F1 2020 Round 1 Austria 5th July

[davidjwest]

Hope nobody minds me starting this thread, not sure if many people read this F1 part of the forum in any case.

So we have a season of sorts with 8 races confirmed for 2020 so far, we start with a double header at Austria this weekend and next.

The current schedule is here - https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... AYqCS.html

It looks like Mercedes are dominant and Ferrari have fallen back somewhat, but I expect a 3 way fight for the win today.

Max Verstappen has mixed it up a bit with his medium tyre choice, he will run longer into the race and finish on the softer tyre, so he is a very good shout for fastest lap if nothing else. I doubt either Mercedes will be far enough ahead when they pit (lap 20 or so) to come out in the lead which will be crucial. If Max is leading when he pits with any kind of a lead he can possibly win the race or at least split the Mercedes, but on balance you still have to say Mercedes are the team to beat and I think Hamilton will have the better race pace versus Bottas.

Be interesting to see how useful Mercedes new steering trick DAS is in a race.

Midfield should be interesting as it is very tight, can Williams (Russell most likely) score a point?

Can McLaren beat Ferrari?

Lots to look out for, hopefully next week it rains to make it a bit different.