PREVIEWS
A look ahead to races in Austria and Hungary
THE MAIN EVENT
The 2020 season will remain a blip on the radar of grand prix history for years to come since the opening tranche of eight races now includes two double-headers. Nearly four months after the cancellation of the season opener in Australia, the world championship gets under way at the Red Bull Ring on the Austrian GP’S original slot of 5 July, with the Steiermark GP a week later at the same venue.
That’s great news for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Max may be performing in front of empty grandstands rather than his ‘Orange Army’, but he’s the form man having won the previous two Austrian GPS. There’s a caveat here in that by this time Red Bull has usually developed its way out of any early season car weaknesses. But if Max were to win it would make for an even more eventful year…
2019 RACE RECAP
This race signified a turning point for Ferrari prodigy Charles Leclerc. Starting from pole position, Leclerc led the initial stages after Max Verstappen’s anti-stall kicked in at the start, dropping him from second to eighth.
High temperatures took their toll on the Mercedes cars and world champion Lewis Hamilton toiled. Verstappen charged back through the middle of the top ten, passing Leclerc’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel and finally hassling Leclerc himself. With two laps to run they banged wheels as Verstappen made his move at Turn 3. Leclerc ran wide and Verstappen went on to win – but Leclerc swore he would never be such a walkover in combat again…
KEY CORNER: TURN 3 This relatively open-angled hairpin provides the most significant overtaking opportunity on this short circuit. Judging moves here is tricky because of the proximity of Turn 2, which is merely a kink but it makes the approach to Turn 3 more challenging.
RACE DATA
Venue Red Bull Ring
First GP 1970
Number of laps 71
Circuit length 2.683 miles
Longest straight 0.539 miles
Elevation change 208 feet
Race distance 190.42 miles
Lap record 1m 06.957s Kimi Räikkönen (2018)
F1 races held 31
Winners from pole 9
Pirelli compounds C2, C3, C4
CAR PERFORMANCE
Downforce level Medium
Cooling requirement High
Fuel consumption 1.7kg/lap
Full throttle 66%
Top speed 192mph
Average speed 140mph
TIMETABLE RACE 1 (UK TIME)
Friday 3 July
Practice 1 10:00-11:30
Practice 2 14:00-15:30
Saturday 4 July
Practice 3 11:00-12:00
Qualifying 14:00-15:00
Sunday 5 July
Race 14:10
Live coverage Sky Sports F1
Highlights Channel 4
TIMETABLE RACE 2 (UK TIME)
Friday 10 July
Practice 1 10:00-11:30
Practice 2 14:00-15:30
Saturday 11 July
Practice 3 11:00-12:00
Qualifying 14:00-15:00
Sunday 12 July
Race 14:10
Live coverage Sky Sports F1
Highlights Channel 4