Daniel Ricciardo predicted that it would be chaos when the Formula One returned but even the Aussie veteran had no idea how crazy it would be.
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas went from pole to a win and never dropped from the front of the field but behind the Fin was utter chaos as nine drivers didn't finish a hectic Austrian Grand Prix.
Australia's Daniel Ricciardo predicted that it could be "some form of chaos" but he no idea.
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Mercedes crossed the line 1-2 but Lewis Hamilton was knocked down to fourth after a five second penalty late in the race. At the time, Red Bull's Alexander Albon had made it around the outside but Hamilton clipped his wheel, spinning the youngster.
It knocked Albon from a certain podium out of the race but opened the door for a tremendous drive from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to snatch second and McLaren youngster Lando Norris to claim his first podium, the third youngest in F1 history.
Are you crying, @LandoNorris?! 😅#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/zqbzlrqVeB
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 5, 2020
"I did not expect [the podium] it's a huge surprise but a good one, we had a bit of luck with some crashes here and there but that was the goal - to take every opportunity even though we didn't have the pace," Leclerc said. "We are not where we want to be but anything is possible."
Norris said: "I'm speechless. I felt I had fudged it up quite a bit, but I didn't give up, I managed to get back past (Sergio) Perez and I ended up on the podium. The last lap... you can tell I'm a bit out of breath. The last few laps, the Lewis penalty - I turned it up a little bit."
Norris also got the extra point for the fastest lap.
But the carnage started from the early laps with Red Bull's Max Verstappen having engine failure.
He was soon joined by Daniel Ricciardo with overheating issues, Racing Point's Lance Stroll, Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, Williams' George Russell and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen (lost wheel) who all needed to be retired in what turned out to be complete madness on the track.
"This is unbelievable," Sky Sports' David Croft said. "Chaos and carnage at times but Valtteri Bottas has won the season opener."
He was definitely right about that.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and the man he is replacing in Sebastian Vettel also came together in a clash with Vettel being spun around.
"I'm sorry but Sebastian Vettel put his nose in a place it should not be," Brundle said. "Sainz is entitled to turn in. Seb's all locked up, Seb's half-spun before he even gets to the side. That was a clumsy move there," Brundle said.
"There was no point throwing that up there from Vettel."
Croft added: "Some will look at that as evidence that Ferrari have made the right decision."
Hamilton copped a five second penalty for his role in taking out Red Bull's Albon, who went from third to last and resigned Red Bull to zero points for the weekend.
After the incident, Albon was forced to retire before Daniil Kvyat lost his rear wheel on the penultimate lap.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is hoping for an apology after the pair had an incident last year in Brazil.
“It’s been one of those days, this sport can be pretty brutal sometimes and it feels like today has been one of those days,” he told Sky F1. “Alex drove a good race, he didn’t deserve that, five seconds doesn’t do anything for him.
“He could have won that race, strategically we had made the right call to have gone on to the soft tyres, he was in a strong position. Twice in three races, you’d start to think he (Hamilton) has got something in for him."
But it doesn't appear like an apology will be forthcoming with Hamilton denying he was in the wrong.
“I can’t believe we have come together again but it really felt like a racing incident," he said. "But, I’ll take whatever penalty they feel like I deserve and move forward.”
Based on Hamilton's reaction, he's not at fault for the incident with Albon. #F1 | #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/rNdZnXsvY4
— JJ (@TomcatNASCAR_2) July 5, 2020
AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
2: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3: Lando Norris, McLaren
4: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5: Carlos Sainz, McLaren
6: Sergio Perez, Racing Point
7: Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
8: Esteban Ocon, Renault
9: Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo
10: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
Fans wanted chaos, they got chaos.
While Daniel Ricciardo predicted it would be a crazy start to the season, few would have expected it to be this crazy.
Another safety car has come out as Kimi Raikkonen lost a wheel while driving.
That's seven out of the first race.
While it looked like it was another Mercedes black out at the top of the grid, George Russell's safety car has seemingly made it a thrilling final 20 laps.
Russell was the fifth driver out while Romain Grosjean looked likely to pull out.
But Russell parked on the grass, needing a safety car and erasing a 10 second gap between the top two and the rest of the field.
Strap yourselves in!
Four cars are out after Kevin Magnussen's brakes seemed to fail.
But Sebastian Vettel has been spun around by the man set to replace him at Ferrari next year with Carlos Sainz tangling with the German veteran.
It was ultimately Vettel's fault as he stuck his nose into the back of the McLaren and was spun around.
"I'm sorry but Sebastian Vettel put his nose in a place it should not be," Brundle said. "Sainz is entitled to turn in. Seb's all locked up, Seb's half-spun before he even gets to the side. That was a clumsy move there," Brundle said.
"There was no point throwing that up there from Vettel."
Croft said: "Some will look at that as evidence that Ferrari have made the right decision."
It was straight out of the safety car after Magnussen was knocked out.
