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Valtteri Bottas stayed calm in a stormy race on Sunday to assert a measured victory for Mercedes as Formula One returned with a bang in a belated, dramatic and incident-strewn 2020 season-opening Austrian Grand Prix. Seven months after the ultimate race of 2019, the Finn, who had began from the 12th pole place of his profession, led from begin to end to return residence forward on the street of team-mate six-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton, nevertheless, had been given a five-second penalty throughout the race and was demoted to fourth behind Charles Leclerc, who introduced his Ferrari residence second and Briton Lando Norris who claimed his maiden podium for McLaren.
Hamilton, hit with a late pre-race grid penalty that dropped him from second to fifth, had clashed with Red Bull’s Alex Albon within the closing laps, forcing him right into a spin off observe.”
“There was positively fairly a little bit of strain on me there,” said Bottas, speaking through a face mask afterwards.
“One Safety Car was okay, however I used to be like ‘one other one? And come on?’ Lewis was fast, however I used to be capable of management it.”
Leclerc admitted the result was a surprise after Ferrari’s dismal form in practice and qualifying.
“I didn’t anticipate this – it is an enormous shock, however an excellent one. We did every little thing completely to complete second.”
Norris said: “I’m speechless – there have been a couple of factors the place I assumed I had fudged it. I’m so happy with the staff for getting back from the place we have been a few years in the past.”
In a race of three Safety Car interventions, run behind closed doors at the Red Bull Ring, Ferrari-bound Carlos Sainz finished fifth in the second McLaren ahead of Sergio Perez of Racing Point.
Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpha Tauri and Esteban Ocon eighth on his return to racing with Renault ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo and Sebastian Vettel, the four-time champion in his final season at Ferrari, finishing 10th.
Before the race even started, there was drama when six of the 20 drivers opted against taking a knee to protest against racism.
Hamilton wore a Black Lives Matter t-shirt, while other drivers, who all lined up with him at the front of the grid, sported black tops saying “End Racism”.
Six drivers opt not to take knee
Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had confirmed a split among F1 drivers when they said they would not take a knee on the grid, but that they remained committed to fighting racism.
Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Danil Kvyat of Alpha Tauri, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alfa Romeo team-mate Kimi Raikkonen also chose to stay on their feet.
On a very warm day in the Styrian Alps and following a late Red Bull protest that pushed Hamilton to fifth from second on the grid, Bottas was coolness personified.
At lights out, he pulled clear to open a gap ahead of the battling duo of Verstappen and Norris behind him.
Hamilton, fired by his penalty for ignoring yellow flags in Q3 on Saturday, was soon in a rhythm and by lap ten was up to third, 10 seconds behind Bottas and seven off Verstappen.
Within a lap, he was second when Verstappen slowed, his engine spluttering, gifting the champion a pass to pursue the leader as the ‘black arrows’ took control.
A full 217 days after the last race, many teams struggled for reliability and it was clearly a battle of attrition led, almost inevitably, after their practice domination, by Mercedes until lap 25 when Kevin Magnussen went off at Turn Three in his Haas following brake problems.
This brought out a Safety Car. On resumption, the luckless Vettel tangled with his future replacement at Ferrari, Sainz, at Turn Three.
The four-time champion spun after hitting the McLaren and fell to 15th while Sainz retained seventh.
At the front, Bottas led, but Hamilton closed up.
On lap 52, Mercedes’ meander was rudely interrupted when Haas’ Romain Grosjean went off and George Russell stopped in his Williams and a second Safety Car was deployed.
With 17 laps to go, Mercedes stayed out as their rivals pitted, Albon taking softs for a late charge, but another crash when Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo lost its front right wheel at the final corner, brought a third Safety Car.
Promoted
With 10 laps left, Bottas led and Albon attacked Hamilton, however, as in Brazil final 12 months, the pair clashed and Albon spun into the gravel, rejoining in 13th.
The stewards handed Hamilton a five-second penalty, adopted by an similar penalty for Perez, for rushing within the pit lane.
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