In two weeks Formula 1 will finally give the first verdicts of 2020 – apart from the winter tests – facing the first weekend of this season which will begin in Austria at the Red Bull Ring, the circuit where the protagonists of the Circus will stay for a further week. The track in the Styrian hills will host the first two rounds of a championship that will have special features including the double races format because Formula 1 must make a virtue of necessity in this 2020 season marked by Coronavirus.
Max Verstappen has won the last two races which took place in Austria, in 2018 and last year. According to Mark Webber, the Dutch driver is the only real threat for Lewis Hamilton, although Verstappen’s fortunes according to the Australian will depend on Honda. “2020 will be a matter between Hamilton and Verstappen” – the words of Webber interviewed by the Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport – “I don’t see anyone else able to sign up for the title fight. Ferrari will not be in the game. I have faith in the potential of the Red Bull headquarters in Milton Keynes and in the expertise of the team led by Christian Horner. The only unknown is related to Honda and whether the Japanese power unit will be able to keep up with that of Mercedes.” – he explained.
The Ferrari SF1000 did not convince at the Barcelona tests, although for the seasonal debut in Austria Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will have a new gearbox and a power unit with a few more horse power available. The power unit performance available to the top teams can make the difference by allowing the teams to increase the downforce: “A powerful engine allows for more downforce setups – Webber’s opinion – this makes life much easier for the driver. We’ll see if Mercedes can afford more set-ups than Red Bull can do.”
Last month, Sebastian Vettel announced his departure from Ferrari. After six seasons the four-time world champion will no longer be admired in red. An end to an era. In 2015 Vettel switched from Red Bull Racing to Ferrari to win the championship, just as his great example Michael Schumacher did at the beginning of this century.
Unfortunately for Seb things went differently. Mercedes has been won every season since the V6 turbo era and took off. In 2017 and 2018 Vettel seemed to be on the right track, but due to mistakes he always missed the title. Former teammate Mark Webber does not expect to see Vettel on the starting grid again in 2021. “I think Vettel is going to take a year off”, he says in the Formula 1 café at Ziggo Sport. “He can take it easy now. I really won’t see him on the grid next year. Maybe he can think about 2022 after this season.”
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