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The international press: 'Formula 1 could not have wished for a better opener'
It was a special race in Austria yesterday. Many retirements, an unexpected podium and several penalties were handed out. Valtteri Bottas managed to avoid all of this and won the race after leading from head to tail. Though he didn't avoid all the drama after having trouble with his gearbox. This is how the international press reacted to the spectacular Austrian Grand Prix.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy): Austrian Grand Prix full of emotion! A win for Bottas, Ferrari second with Leclerc
Raise your hand if you had predicted that Ferrari would have a second place at the end of the Austrian GP. It happened, in a tortuous way, thanks to accidents, safety cars and penalties. But it happened. Charles Leclerc managed it who managed to beat the McLaren of Lando Norris and the Racing Point of Sergio Perez with an exciting finish. And thanks to the five-second penalty that Lewis Hamilton received, Leclerc was able to give the 'prancing horse' a place that, after a very disappointing qualifying session, was not expected.
Auto Motor und Sport (Germany): Was the Mercedes victory really hanging by a thread?
For 23 laps everything looked like a demonstration for Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton led the field superior, their biggest competitor Max Verstappen was out of the race prematurely with an electronics problem. But then an extensive discussion between drivers and engineers began. Radio communication was sometimes more exciting than the race. Toto Wolff said they were so superior that it made sense to save the engine.
AS (Spain): Red Bull and Mercedes raise the tone in their "power battle."
Red Bull Racing did badly in the Austrian GP. Max Verstappen fell out due to a problem with the electronics on his RB16 that has no official explanation yet, but that made the car undriveable and Alex Albon ended up in the gravel when he tried to overtake Hamilton. The Briton received a penalty of five seconds and is the epilogue of a weekend full of fights, claims and punishments between the energy drinks company and Mercedes.
The Guardian (Great Britain): Valtteri Bottas wins F1 Austrian Grand Prix after Hamilton suffers penalty.
Incidents, spectacle, drama, tension: Formula 1 could not have asked for a better season opener at the Austrian Grand Prix. The coronavirus may have ensured that there were no fans at the Red Bull Ring to witness the great theatre, but it can be assured that they would have been thrilled by racing that ebbed and flowed, down to final lap's last tenth of a second. Valtteri Bottas took the flag for Mercedes from pole but was only one player in a grand cast.
Le Figaro (France): Bottas wins first crazy Grand Prix in Austria.
A crazy race for recovery. The F1 world feared a single Mercedes driver after their dominance throughout the weekend. While Bottas dominated the race from start to finish to claim his eighth career success, Lewis Hamilton had a complicated Sunday. The Briton, who was punished with three places on the grid and was forced to start fifth, also received a five-second penalty at the end of the race for launching Albon when he tried to overtake. In second place at the finish, the six-time world champion ended up in fourth place.