimous in defeat and admitted he would not have beaten Lewis to pole even if he had nailed his last lap.

      1. There seems to be a lot of people who think all machinery is equal once the rain falls. It’s funny to see people just talk as if Russell in the Williams could have had pole if only he had more talent, because obviously rain “equals” all.

        1. It becomes far more equal. Aero is limited more in the slower rain conditions. Power is all but nullified, mechanical grip and balance are the only things that do not really change. Basically it brings the field much closer which is why people call it an equaliser. Are they exactly equal? No but they are very close. There is no way in earth that the Merc is 1.2 seconds quicker than the red bull in those conditions, in fact I would expect the red bull to be quite equal as both are very well balanced cars. The wet always has and always will show off the skill far more than the car.

          1. @Lee 1 – very well said and succinctly put.

          2. Agreed! The pole today was showcased the driver’s ability. In an era of capped spending, the natural abilities of the driver will be telling.

  4. Nice laps by Sainz and Ocon.

  5. You can only grab that much popcorn. For another Hamilton vs Verstappen duel.

  6. This guy needs to be banned from racing in wet conditions. I would have to see the telemetry on that, and compare it to Bottas. No words for that performance. We still have a race tomorrow, and this is not over yet.

  7. *would love to see the telemetry

  8. Some Hamilton haters will never give him the credit he deserves but honestly Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. GOAT pub talks will have to wait until he retires but amongst the top names- the Prosts, Fangios, Sennas- obviously he has fully reserved his seat at the top table.

  9. Does Vettel even care snymore…?

    1. You’d think outqualifying Leclerc would show to that, but whatever.

    2. would the number 1 leclerc?

    3. The ferrari car is garbage and he beat his teammate…. what more do you want him to do?

    4. Well i felt like he could have shown *something* in Q3

      1. He did. He showed the Ferrari is absolute garbage.

  10. So glad to see Williams getting better, George Russell is a future superstar, a tenth off the Ferraris!

    Incredible lap from Hamilton, one of the greatest (if not the best) of all time in the wet. No surprise him and Verstappen are 1 and 2. Tomorrow should be great fun!

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      11th July 2020, 16:32

      If Stroll hadn’t slipped at the end of his last lap, both Ferraris would have been out. But it seems inevitable that in one of the next races both Ferraris will only reach Q2.

      1. @omarr-pepper watch it be Italy.

  11. Wow…hats off to Lewis…not a fan, but credit where it’s due. What a lap.

    Bottas should look at himself here, he dropped the ball.

    What a session though. 10/10.

  12. Bottas 3.0 is already over.

    1. Points are won tomorrow but BOT 3 never existed. Reports of Lewis’ demise are always greatly exaggerated.

    2. To be fair this is just the base model. The Bottas 3.1 update will include improved wet weather performance and waterproof porridge

      1. I’m gonna curb my enthusiasm until they released Bottas Professional Plus Multimedia Edition.

        1. No, Bottas cloud edition is going to be the one to watch for.

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      11th July 2020, 18:58

      Tough moment for Bottas. Just when you think you are as good as he is, Lewis does something that makes you feel like a Formula 3 driver. Happened to Rosberg, Button, and probably Alonso.

  13. Congrats to F1 for putting on great performances in the face of what the world is suffering through….I hope they can get as many races in as possible this season, offer up a great championship fight, and things continue to go well in the F1 bubble.

  14. I want to watch the last 5 minutes again !
    Bravo the top 10, going fast in that stuff is truly amazing: @ Lewis, respect, what a wheel man.

  15. Paddy Lowe- who worked with both Hamilton and Senna, was asked if he felt Hamilton had the same raw pace as Senna, replying: “Yeah, undoubtedly. Those great drivers are able to pull out an extraordinary lap and I think you kind of saw that with Lewis [in qualifying]… probably on Mercedes estimations and simulations, that time wasn’t in the car.”

    Nuff said.

    1. This was after the Canadian GP in 2017 btw.

  16. Lewisham Milton
    11th July 2020, 16:18

    Black Clouds Matter.

  17. Neil (@neilosjames)
    11th July 2020, 16:21

    Ridiculous gap at such a short circuit. Verstappen might have been closer had he not encountered Vettel at the pit entry, but I don’t think he’d have got within half a second.

