Formula 1

About the season

The COVID-19 pandemic tore up the original calendar: the season-opening Australian round was scrapped, and the championship only got going on July 5 with a doubleheader in Austria, eventually squeezing in newcomers like Portimão and a returning Nürburgring. On the opening lap in Bahrain, Romain Grosjean's Haas hit the barrier at 137mph, split in two and burst into flames; the halo shoved the barrier clear of his head, letting him climb out of the fire after 27 seconds with nothing worse than burns to his hands. Racing Point's RP20, mockingly nicknamed the "Pink Mercedes," resembled the reigning champions' 2019 car so closely that the team was fined 400,000 euros and docked points for illegally copying design data, prompting the FIA to tighten the rules on photographing rivals' cars. Standing in for a COVID-positive Hamilton, George Russell seized the lead at the Sakhir Grand Prix with a brilliant start, only for a botched double Mercedes pit stop and a late puncture to derail his run; the win instead went to Sergio Perez, who claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory after ten seasons in F1. Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 Drivers' Championship with 347 points (Mercedes), 124 points ahead of the runner-up. Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship with 573 points, 254 points ahead of the runner-up. Across 17 completed races this season, there were 57 retirements. 5 different drivers won a race this season. Lewis Hamilton took the most race wins, 11 in total. Bottas won the season-opening race, the Austrian Grand Prix. The Austrian Grand Prix saw the most retirements of the season, with 9 drivers failing to finish. The season's biggest upset win came from Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix, starting from grid position 10. The closest finish of the season came at the Italian Grand Prix, with a gap of just 0.415 seconds. Hülkenberg made the biggest gain of the season at the Eifel Grand Prix, from grid position 20 to finishing 8 (up 12 places). The most dominant win of the season came at the Turkish Grand Prix, with a margin of 31.6 seconds. Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the season.