Vettel was chasing an audacious move and was made to look foolish.
With all the craziness behind, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are well ahead in 1-2.
Max Verstappen has become the first retirement of the Formula One season.
Verstappen seemingly changed a setting and the car has lost power.
He was sitting in second and dropped down to last on his way to
"In a sporting context, absolute disaster for Red Bull," David Croft said.
Her pitted but the engineers had no idea and retired Verstappen with a power issue.
Martin Brundle said it could be an even greater disaster for his season.
"In a year like this when we've got an unknown number of Grand Prix, an unknown number of points available – you can't afford DNFs," he said.
Verstappen stormed out of the pits, furious with the issue.
Daniel Ricciardo was then soon retired early as well with engine and retirement issues as Racing Point's Lance Stroll retired as well, driving straight into the garage.
The F1 season is finally, mercifully under way.
But the expected chaos has not eventuated.
The only difference to the start is that Daniel Ricciardo dropped from 10th to 11th as Sebastian Vettel moved up while the bottom placed drivers shuffling.
But Valtteri Bottas is well out in front,already opening a 2.5 second lead, to Max Verstappen, who is 2 seconds ahead of third.
14 of the 20 F1 drivers have kneeled on the starting line but all have been in solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement in a moment commentators called "monumental".
Mercedes champion Lewis Hamilton has led the change and been outspoken about the Black Lives Matter movement, even suggesting he has been affected by racism in his F1 career.
But before the national anthem, the drivers stood and knelt united together in front of the starting line in a powerful moment.
While Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen explained their reasons for standing before the race, all the drivers combined for the moment.
Before the race, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association release a statement saying all drivers would be allowed to make their own decisions.
"The Grand Prix Drivers' Association has held a number of virtual meetings with all 20 drivers to agree how best to show their collective support for the fight against racism ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix," read a statement.
"All 20 drivers stand united with their teams against racism and prejudice, at the same time embracing the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion and supporting Formula 1's commitment to these.
"Together the drivers will all show their public support for this cause on Sunday ahead of the race, recognising and respecting that each individual has the freedom to show their support for ending racism in their own way and will be free to choose how to do this ahead of the race start on Sunday."
Lewis Hamilton will start on the third row of the grid after not slowing under yellow flags in qualifying.
It was right at the end of Q3 and spoiled Daniel Ricciardo's qualifying run.
Hamilton will drop from second to fifth on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton hit out Saturday at reports claiming he is seeking a big salary increase to re-sign with Mercedes for 2021 and beyond.
As rival driver Romain Grosjean said it was “unacceptable” for Hamilton to earn more than $40 million (dollars), the six-time champion took to social media to slam the stories.
“The media keep writing about (my) contract and making demands, but I haven’t even spoken with Toto about it yet,” he wrote on Instagram.
“No demands. The conversation hasn’t even begun. So please stop making shit up.”
Hamilton did not specify which news organisations he was referring to, but a report in the London Daily Mail earlier this week claimed he was seeking a salary increase to $50 million.
Other reports said Mercedes were not prepared to exceed $20 million (dollars).
Frenchman Grosjean, who races for the American Haas team and is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), said there had been some debate on the issue and pointed out that limiting pay at the top end of the drivers’ market could impact the careers of younger rising stars.
“We had this talk in the GPDA,” he said. “Some were in favour, others were against. I do think it’s unacceptable that Lewis Hamilton earns more than 40 million dollars while some drivers earn 150,000 a year for the same job.
“However, it was pointed out that if we cap drivers’ salaries, we break the whole ladder of motorsport.
“Who would invest money in young driver programmes to pay for their racing if they can’t get their money back by taking a percentage of the drivers’ high wages? That’s the debate.
“Personally, I wasn’t necessarily against the idea of having drivers’ salaries (included) in the budget cap…
“But then, for sure, you would question what manufacturer or manager would come and spend a fortune on a driver only to take back 20 percent of something that is capped – so they never get their money back.”
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said he had tried to remain in contact with both Hamilton and his team-mate Valtteri Bottas during the lockdown. Both drivers’ contracts expire this year.
“Simply based on the fact that we haven’t seen each other a lot, we have been keeping the discussion up,” Wolff said.
“We are in a position of trust with both, which you could say, in F1, doesn’t mean a lot — but it does in our team and I guess that we will do the next steps soon.
“But I don’t want to commit to any timing because I don’t want to answer questions every weekend. There’s no urgency. All of us want to do it and when the time is right we will announce it.”
Formula One has made clear that a future salary cap is under consideration as the sport introduces widespread cost cuts and budget caps.
– AFP
Formula One icon Martin Brundle can add another snub to his glorious grid walk catalogue after he was ignored at the US Grand Prix.
Red Bull has finally owned up to a Daniel Ricciardo mistake that was clear for the world to see four days before his brutal sacking.
Lando Norris had a podium finish taken away as the McLaren driver traded protests with Max Verstappen in a wild finish on Monday.