Mercedes dominate as F1 gets back on track

FORMULA One got back on track in changed circumstances but familiar fashion at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix yesterday, with Mercedes and six times world champion Lewis Hamilton picking up where they left off last year.

The Briton and teammate Valtteri Bottas responded to the “new normal” resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic by finishing one-two in both free practice sessions on the sport’s latest start to a campaign.

Hamilton, wearing a “Black Lives Matter” helmet in a black Mercedes with “End Racism” written on it, set a best time of one minute 04.304 after also going fastest in opening practice with a time of 1:04.816.

Bottas was 0.356 adrift in the morning but cut the gap to 0.197 in the afternoon.

Racing Point, whose Mercedes-powered RP20 has been dubbed the “Pink Mercedes” because of its striking similarity to Hamilton’s title-winning 2019 car, were third fastest with Mexican Sergio Perez.