    Overall, one of the best qualifying sessions I’ve seen for a long time. Lots of really good performances and the whole field deserves credit for managing all three parts and only losing a handful of minutes to flags. Worth the wait, and so happy they got on with it and didn’t postpone until tomorrow.

    1. sky showed their laps side by side and by the time they got to turn 9 they think verstappan was already 6 tenths off Hamilton

      1. correct Max wasn’t beat Lewis today and Max said so! Hats off for Lewis (I think all three were enjoying the Quali)

  18. I really really wanted to see that verstappen vs Hamilton one lap fight :((
    Surely that’s a penalty for vettel right?!

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      11th July 2020, 16:30

      I don’t think you can really blame Vettel – he was entering the pits and in the wet, you can’t really see what’s behind you due to the spray. Maybe his team could have told him Max was catching him but at that part of the track, I don’t see where else he could gone. Verstappen would have been starting 2nd even if he completed his lap so I doubt they’ll take any action.

    2. You saw it. The results are clear.

    3. no way is that a penalty for vettel. He wasnt on a lap and was heading to the pits and verstappan was trying to follow him

    4. F1oSaurus (@)
      11th July 2020, 17:46

      Verstappen was slower up till that point anyway.

    5. Yeah SV did nothing wrong and even if he coincidentally distracted Max that would be on Max and yet post-quali he (Max) certainly had no issue with SV and knew there was no way he was beating LH anyway.

  19. The best driver in F1 gave all the young pretenders a masterclass in wet weather driving.

    On one of the shortest laps in the calendar, one and a quarter seconds clear of the field. Awesome!

  20. The spirit of Ayrton lives!

  21. Get in there Lewis. Sometimes we just have to appreciate greatness without all this “it’s all but the car BS”. Am lucky to be witnessing one of the greatest if not the GOAT.

  22. Lewis was very very good today

  23. DAS how you do it.

    Camber 3.0 on the mid straight, 1.0 in the corner… Maybe.

    1. DAS changes toe. Not camber ;)

  24. Disappointed that Bottas only got P4 but woahhhh Hamilton’s on fire!

  25. AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
    11th July 2020, 17:16

    “Leave it to me Bono, leave it to me”
    -Lewis Hamilton
    2020 Styrian Grand Prix

    1. @asleepatthewheel Quote =
      “Leave me to it Bono, leave me to it – I’m on it”

      I loved it when I heard him say that.
      It was so obvious from his tone of voice that he was in charge and working hard. Top stuff ;)

  26. I just love commentators of F1TV. Their favorite driver, driver that travels faster than light, is being outpaced by 1.2s and they just keep on commentating about what he’s done or didn’t do in the past. I must admit it’s very amusing to listen those comments especially if you are not Verstappens fan.

    1. What language commentary do you listen to? I didn’t notice this in the English stream?

  27. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    11th July 2020, 17:24

    What a performance by Lewis today. One of the best qualifying sessions I have ever watched, even without Max slipping up 2 or 3 times on that last lap, he would have had trouble beating Hamilton’s time.

  28. After last weekend I expected Lewis to be seriously fired up but boy oh boy …. :)

    Top work from the McLaren’s and Russell plus Gasly quite surprised me.

    One of the best Qualy’s for a long long time.

  29. F1oSaurus (@)
    11th July 2020, 17:44

    Staggering lap!

    Again Hamilton dominates in the wet.

    The rest of the top ten is only tenths of a second apart (7 tenths from P2 to P9) . Yet Hamilton hammers in a 1.2s gap over the lot of them.

  30. Maybe wet qualifying sessions instead of reverse grids on Saturdays.

    1. Sprinklers, lol.

    2. Somewhere, Bernie’s ears are feeling warm…

      1. Sprinklers on a Saturday and safety cars on a Sunday.

  31. Hamilton’s lap was incredible! And as usual it seems that for Sky commentators Sainz doesn’t exist, everything is about Lando Norris.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      11th July 2020, 18:52

      fair point

    2. @mariano well, to play devil’s advocate, Norris had set faster laps than Sainz did in Q1 and in Q2, so it’s perhaps not surprising that he was drawing more attention at that point in time.

      1. @anon Indeed. I do like Norris, he is a very fast driver. Having said that, Sainz’s 3rd place was an excellent achievement which deserved to be pointed out by the Sky commentators.

