Meanwhile, second place went to Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, and third place went to Lendo Norris (McLaren). For 20-year-old Noris, this was the first podium of his career.
The start of the F-1 season in Australia was scheduled for mid-March, but the first ten races of the season were postponed or canceled due to a coronavirus pandemic. The pilots will start the 2020 season with two stages on the Spielberg track in Austria.
On Saturday, Botass was unbeaten in qualifying, next to whom Hamilton had to start in the first starting line, but less than an hour before the race, the British received a penalty for not slowing down at the yellow flag during the selection race. World champion Hamilton started the race from the fifth place or the third starting line, but next to Bot was Max Verstapen from Red Bull.
Botass defended his first position in the start, but Verstapen had a fierce fight with Noris. Meanwhile, Verstapen teammate Alexander Albon held Hamilton behind him.
Shortly after Hamilton managed to climb to third, Verstapen lost speed quickly on lap 14 due to technical problems. The Dutchman entered the pits and did not return to the track. Towards the middle of the race, the bike also hit “Ferrari” driver Sebastian Fellis – after a collision with the German Carlos Saints junior (“McLaren”), the German-powered vehicle turned and the race resumed in the 15th position.
Ten laps before the finish, Albon lost his third position, trying to overtake Hamilton after the safety car returned to the pits, but the two cars collided and the British Briton retreated to the end. The engine of the Albona vehicle did not pass the two laps before the finish. Mexican Serhio Peress (“Racing Point”) also dropped out of the top three and was also threatened with speeding in the pits.
Botass held his first place and Hamilton finished second, but received a five-second penalty for colliding with Albon, which dropped him to fourth. Thus, the second place was won by Lekler, but the third was Norris, who in the end also showed the fastest lap time.
Hamilton followed, Sains was fifth, and Perez finished in the top six. Behind the top six were two Frenchmen, Pierre Gasli (“AlphaTauri”) and Esteban Ocon (“Renault”), the ninth place was taken by the Italian Antonio Giovinaci (“Alfa Romeo”) but the last was the point.
11 or a little more than half of the 20 starting pilots reached the finish.
Before the race, all pilots agreed to protest against racism, with most of them leaning on one knee and some staying on their feet.
The Styrian Grand Prix will take place next weekend on the Spielberg track. After two stages in Austria, the next stage is expected in Hungary on July 19.
A record number of races were planned for this season (22), but due to the pandemic, the organizers have decided to stick to 18 stages.
Last season, Hamilton was crowned world champion, triumphing for the sixth time in his career and for the third time in a row.
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