The F1 season is back in full swing, albeit without any fans at the tracks. The Russian Grand Prix on 27th September marked the 10th race of the season. The season has been dominated so far by Mercedes. They have won all but two of the first ten races. Lewis Hamilton remains in the lead of the Driver’s Leaderboard, having won six of the races to-date.
We pick five of the key talking points in the world of Formula 1.
Mick Schumacher is set to make his Formula One Debut
Mick is the son of seven-times champion Michael Schumacher. His father suffered life-debilitating injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013. Michael Schumacher is regarded as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. He was in a medically induced coma for a number of years, following traumatic brain injury. He has reported having regained consciousness and is slowly improving, although his exact condition is unknown.
Mick, aged 21, is an exciting racing prospect. He is currently first in the Formula 2 standings having amassed 191 points. Mick is 22 points ahead of Ilott, who is also set to make his debut in the next F1 race. Schumacher is a product of the Ferrari academy and is one of three Ferrari academy drivers set to make their debuts in the next few races. Schumacher will drive an Alfa Romeo, which is a Ferrari-affiliated team. He plans to test on Ferrari’s Fiorano test track.
Mick Schumacher is ecstatic his first race will be in front of a German audience at Nurburgring, COVID-permitting. He is widely expected to make his full Formula 1 debut next season. Schumacher is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, and win a number of F1 Championships.
Ferrari to add new features to its SF1000 Formula 1 car at Nurburging
Arguably one of the most iconic F1 cars, Ferrari continues to make much-needed enhancements to their SF1000 car. Team principal, Mattia Binotto, said a number of improvements were in the pipeline. These include new rear wing endplates, turning vanes and a new nose cape. This is in response to claims the car has been underperforming in recent races. Further updates are imminent in upcoming races, including improving the diffuser on the SF1000 car.
Results from testing highlight small gains which will make the car more competitive. The team will be hoping for an improved performance and a higher finish in Nurburgring. Their best finish so far this season was in Russia, where Charles Leclerc finished sixth.
Lewis Hamilton has penalty points rescinded by F1 bosses
F1 bosses rescinded the two penalty points given to Lewis Hamilton. This was for breaking starting rules at the Russian Grand Prix practice. The penalty points would have brought him close to an automatic ban in the next race.
Crucially though, Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty in the race. This ultimately cost him victory with his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, easily winning the race. Mercedes were fined 25,000 Euros as the team gave the instruction not to do the practice start.
Hamilton claimed the decision was ‘ridiculous’, which was backed by other teams included Red Bull. The fact stewards made a very rare U-turn does gives some credence to this. Hamilton later reflected on this admitting ‘he may not always get it right’.
Valterri Bottas dominates to win the Russian Grand Prix
It was an easy win for Bottas. Mercedes mistake opened the door for him and resulted in one of the most mundane races F1 has seen. Bottas took on Hamilton at the start, just failing to overtake him. He blamed a ‘massive bee’ on his visor. Mercedes have such pace advantage, which enabled him to pull away from all of the other drivers. Once Hamilton served his penalty, it put him in third place.
Bottas stated, “Once I was in clean air I felt that the pace was pretty awesome and that I could control everything.”
Current Standings
Mercedes currently dominate the 2020 Constructor Standings with 366 points after 10 races. Red Bull are 174 points behind with 192 points, McClaren Renault are third. Ferrari are a disappointing sixth position with only 74 points.
Lewis Hamilton is on course to win his third consecutive World Driver’s Championship and his seventh title in total. This will see him matching Michael Schumacher’s seven titles. Schumacher won five titles in a row between 2000-2004. Hamilton is also on course to equal the number of F1 races won this season. He has won 83 races in total, compared to Michael Schumacher’s impressive 91 victories.
