2020 F1 season review articles archive

Charles Leclerc repeatedly dragged Ferrari’s dismal SF1000 far higher than it deserved to be in qualifying, and bagged a few excellent race results with it when he had the chance.

Carlos Sainz Jnr took sixth in the points for the second year running, but without a series of misfortunes could easily have been fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo became a major threat in the midfield once Renault figured out how to get the best from its RS20.

Pierre Gasly’s 2020 campaign was impressive in far more ways than just his headline-grabbing Italian Grand Prix victory for AlphaTauri.

Sergio Perez conjured up the most sensational win of 2020, and did not deserve to be shown the door by his Racing Point team.

It wasn’t just Lewis Hamilton who Valtteri Bottas struggled to measure up against during 2020 – George Russell proved a threat too.

George Russell made the most of his one-off outing for Mercedes, but his consistently excellent qualifying performances at Williams never yielded a points finish.

After a strong first half of the season, Lando Norris had a tricky few races, but bounced back with an excellent drive at the finale.

Kevin Magnussen deserved a lot more from his final full season in Formula 1 than a single point after another trying year at Haas.

On his return to Formula 1 following a one-year absence, it took Esteban Ocon a long time to get on terms with team mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Lance Stroll’s season ran true to his usual form, down to the one-off giant-killing performance which he never looked like repeating the rest of the year.

Ninth in the season-opener proved Antonio Giovinazzi’s best result of the year. But he steadily improved in qualifying and matched his experienced team mate’s points haul.

Alexander Albon spent too much time scrapping in the midfield while his team mate was taking the fight to Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel learned he would lose his Ferrari drive before the 2020 season even began. It turned out to be his worst F1 campaign to date.