Point to prove
EVEN world champion Lewis Hamilton (caricature) has something to prove as Formula One embarks on part two of its season-opening double header in Austria.
Hamilton will want to avoid his mistakes from qualifying and the race at what is offically known as the Styrian Grand Prix, a week after the Austrian GP on the same Red Bull Ring in which he had to settle for fourth.
That race saw both cars from home team Red Bull fail to finish and Ferrari far adrift in performance even though Charles Leclerc somehow managed to finish second behind Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas. And outgoing Ferrari man Sebastian Vettel will also want a faultless drive for once after another ill-fated incident last Sunday.
Hamilton had ruled all three practice sessions ahead of
Bottas but the Finn then pipped him in qualifying and won from pole, untroubled by three safety car phases and all the mayhem behind him.
Another top spot on Sunday could boost Bottas even more as he is ready to challenge Hamilton who is bidding for a recordequalling seventh world title in this season thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The dream is very much alive this year. No doubt about that,” Bottas said.
Hamilton will want to put a grid penalty for speeding under yellow flags in qualifying and a fivesecond penalty for an incident with Red Bull’s Alex Albon which cost
him second place or better behind him.
Outperformed comprehensively, Ferrari face much more complicated fixes and have brought forward aerodynamics upgrades originally scheduled for the following race July 19 in Hungary.
Leclerc qualified seventh and three safety cars and the retirements of the Max Verspannen’s and Albon’s Red Bulls, plus Hamilton’s penbalty, helped him onto the podium. Vettel qualified 11th and finished second-last 10th, after a too ambitious passing move on Carlos Sainz, the man to replace him at the Scuderia next year.
“It is an opportunity for me to do things better than last Sunday,”Vettel said. “We will have much more data with which we can work and I believe it will be useful what we have learnt from the first race.” – dpa