The first correct word to race for the 2020 F1 season seemed to have been perfect for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas led both sessions at the Red Bull Ring with their newly decorated black W11s. The only wrinkle came after the checkered flag fell, and Red Bull sparked the protest against Mercedes’ DAS device, which had been rumored in the nearly five months since the innovation was first glimpsed in preseason testing. .
It remains to be seen what great advantage it could confer on Mercedes, and what they can lose if banned. What is clear is that the team was using it in their cars during practice today, apparently to help with tire preparation.
Even if the stewards rule against him (and recall that Mercedes kept the FIA well informed about his plans for the device), it is doubtful that losing DAS alone will erase the six-tenth advantage Mercedes enjoyed over its rivals on Friday.
What could come from elsewhere, say, once Honda can fire up the upgraded V6 hybrid turbos in the rear of the Red Bulls? Max Verstappen was typically tight-lipped. “Good. Happy.” was all he said when asked about what was going on under his right foot.
The biggest question mark about Red Bull’s performance are the turns that were a feature of its pre-season tests in Spain, which continued for both drivers on the first day of practice. The car seems particularly sensitive to drivers’ exit in the middle of the corner.
However, his final pace was disguised with damage from the front wing he picked up, which was a topic of the day as always on this track.
At least it was better than Ferrari. Having come in over the weekend saying they were “99% certain” that they would be less competitive than last year, that expectation was clearly met.
“It feels good to be back in the car, but on the other hand it is not a great day for us,” Leclerc admitted. “Probably even worse than we expected.
“Many cars are very close, which is exciting to see on one side. But, on the other hand, we would like to be fighting a little more in the classification ”.
We have become so used to seeing the ‘big three’ teams enjoying a sizable lead over midfield that it’s hard to imagine Red Bull and Ferrari not getting rid of the rest on Saturday. But these are the first days of the championship, and the 10-lap Red Bull Ring is so compact that a small mistake can have a big effect on the grid.
Racing Point looks perfectly prepared to surprise. Sergio Perez was third fastest, and Lance Stroll probably would have been closer if he had now lagged on a fast lap. “I don’t think we had such a strong Friday,” he said later.
“Racing Point was particularly fast today,” admitted Carlos Sainz Jnr of McLaren, who expects the pink cars to lead the midfield.
“We expected them to be fast, but on a circuit so short to have the advantage they had over the rest of the midfield it was particularly impressive.” My opinion is that they are too far away to try to fight them. But at least Renault, we hope to be in the stadium with them. “
Further back, the image is little changed from last year. An exception seems to be Williams, who after languishing last year may have at least achieved respectability. While neither team beat their 2019 pace today, Williams came closer than anyone else, and may be hopeful of filling other places than the back row on Sunday.
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Combined practice times
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Teams progress vs 2019
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Quotes: Dieter Rencken
2020 Austrian Grand Prix
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