  32. Hamilton is simply the best ever driver in F1 in wet weather.
    A bunch of other drivers also showed their skill, including Verstappen, Ocon, Gasly, Russell, Sainz, a great session.
    Ferrari though?! They seem to be slipping into mid-midfield levels of performance. With two very good drivers. Awful.

    1. RebelAngelFloyd (@)
      11th July 2020, 20:20

      Lewis clearly drove better than his last wet race, Germany?

      1. @rebelangelfloyd Where he was leading the field easily until put on the wrong tyres and then span precisely where Leclerc and Verstappen, among others, also span, aquaplaning onto a stretch of runoff tarmac that turned into an ice rink with zero control possible. Plus he had heavy flu. Possibly some extenuating factors apply.

        1. Your memory about that race is very peculiar.. Lewis made a lot of errors ( VER only once spun on the wrong tires) and it was VER leading the race every SC again and again..

          1. Who spun today in qualifying?

          2. As Applebook points out, not the best day to talk down Hamilton and up Verstappen.

          3. Oh look…Erik has decided to join us! Enjoy that session Erik? Ver often spins in the wet. Brazil 18, Germany 19 (twice), Austria 20. You can’t say the same for Lewis. He did last year in Germany but I can’t think of another? He is the best driver in the wet (best driver period) even a patriotic Dutchman like yourself can see that, surely?

          4. Hamilton led for half the race easily. They all made mistakes when put onto the wrong tyres, it’s a bit of lottery on the wrong tyres in those conditions. It doesn’t detract from his obvious amazing ability in the wet. Verstappen is great in the wet also, which is another reason why people find this performance so remarkable.

          5. ah, al lot of HAM worshippers i see ;)
            All with the same very colored glasses.
            Ham put in a great lap in Austria, no question about that. But Germany 2019 was one of his off moments a race long. He even wanted to quit that race but Toto made him race to the end.
            And no, the place VER spun ( and recovered without any damage) was nog the same as the multitute of spins HAM had.. but heee.. do not let facts get in the way of your fiction ;)

  33. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    11th July 2020, 18:51

    Lewis belongs in another category… this was a clinic

  34. It’s a shame that in his Merc years Lewis has never had a teammate who could consistently push him. It seriously flatters his talent.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      11th July 2020, 19:05

      The guy is a god. He keeps doing it too…

    2. Lol, *yawn*

    3. I agree Geo

      Cant compare mere humans to gods.

    4. It’s a shame that a F1 fan, unlike most F1 fans, drivers, press, engineers and F1 bosses can’t appreciate a once in a generation talent.

    5. Maybe you are right but saying it here is kinda pointless.

    6. Driving Gods cannot be pushed.

  35. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    11th July 2020, 19:25

    The article is saying grosjean skidded into the gravel trap. He was already going really slow and it litrally looked like the breaks were not working. Even sky commented on his onboard replay that none of his wheels locked up. There was yet again some issue that i can’t see how it was his fault. His luck is jus shocking and haas has way to many potentially dangerous issues with the car.

  36. Now that was a decent session! Mega lap from HAM and subpar from BOT. By the way, interesting to notice who came on top under those conditions: Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Ocon, Gasly and Vettel. To me, though, the name of the day gotta be Russell, really impressive!

    Amusingly, odds reversed for Hamilton, Sainz and Vettel today. However, I don’t expect SAI and VET to overtop their mates results last week, under normal circumstances. Let’s see how Bottas is gonna cope with the conditions tomorrow. Given he struggles way more than Hamilton following the cars, I suppose the risk of a failure is imminent?

  37. Amazing.

    People say rain is a great equalizer.

    But nobody mentioned that to Hamilton.

    Just look at that gap to Verstappen – a spectacular wet track driver by all standards.

    Then there was Vettel pipping Leclerc surprisingly.

    Bottas nearly 1,5s of pole.

    Maybe more evident was how many good laps he did before that.

    Saddly Bottas is not close.

    1. Conditions like these where you can’t resort to outright pace f the car demonstrates the ability of the driver. Vettel pipping Leclerc shows his greater experience. Hamilton’s margin over the rest of the field, shows his natural talents.

      1. Really?! It’s a math formula?! Mercedes is faster than 2nd fastest car by at least 0.55sec, how do you know that this particular car is not even faster in wet conditions?! I mean, in the last few years Ferrari (when they were titles contenders) were worse in wet conditions than dry, I guess we can say that…. sometimes…. certain cars… might be faster in wet conditions than dry conditions. Overall, Mercedes IS WITHOUT DOUBT the best car on the grid since 2014.

    2. Then there was Vettel pipping Leclerc surprisingly.

      Yes… and no. I mean, it’s not the 1st or 2nd time he’s beating LEC fair and square so, don’t know why it’s so surprising. Plus, I guess now we have the proof Ferrari wasn’t favouring VET, cause now they are not favouring VET 110%, yet things are the same performance wise.

  38. Best of all time. I don’t say that lightly. Hamilton is the greatest.

    1. Your profile picture says differently…

      1. Senna was fastest. That doesn’t mean that he was necessarily the greatest.

  39. Let’s hope for an interesting race.

    1. One can hope the new AMG black will have cooling issues, or Max gets a better start?

  40. There must be something amiss.

    As I write this Red Bull haven’t lodged a protest with the stewards.

    Maybe they could try saying they suspect Mercedes mixed cross ply with radial wet tyres, hence LH’s incredible pace in the wet?

  41. 1.2 seconds is some serious whipass! Especially on such a short track. But then again lewis probably lucked into it lol!!! Or its because of the car. Or its because the rain fell less on the part of the track he was on throughout his lap. And also the water ran off the track to create a grippier path for lewis.

    1. None of that. It was just the rain was different rain for Max, it was wetter.
      if it was the same rain he would have been faster…

      1. Hehe, this Hamilton guy, when the stars align every second weekend, and whatever witchcraft needs to happen, maybe teamate bearly being ahead of him in the last race… Then he is fast.

    2. The irony is next level lol!!

  42. Sainz, Unsainz himself from Ferrari after beating them in qualy.

  43. What tyres will the drivers use tomorrow at the start, is it up to them?

    1. @pironitheprovocateur it would be under normal circumstances, since it is reasonable to assume that the weather conditions will be different tomorrow and therefore the “change in climatic conditions” clause kicks in.

      1. As tomorrow is expected to be a dry race, all drivers have free choice of tyres.

  44. Well there you have it. The surest indicator of ability and talent. That gap to the next driver says it all. That’s the thing about rain, suddenly it’s not about out and out pace. Lesser cars have a better chance of beating the faster cars, if their drivers are up to it.

    This is Hamilton showing why he is the driver of his generation. By comparison look where Bottas finished without the benefits of outright pace.

  45. Looking at the onboard interesting that Hamilton took a more “normal” line than verstappen and the ferraris. Especially in the infield section. And he had a lot less wheel spin—-he seemed to wait a long time to get on the gas, driving way over to the other side of the track first. Then went super fast up the gears keeping the revs low instead of trying to feed in the gas from the exit and trying feather off wheel spin.

  46. As impressive as Hamilton’s time and performance was, especially considering the conditions. I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about Russel.

    Yes, conditions may have played a part, but still, to get a Williams not only into Q2, but to then put it 12th on the grid (starts 11th with Leclerc’s penalty) That’s pretty damn impressive for a driver only in his second year of F1 in a car that has been well off the rest of the grid.

  47. Jose Lopes da Silva
    12th July 2020, 6:22

    So, should we penalise Vettel? Or not? Did Verstappen suffer from bad luck? Should Ferrari have warned Vettel of the incoming Red Bull?

    I think we were all robbed of seing how would Verstappen fare in an amazing lap, because the qualifying system makes them race closely. The odds are always high that these things gonna happen.

    Then you have people saying “Verstappen was slower anyway”, like 0,078 is a huge difference.

    And people saying “That gap to the next driver says it all.” No, it doesn´t! The gap tells us that we could not see how Verstappen lap would unfold!

    Change the qualifying system.

    1. By T9 Verstappen was already at least 6 tenths down. You could also argue that the proximity of Vettel helped Verstappen by clearing water from the track. Hamilton was ahead by a long way today, nothing more to it.

  48. Someone’s sore. Her was pushing too hard. His pace exceeded his talent and round he went. We got to see what he could do. He spun round in circles while Lewis went even faster.

  49. Lewis Hamilton is the GOAT!

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