Sainz shines at Silverstone in maiden F1 win

CARLOS SAINZ Jr kept his cool to achieve a maiden Grand Prix victory at the 150th attempt after a crazy race at a packed Silverstone.

The Spanish pole-sitter had fallen behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc ahead of a restart with only nine laps left following a late interruption by the Safety Car.

But, following a brief tussle, Sainz - on fresher soft tyres - used his big advantage with Leclerc left like a sitting duck on the hard compound.

That was far from the most incredible racing after the second restart, though.

Instead, the best of the action came from Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton as the British seven-time world champion moved from fourth place to second then was forced back down to fourth in the space of just five corners.

Hamilton eventually passed the struggling Leclerc but will rue a slow pit-stop by his Mercedes team which prevented him from making more of a run at a ninth win at his home circuit.

Nevertheless, the 37-year-old did set the fastest lap and made it onto the F1 podium at Silverstone for a 13th time, a record for any driver at a single track.

Now, the top three in this race does not tell half the story after the drama on the first lap and especially the first corner.

Immediately at lights out, Max Verstappen stormed past Sainz - but the real mayhem erupted behind the front-runners as contact between George Russell and Pierre Gasly diverted Russell's Mercedes towards Zhou Guanyu, resulting in a massive shunt.

In a terrifying moment, the Alfa Romeo of Chinese driver Zhou was flipped over on impact, skidded upside down through a gravel trap and over a tyre wall, only coming to a halt in a catch fencing right in front of grandstand of spectators.

The cockpit halo was a controversial addition to these open-seater cars when made mandatory by the FIA in 2018 - but it had undoubtedly made yet another remarkable intervention.

In fact, Zhou's accident came just a few hours after the halo had prevented Roy Nissany from being decapitated by Dennis Hauger's car in the F2 feature race.

Following a worrying delay, Zhou was confirmed to be conscious and on his way to the medical centre, where Alex Albon was also sent for a check-up.

Several other cars also sustained damage as a domino effect took hold through the midfield - and, after a delay of almost an hour, it came as something of a surprise that 17 of the 20 drivers were still in the race.

Along with Zhou and Albon, Russell was the only other driver to retire despite not actually being stricken.

Mercedes man Russell had dashed out of his cockpit from a safe position at the side of the track towards Zhou - but received outside assistance, albeit unwanted help, from a tow truck which took his car back to the pits.

Regardless, the 24-year-old deserves huge commendation for his response - but, from a regulatory perspective, it was frustratingly impossible to argue against.

Russell should console himself with the fact that he will have many more chances to make a big impression at Silverstone - and, most importantly, that he had still done the right thing.

Back to the racing and a standing restart was taken in grid order because the accident had come so early.

Ferrari fared better second time around as Verstappen and Leclerc went wheel-to-wheel behind Sainz, and Perez sustained damage to his front wing.

However, Verstappen kept second place and closed in on Sainz to put himself in the perfect position to seize on a mistake by the Spaniard on lap 10.

The lead did not last long, though. On lap 12, the Dutchman picked up some debris along the Wellington Straight and damaged the floor of his car, leaving him with performance issues for the rest of the afternoon.

At the same time, though, the 24-year-old will be satisfied enough with a seventh-placed finish after another difficult day at the Northamptonshire circuit, a venue at which he has never won.

After all, the Dutchman still leads the World Drivers Championship on 181 points, ahead of team-mate Perez (147), with Leclerc in third place on 138.

It is a rather different picture to the early part of the season when reliability issues for Red Bull allowed Leclerc to build a lead of 46 points over Verstappen.

Since then, though, Leclerc has suffered two engine failures while leading in Spain and Azerbaijan - before a strategic error in Monaco turned a likely home win into fourth place.

In Canada, the number of engine replacements forced the Monegasque to start from the back of the grid in Canada - and, to complete the set, a mistake by Leclerc himself in Imola dropped him down from third to sixth.

So, instead, it is Leclerc who has much to ponder as this campaign speeds towards its four-week summer recess in August.

Perhaps, the race at Silverstone will signal a shift against Verstappen like it did last year - and it would be fair to say that Leclerc is due something of a change in fortune.

Unlike the seemingly favourable situation for Verstappen at Red Bull, though, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto is resistant to the imposition of team orders on his drivers.

That cost Leclerc on Sunday when, despite leading and showing quicker pace than Sainz in the first part of the race, he was left to finish the race on the rapidly degrading hard compound while the Spaniard was able to pit for soft tyres.

Such are the stated terms of engagement at Ferrari that it seems distinctly possible that the same approach could happen and cost Leclerc again later this year.

More critically, though, Verstappen's title win in December has given him supreme confidence with the extremely controversial circumstances leaving him with no doubt or regrets.

The Dutchman has won his six races in 2022 already - in Saudi Arabia, Imola, Miami, Barcelona, Baku, and Montreal - with no other driver winning more than two.

🏁

◾️ 2022 GRAND PRIX RACE CALENDAR ◾️

	Date			Winner | Venue
(1)	20-March		BAHRAIN	Charles Leclerc
(2)	27-March		SAUDI ARABIA	Max Verstappen
(3)	10-April		AUSTRALIA	Charles Leclerc
(4)	24-April		EMILIA ROMAGNA	Max Verstappen
(5)	08-May		MIAMI	Max Verstappen
(6)	22-May		SPAIN	Max Verstappen
(7)	29-May		MONACO	Sergio Pérez
(8)	12-June		AZERBAIJAN	Max Verstappen
(9)	19-June		CANADA	Max Verstappen
(10)	03-July		GREAT BRITAIN	Carlos Sainz Jr
(11)	10-July		AUSTRIA	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
(12)	24-July		FRANCE	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
(13)	31-July		HUNGARY	Hungaroring, Mogyoród
(14)	28-August		BELGIUM	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
(15)	04-September		NETHERLANDS	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort
(16)	11-September		ITALY	Monza Circuit, Monza
(17)	02-October		SINGAPORE	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
(18)	09-October		JAPAN	Suzuka International Course, Suzuka
(19)	23-October		UNITED STATES	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX
(20)	30-October		MEXICO	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City
(21)	13-November		BRAZIL	Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo
(22)	20-November		ABU DHABI	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

🏁

FIA F1 DRIVERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

			Points
1	Max Verstappen (NED)	Red Bull	181	(6 wins)
2	Sergio Pérez (MEX)	Red Bull	147	(1 win)
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	138	(2 wins)
4	Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP)	Ferrari	127	(1 win)
5	George Russell (GBR)	Mercedes	111
6	Lewis Hamilton (GBR)	Mercedes	93
7	Lando Norris (GBR)	McLaren-Mercedes	58
8	Valtteri Bottas (FIN)	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	46
9	Esteban Ocon (FRA)	Alpine-Renault	39
10	Fernando Alonso (ESP)	Alpine-Renault	28
11	Pierre Gasly (FRA)	AlphaTauri-Red Bull PT	16
12	Kevin Magnussen (DEN)	Haas-Ferrari	16
13	Sebastian Vettel (GER)	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	15
14	Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)	McLaren-Mercedes	15
15	Yuki Tsunoda (JPN)	AlphaTauri-Red Bull PT	11
16	Guanyu Zhou (CHN)	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	5
17	Mick Schumacher (GER)	Haas-Ferrari	4
18	Alexander Albon (THA)	Williams-Mercedes	3
19	Lance Stroll (CAN)	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	3
20	Nicholas Latifi (CAN)	Williams-Mercedes	0
21	Nico Hulkenberg (GER)	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	0

FIA F1 CONSTRUCTORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

			Points
1	Red Bull (AUT)	Verstappen | Pérez	328	(7 wins)
2	Ferrari (ITA)	Leclerc | Sainz Jr	265	(3 wins)
3	Mercedes (GER)	Russell | Hamilton	204
4	McLaren-Mercedes (GBR)	Norris | Ricciardo	73
5	Alpine-Renault (FRA)	Alonso | Ocon	67
6	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari (SUI)	Bottas | Zhou	51
7	AlphaTauri-RedBullPT (ITA)	Gasly | Tsunoda	27
8	Haas-Ferrari (USA)	Magnussen | Schumacher	20
9	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes (GBR)	Vettel | Stroll | Hulkenberg	18
10	Williams-Mercedes (GBR)	Albon | Latifi	3

F1 2021: Tetchy title race goes to the wire

LEWIS HAMILTON moved within striking distance of Championship leader Max Verstappen with victory at the inaugural Grand Prix in Qatar as a bad-tempered title race enters its final stretch.

Seven-time champion Hamilton cut his deficit to the Dutchman down to just eight points, with a maximum of 52 available from the two remaining races in Saudi Arabia on 5 December and Abu Dhabi a week later.

Verstappen still has a points advantage for now then - but, after spending the majority of the season on the back foot, Mercedes driver Hamilton will be satisfied at just being in with a shout after back-to-back race wins. 

In fairness, rather than being completely dominated by one team, this year has seen a seesaw battle straight from the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain, with the lead in the Drivers' Championship already switching five times between the pair. 

Coincidentally, at my last write-up following the British Grand Prix in July, Hamilton had closed the gap on Verstappen to eight points then as well. 

And it actually got better for the Briton prior to the summer recess after a crazy start to the Hungarian Grand Prix on an extremely wet day in Budapest.

At the very first turn of the race at the Hungaroring, there were two major shunts caused by Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll who were both too late on the brakes. 

Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Bottas crashed into the back of Lando Norris who, in turn, careered into Verstappen, causing major damage to the Red Bull. 

An out-of-control Bottas slid off Norris into the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez - while, further back, Stroll went into Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who, in turn, sent Daniel Ricciardo into a spin. 

Hamilton had avoided all of the carnage but, on the restart from the red flag, he was the only driver to start from the grid on intermediate tyres. 

The rest of the drivers still in the Grand Prix restarted from the pits having changed to slicks - and it soon became apparent that Mercedes had missed a trick as Hamilton fell through the pack after taking a belated pitstop. 

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon took full advantage and eventually sealed his maiden Grand Prix victory with Hamilton happy to scramble back up to second and the hamstrung Verstappen down in ninth. 

That gave Hamilton a lead in the Drivers' Championship of eight points at the four-week break but his advantage did not last for long into the autumn. 

At Spa-Francorchamps, another weekend of soaking wet weather ended in farce as the 20 drivers - after hours of delays - pootled around behind a safety car to record the one official lap required for a classification to be determined. 

It counted for half-points in the standings but it could not exactly be considered to have been a race. At least, there was no fastest lap point awarded. 

Next, the calendar took the paddock over the border to the Netherlands where the Dutchman retook the Championship lead in his home race with a commanding win from pole position.

Rather disgracefully, second-placed Hamilton was booed on the podium by the Dutch fans - and, in recent races, the anomisity held by the rival fans has been further fuelled by the behaviour of the teams, especially that of Red Bull. 

At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the two leading drivers were involved in their second massive flashpoint of the season following their earlier clash at Silverstone. 

This time, Verstappen - behind and on the outside approaching the first chicane - turned in on Hamilton, taking both drivers off the track and out of the race on lap 26. 

To add to the drama, Verstappen's Red Bull ended up flipping itself and landing on top of Hamilton's Mercedes - and, in a shocking lack of regard for his fellow competitor, the Dutchman walked off without checking if his rival was safe. 

After both drivers had gone their own way bitterly blaming each other, Verstappen was officially censured by the stewards for the incident - though he still took two points from the weekend with second place in the sprint race. 

In Russia, Hamilton regained the title lead once more, recording his 100th Grand Prix by overtaking long-time race leader Norris after the younger Briton found himself skidding all over the place in his McLaren on the wrong tyres during a late shower. 

Hamilton's advantage in the Championship was short-lived again though, as a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change and a poor early pit-stop strategy meant he finished the Turkish Grand Prix down in fifth. 

At least Verstappen did not win in Istanbul, after his own race was compromised by Carlos Sainz Jr, with victory instead going to Bottas. 

Nevertheless, the Dutchman had turned a two-point deficit into a six-point lead and he used that momentum to extend his lead further with consecutive race wins in Mexico and Brazil. 

Suddenly, Verstappen had stretched his Championship lead to 19 points - only once during the season had the lead been greater. 

In short, he looked unstoppable at this stage with even Hamilton admitting on the team radio that his rival was too quick for him. 

But the racing gods determined this engrossing battle deserved at least one more twist. 

At the famous undulating Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, where Hamilton won his first title on the final corner of the final lap of the last Grand Prix in 2008, he reinvigorated his pursuit for an eighth crown with a drive for the ages. 

Disqualified from qualifying for a larger-than-permitted drag reduction system slot, Hamilton started from the back of the grid in the sprint race but fought his way up to finish fifth - only then to lose another five places on the starting grid for a change of engine. 

The defining moments of the race itself came on laps 48 and 59, in failed and then successful overtaking attempts by Hamilton. 

On his first attempt, Hamilton was forced off the track by Verstappen who missed the apex of the corner and left his his braking ridiculously late - and yet somehow avoided a penalty. 

The second attempt was similar but Hamilton was closer and executed the move brilliantly around the outside to cap off a magnificent all-round performance. 

Hamilton's win in Qatar was rather more straightforward lights-to-flag affair - but that, in itself, underlined the threat set to be posed by Mercedes in what is left of this season.

By contrast, Verstappen and Red Bull principal Christian Horner got into more hot water, with both called to the stewards.

First, Verstappen was penalised with a five-place grid penalty after ignoring double-waved yellow warning flags in qualifying.

Then, Horner was summoned following a controversial interview in which he accused a "rogue marshal" for the flags which led to his driver's penalty.

Red Bull are clearly riled - aghast at a Mercedes car which is finishing the season more strongly than expected based on its performances before the race in Brazil. 

Horner and Verstappen suspect something is up, specifically the legality of the rear wing on the Mercedes, with Verstappen fined €50,000 for fiddling with Hamilton's car after qualifying in Sao Paulo. 

However, Mercedes did not fall foul to any of the additional checks made by the officials in Qatar - and, instead, it feels as if it is the lack of composure shown by Red Bull which threatens to derail Verstappen's bid for a first Driver's Championship in F1.

At the same time, Hamilton will be well aware that he is still behind in this title race - and he will also know that, if Verstappen wins in Jeddah on 5 December, he will have to finish sixth to stand a mathematical chance of the title, or fifth if the Dutchman picks up another point for the fastest lap. 

Surely, though, the improved Mercedes will manage better than that. After all, this enthralling adventure of a title race deserves to go to the wire.

		HAMILTON			v			VERSTAPPEN
28-March	BAHRAIN	1st	25		(+7)		18	2nd
18-April	EMILIA ROMAGNA	2nd	19	44	(+1)	43	25	1st
02-May	PORTUGAL	1st	25	69	(+8)	61	18	2nd
09-May	SPAIN	1st	25	94	(+14)	80	19	2nd
23-May	MONACO	7th	7	101	(-4)	105	25	1st
06-June	AZERBAIJAN	15th	0	101	(-4)	105	0	18th
20-June	FRANCE	2nd	18	119	(-12)	131	26	1st
27-June	STYRIAN	2nd	19	138	(-18)	156	25	1st
04-July	AUSTRIA	4th	12	150	(-32)	182	26	1st
18-July	GREAT BRITAIN	1st	27	177	(-8)	185	3^	Retired
01-August	HUNGARY	2nd	18	195	(+8)	187	2	9th
29-August	BELGIUM*	3rd	7.5	202.5	(+3)	199.5	12.5	1st
05-September	NETHERLANDS	2nd	19	221.5	(-3)	224.5	25	1st
12-September	ITALY	Retired	0	221.5	(-5)	226.5	2^	Retired
26-September	RUSSIA	1st	25	246.5	(+2)	244.5	18	2nd
10-October	TURKEY	5th	10	256.5	(-6)	262.5	18	2nd
24-October	UNITED STATES	2nd	19	275.5	(-12)	287.5	25	1st
07-November	MEXICO	2nd	18	293.5	(-19)	312.5	25	1st
14-November	BRAZIL	1st	25	318.5	(-14)	332.5	20	2nd
21-November	QATAR	1st	25	343.5	(-8)	351.5	19	2nd

* Half-points were awarded as less than 75% of the race distance was completed
^ Verstappen retired from the Grand Prix but won points in the sprint race

REMAINING CALENDAR

(21)	05-December	5.30pm	SAUDI ARABIA	Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia
(22)	12-December	1pm	ABU DHABI	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

FIA F1 DRIVERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2021

			Points
1	Max Verstappen (NED)	Red Bull-Honda	351.5	(9 wins)
2	Lewis Hamilton (GBR)	Mercedes	343.5	(7 wins)
3	Valtteri Bottas (FIN)	Mercedes	203	(1 win)
4	Sergio Pérez (MEX)	Red Bull-Honda	190	(1 win)
5	Lando Norris (GBR)	McLaren-Mercedes	153
6	Charles Leclerc (MON)	Ferrari	152
7	Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP)	Ferrari	145.5
8	Daniel Ricciardo  (AUS)	McLaren-Mercedes	105	(1 win)
9	Pierre Gasly (FRA)	Alpha Tauri-Honda	92
10	Fernando Alonso (ESP)	Alpine-Renault	77
11	Esteban Ocon (FRA)	Alpine-Renault	60	(1 win)
12	Sebastian Vettel (GER)	Aston Martin-Mercedes	43
13	Lance Stroll (CAN)	Aston Martin-Mercedes	34
14	Yuki Tsunoda (JPN)	Alpha Tauri-Honda	20
15	George Russell (GBR)	Williams-Mercedes	16
16	Kimi Räikkönen (FIN)	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	10
17	Nicholas Latifi (CAN)	Williams-Mercedes	7
18	Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA)	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1
19	Mick Schumacher (GER)	Haas-Ferrari	0
20	Robert Kubica (POL)	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	0
21	Nikita Mazepin (RUS)	Haas-Ferrari	0

FIA F1 CONSTRUCTORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2021

			Points
1	Mercedes (GER)	Hamilton | Bottas	546.5	(8 wins)
2	Red Bull-Honda (AUT)	Verstappen | Pérez	541.5	(10 wins)
3	Ferrari (ITA)	Leclerc | Sainz Jr	297.5
4	McLaren-Mercedes (GBR)	Norris | Ricciardo	258	(1 win)
5	Alpine-Renault (FRA)	Alonso | Ocon	137	(1 win)
6	Alpha Tauri-Honda	Gasly | Tsunoda	112
7	Aston Martin-Mercedes (GBR)	Stroll | Vettel	77
8	Williams-Mercedes (GBR)	Russell | Latifi	23
9	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari (SUI)	Räikkönen | Giovinazzi | Kubica	11
10	Haas-Ferrari (USA)	Schumacher | Mazepin	0

Champion Hamilton chases down Schumacher record

F1 2020 TEAM LINE-UP		www.formula1.com	Age	GPs	Pole	Wins	Titles
Alfa Romeo Racing- Ferrari	(7) (99)	Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA)	40 26	312 23	18 -	21 -	1 -
AlphaTauri-Honda	(10) (26)	Pierre Gasly (FRA) Daniil Kvyat (RUS)	24 26	47 93	- -	- -	- -
Ferrari	(5) (16)	Sebastian Vettel (GER) Charles Leclerc (MON)	33 22	240 42	57 7	53 2	4 -
Haas-Ferrari	(8) (20)	Romain Grosjean (FRA) Kevin Magnussen (DEN)	34 27	164 102	- -	- -	- -
McLaren-Renault	(4) (55)	Lando Norris (GBR) Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP)	20 25	21 102	- -	- -	- -
Mercedes	(44) (77)	Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Valtteri Bottas (FIN)	35 30	250 139	88 11	84 7	6 -
Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	(11) (18)	Sergio Pérez (MEX) Lance Stroll (CAN)	30 21	176 62	- -	- -	- -
Red Bull Racing-Honda	(23) (33)	Alexander Albon (THA) Max Verstappen (NED)	24 22	21 102	- 2	- 8	- -
Renault	(3) (31)	Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Esteban Ocon (FRA)	31 23	171 50	3 -	7 -	- -
Williams-Mercedes	(6) (63)	Nicholas Latifi (CAN) George Russell (GBR)	25 22	0 21	- -	- -	- -

SIX-TIME champion Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second place in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix as the 2020 Formula One season finally got under way.

Hamilton was surprisingly beaten by Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas - but will nevertheless be pleased by his team's dominance over closest rivals Red Bull this afternoon.

Max Verstappen has won the Austrian Grand Prix in both of the last two years - so was no doubt hopeful of a quick start to the Championship with both of the opening races being held in Spielberg. 

However, Dutchman Verstappen could only qualify third - and was split from his team-mate Alexander Albon, though they at least start on the clean start of the track. 

Instead, McLaren youngster Lando Norris took a career-best fourth place on the grid with a phenomenal lap in a session which will have provided much hope to the Woking-based outfit.

By contrast, Ferrari suffered from a tiresomely familiar early-season story of failure. 

It is now 12 years since the proud Prancing Horse team were Constructors champions and 13 years since the Drivers' title made its way to Maranello.

And things do not look like improving any time soon.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel struggled badly with his set-up and could not even make it into the final round of qualifying. 

Meanwhile, Vettel's young Monégasque team-mate Charles Leclerc recovered from scraping 10th place in the second session to a grid placing of seventh.

That outcome carried on a trend from last season when, despite starting the year as Ferrari's designated number one, Vettel was beaten on every measure by the 22-year-old.

It would be fair to say that Vettel's well-publicised difficulties at Ferrari have already been badly exposed on this opening weekend.

Indeed, at this stage, it is difficult to envisage the 33-year-old German staying until the end of the season with a non-competitive Ferrari team, having been told his services will not be required for 2021.

The shake-up in next year's driver line-up sees Carlos Sainz Jr move to Ferrari with Australian Daniel Ricciardo heading from Renault to the vacant McLaren seat.

Mercedes have Hamilton of course, while Red Bull have retained Verstappen - and surely neither team would take on the troublesome Vettel as a second driver.

The German, therefore, appears to have nowhere to go in 2021 - and the early signs from this season are that he will depart F1 with a whimper rather than a bang.

Instead, it is Hamilton who - having won the Drivers' Championship for five of the last six years - remains the undisputed king of the race-track.

Indeed, there is an air of inevitability that the 35-year-old from Stevenage will win a record-equalling seventh Drivers' title this year and climb to the summit alongside Michael Schumacher. 

But, even if Hamilton blows all of his rivals out of the water as usual, there is still plenty for F1 fans to get their teeth into. 

The midfield battle - behind the big three of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari - has been given an extra element of intrigue by the so-called Pink Mercedes of Racing Point.

Having based the design of the RP20 around that of last year’s title winner, strong pre-season testing and practice runs have raised hopes of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll challenging for podium finishes.

But, while Perez and Stroll qualified in highly respectable positions of sixth and ninth, it was undoubtedly Norris who deserved the early plaudits for steering his McLaren onto the second row.

Elsewhere, the back-markers look set to be Haas, Alfa Romeo and - somewhat depressingly - Williams, with the cars from those three teams filling each of the bottom six places in qualifying in Austria.

Certainly, it seems a long time ago since Williams' halcyon days of the 1980s and 1990s when they dominated the sport with seven Drivers' championships and nine Constructors' championships in an 18-year period. 

By contrast, recent times have been pretty grim for the Grove-based team, with last-placed finishes in both of the last two years matched by off-track financial worries. 

In May, Williams announced they were seeking buyers for a portion of the team and that they had terminated the contract of title sponsor ROKiT.

But the coronavirus pandemic makes this an even more difficult time than usual to look for investment - and so a future for Williams beyond 2020 remains troublingly uncertain.

CALENDAR
July
 5 Austrian GP ▪️ Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
12 Styrian GP ▪️ Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
19 Hungarian GP ▪️ Hungaroring, Mogyoród
August
2 British GP ▪️ Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
9 70th Anniversary GP ▪️ Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
16 Spanish GP ▪️ Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona
30 Belgian GP ▪️ Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
September 
6 Italian GP ▪️ Autodromo Nazionale di Monza