Serene victory for Hamilton, fratricidal contact between the Ferraris

Beaten by his teammate and doubly penalized last weekend, Lewis Hamilton sets the record straight with convincing success during the Styrian Grand Prix, 2nd round of the 2020 season. 

Author of a major performance during a soggy qualifying session the day before, Hamilton escaped from pole position without incident and retained control of the race at the end.

Behind, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who accompanied him on the front line and had to repel the assault of a Carlos Sainz (McLaren) better off. 

Further on, Ferrari's hopes, already very meager given the level of performance of the SF1000, were dashed at the same time as Charles Leclerc on his teammate's rear wing Sebastian Vettel. A far too optimistic maneuver which will lead to an embarrassing double abandonment for the house of Maranello, who will not have had the opportunity to evaluate the aerodynamic developments urgently made this weekend at Spielberg. 

In the lead, Hamilton broke away irresistibly with better laps in the race, while Valtteri Bottas quickly erased Sainz to move up to 3rd position. With Verstappen sandwiched between the Black Arrows, Red Bull preferred to cover the Finn's early stop rather than try to surprise the leader by stopping the Dutchman on lap 24 to replace his Soft tires with Mediums.

This strategic choice did not fail to surprise Verstappen but it reflects a certain lucidity of Christian Horner's men in the face of the domination of Mercedes. Hamilton imitated it 3 laps later to come out comfortably in front and no longer be worried. 
 
Verstappen, who complained of a lack of flexibility from the Honda engine at the exit of turn 3 in particular, was unable to do anything to counter the return of Bottas, wearing tires 8 laps fresher. 

The Finn had to try again twice to get the better of the Dutchman, always so diabolical in close combat, in the 67th of 71 rounds. Verstappen made a late stop to take red tires and chase the fastest lap in the race, in vain as he fell into Sainz's pocket.

Behind the leading trio, the end of the race was breathtaking until the end! Never in the rhythm of the best, Alexander albon (Red Bull) found himself under threat from Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) who returned from 17th place on the grid. 

The two men ended up touching each other, which damaged the Mexican's front wing. A little further, Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Lance stroll (Racing Point), and Lando Norris were fighting like ragpickers. The McLaren driver emerged victorious from this 3-way pass and began to pounce on the injured Racing Point of Pérez. 

Despite obvious physical pain all weekend, Norris snatched 5th place in the last corner, while Pérez managed to maintain 6th position with one breath against his teammate Stroll and Ricciardo. The three men crossed the line in a tenth! 

Slowed down by a failed pit-stop, Sainz had to settle for 9th place, while Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri) scored the last point in play. 

Disappointment for Esteban Ocon (Renault), author of a good performance in qualifying and a solid start to the race. The Norman had to give up due to a cooling problem. Romain Grosjean (Haas) finished 13th, two places ahead Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), who is one of the only drivers to have stopped twice. 

Bottas retains control of the Drivers' standings but Hamilton has already significantly reduced the gap and with this success signs at least one victory in the world championship. Formula 1 for the 14th season in a row.

Find the analysis of the race by our special correspondent in AUTO issue 2269hebdo, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands.