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

Verstappen closes in on record-chasing Hamilton

 
• ALFA ROMEO-FERRARI
• [7] Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) | Entries 332 (329 starts) Poles 18 Wins 21 🏆
• [99] Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) | Entries 40 (40 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ Continuity is the word at ALFA ROMEO where the 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi have retained their places for a third season in a row in a team which has finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship for the last two years (or three years, if you count the final iteration of its predecessor Sauber with a different driver line-up). To be honest, Alfa Romeo could perhaps have done with a bit of a shake-up and it is difficult to see any better offering from the Swiss-based operation this time around, especially if Raikkonen winds down slowly towards his retirement. After all, Giovinazzi has only had a handful of points finishes from his 40 starts, although he did at least evenly split the eight points which the team earned last year.

• ALPHA TAURI-HONDA
• [10] Pierre Gasly (FRA) | Entries 64 (64 starts) Poles 0 Wins 1
• [22] Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) | Rookie

◾️ ALPHA TAURI provides one of the most fascinating line-ups of the season as rookie Yuki Tsunoda takes a seat alongside race winner Pierre Gasly who delighted his Italian team with a completely unexpected home victory at Monza after a crazy Italian Grand Prix in September. Gasly may have been the beneficiary of a well-timed pit-stop on that day - but the 25-year-old from Rouen in France also appears to have natural talent in abundance. Meanwhile, Tsunoda is a complete enigma for now - although it was plain to see that the first Japanese driver in a Formula One car since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014 was lightning quick in testing. Just how much raw pace Tsunoda has when the real stuff begins will determine the long-term prospects of the Honda-backed man.

• ALPINE-RENAULT
• [14] Fernando Alonso (ESP) | Entries 314 (311 starts) Poles 22 Wins 32 🏆🏆
• [31] Esteban Ocon (FRA) | Entries 67 (67 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ Renault has rebranded its Formula One team as ALPINE to promote its sports car brand - but, while the name on the grid is new, it is an old flame in Fernando Alonso which the French outfit welcomes back. The veteran Spaniard won back-to-back titles with the team in 2005 and 2006, and after more recently winning consecutive Le Mans 24 races in 2018 and 2019 - and racing in the Indy500 three times - he returns to the format which first put him in the spotlight. Alongside Alonso, Frenchman Esteban Ocon retains his seat hoping to build on his second place at the crazy 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix in what will be his fourth Formula One campaign. But any hopes are tempered by the feeling that the whole set-up of Alpine continues to give off the appearance of an archetypal mid-table team. 

• ASTON MARTIN-MERCEDES
• [5] Sebastian Vettel (GER) | Entries 258 (257 starts) Poles 57 Wins 53 🏆🏆🏆🏆
• [18] Lance Stroll (CAN) | Entries 79 (78 starts) Poles 1 Wins 0

◾️ ASTON MARTIN makes a long-awaited return to Formula One in 2021 with the marque appearing for the first time as a works team since 1960. The Silverstone-based outfit will retain its British Racing Green livery from 61 years ago and, like its immediate predecessor Racing Point, will be powered by a Mercedes engine. Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel arrives following a difficult time at Ferrari - but, now seven years on from his last title, it remains to be seen if this will be anything more than a three-year farewell tour for the German. Lance Stroll retains the other seat to the surprise of nobody at all, considering his own father is a part-owner of the team - and, amid infuriating inconsistency, the Canadian has struggled to shrug off the daddy's boy reputation. Simply put, Stroll needs to produce more regularly the performance-level which has brought him some occasional bright moments, most notably when he stepped on the podium in Monza and at the Sakhir Grand Prix.

• FERRARI
• [16] Charles Leclerc (MON) | Entries 59 (59 starts) Poles 7 Wins 2
• [55] Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) | Entries 119 (118 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ FERRARI begins the 2021 campaign with the simple aim of restoring respectability to its name after a horrendous and, at times, utterly humiliating 2020 season. The Prancing Horse looked more like a donkey, ambling around tracks all over the world without a threat and eventually finishing sixth in the Constructors' Championship for its worst result in 40 years. Nevertheless, a new year brings fresh hope with Monégasque youngster Charles Leclerc looking to reproduce the consistently excellent drives which brought him back-to-back Grand Prix wins in Spa and Monza in 2019 and several other podium visits. Although without a race win yet, team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr is certainly no stranger to the post-race ceremonials, only just missing out on the top step of the podium in Monza last year. Sainz also finished last season with McLaren on a strong run of seven successive points finishes - and so taking Ferrari back towards the big time looks well within the capabilities of this pair of Charlies.

• HAAS-FERRARI
• [9] Nikita Mazepin (RUS) | Rookie
• [47] Mick Schumacher (GER) | Rookie

◾️ All change at HAAS where a pair of rookies - Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher - replace the departing Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. Schumacher - the son of seven-time champion Michael - views this opportunity as the first step towards him emulating his legendary father. But, if anything, the announcement of Mazepin has caused more of a stir. The Russian, who is racing under a neutral flag in line with conditions set by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, was previously revealed to have uploaded a video to social media in which he filmed himself awkwardly groping a female passenger’s breast in a car. The hashtag #WeSayNoToMazepin has trended on several occasions in the close season - and it is fortunate for him that he seems to have joined a team with low expectations on and off the track.

• MCLAREN-MERCEDES
• [44] Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) | Entries 188 (188 starts) Poles 3 Wins 7
• [77] Lando Norris (GBR) | Entries 38 (38 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ MCLAREN heads into 2021 at its most positive in years following its rather surprising third place in the Constructors' Championship last season. Although the impressive Carlos Sainz Jr has now moved to Ferrari, much of the positivity has stayed in the team and is down to prodigious British talent Lando Norris. The 21-year-old Bristolian marked his second season last year with two fastest laps, consistent points finishes, and a podium at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix - but the likeable lad is far from the finished article. McLaren has therefore made an eminently sensible move to bring in Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull - the Aussie already has three pole positions and seven Grand Prix wins to his name so will keep Norris honest. As such, despite the loss of Sainz, McLaren remains in decent shape to take the fight to the current top two.

• MERCEDES
• [44] Sir Lewis Hamilton (GBR) | Entries 266 (266 starts) Poles 98 Wins 95 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
• [77] Valtteri Bottas (FIN) | Entries 157 (156 starts) Poles 16 Wins 9

◾️ Dominant MERCEDES racked up a seventh consecutive Constructors' Championship in 2020 as Lewis Hamilton exhausted all of the superlatives by drawing level on seven World Drivers' Championships with Michael Schumacher. It was a truly special year for Hamilton as he went beyond the iconic German in regard to number of Grand Prix victories - chalking up a record 92nd race win at the Portuguese Grand Prix in October. In all, Hamilton won 11 of the 17 races contested in 2020, even taking the chequered flag with bald tyres at the Turkish Grand Prix. At times, Hamilton was simply untouchable with even team-mate Valtteri Bottas regularly blitzed by the Stevenage-born racer. The Finn did have his moments with victories in Austria and Russia - but generally he was just as caught up in Hamilton's tidal wave of success as anyone else. More record-breaking looked set to follow this year with the announcement that major regulation changes had been delayed until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic - but, in something of a twist to the expected narrative, Red Bull has looked strong enough in the run-up to the new campaign for Mercedes to wheel out the mind-games ahead of lights out.

• RED BULL-HONDA
• [11] Sergio Pérez (MEX) | Entries 195 (191 starts) Poles 0 Wins 1
• [33] Max Verstappen (NED) | Entries 119 (119 starts) Poles 3 Wins 10

◾️ RED BULL finished its 2020 campaign on a high as Max Verstappen's victory in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ensured the team maintained its record of achieving at least one race win in every season since 2016. That single, almost apologetically belated, success will have buoyed the Red Bull garage after a year in which the team will have yet again felt distinctly second-best behind Mercedes. Nevertheless, 2021 surely will be closer - race-winner Sergio Perez moves in to take a well-deserved seat alongside Verstappen having finally broken his duck at the Sakhir Grand Prix on his 190th start. Certainly, the Mexican should be of more assistance to Verstappen at the front of the grid than the underperforming Alex Albon - but, with Checo now on the wrong side of 30, Red Bull will be pinning its main hopes on its fiercely-determined young Dutchman.

• WILLIAMS-MERCEDES
• [6] Nicholas Latifi (CAN) | Entries 17 (17 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0
• [63] George Russell (GBR) | Entries 38 (38 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0

◾️ George Russell got a taste of the high life when, as a Mercedes test driver, he stood in for Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix, led most of the race, set a fastest lap, and won his first points in Formula One. In fairness to Russell, he should have scored those maiden points earlier in the season for WILLIAMS at the Imola Grand Prix. However, the promising Norfolk-born driver made a critical error when warming his tyres behind the safety car while sitting in 10th - and so Williams was condemned to a first pointless season in its history. A blue-and-white livery for 2021 harks back to the team's halcyon days in the 1980s and 1990s - but even just a single point this year from Russell or his Canadian companion Nicholas Latifi will be considered progress and a cause for celebration at the team's base in Grove.

🏁

◾️ 2021 GRAND PRIX RACE CALENDAR ◾️

(1)	28-March	4pm	BAHRAIN	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
(2)	18-April	2pm	EMILIA ROMAGNA	Imola Circuit, Imola
(3)	02-May	3pm	PORTUGAL	Algarve International Circuit, Portimão
(4)	09-May	2pm	SPAIN	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
(5)	23-May	2pm	MONACO	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
(6)	06-June	1pm	AZERBAIJAN	Baku City Circuit, Baku
(7)	13-June	7pm	CANADA	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal
(8)	27-June	2pm	FRANCE	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
(9)	04-July	2pm	AUSTRIA	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
(10)	18-July	3pm	GREAT BRITAIN	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
(11)	01-August	2pm	HUNGARY	Hungaroring, Mogyoród
(12)	29-August	2pm	BELGIUM	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
(13)	05-September	2pm	NETHERLANDS	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort
(14)	12-September	2pm	ITALY	Monza Circuit, Monza
(15)	26-September	1pm	RUSSIA	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi
(16)	03-October	1pm	SINGAPORE	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
(17)	10-October	6am	JAPAN	Suzuka International Course, Suzuka
(18)	24-October	8pm	UNITED STATES	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX
(19)	31-October	7pm	MEXICO	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City
(20)	07-November	5pm	BRAZIL	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo
(21)	21-November	6am	AUSTRALIA	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne
(22)	05-December	4pm	SAUDI ARABIA	Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia
(23)	12-December	1pm	ABU DHABI	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

🏁

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