Formula One: Styrian Grand Prix – live!

Mercedes, Hamilton’s team, have tweeted about their commitment to end racism and discrimination of all kinds:

We are now less than 10 minutes from ‘lights out’ at the Styrian Grand Prix.

So, sports fans, how do you see this one going and what are you looking forward to? Feel free to email or tweet me with your thoughts.

Hamilton speaks about that magnificent lap in qualifying: “Yesterday was epic. I woke up [this morning] and watched the on-board, to confirm it was real. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself. Sometimes I have dreams and I wake up and I’m not sure if it’s real or not. Yesterday was a special day, especially with the pressure, there is not really a better feeling to come away with that.”

There wasn’t a consensus, predictably, with Hamilton and several other drivers taking the knee on the grid in the lead-up to the race, while some did not. All were wearing the black t-shirts printed with ‘End Racism’ in white text.

The 22-year-old driver George Russell, of Williams, talks to Sky about his excellent showing in qualifying. He is 12th on the grid: “Incredibly pleasurable … I didn’t know what to expect, it was great. Our aim was probably Q2. It was unbelievable. The weather conditions were so difficult for everybody, I don’t think anyone could do a perfect lap but the car felt great, better than it ever has done in the wet … when there was no visibility and you couldn’t see anything, I had the confidence to go flat-out on the straights and into the corners, and not everyone felt like that. But we know our true race pace is still the slowest car, and it’s going to be tough.”

“Rain is Formula One’s great equaliser, putting a driver’s touch and feel at a premium and the world champion claimed the top spot with what he described as an almost perfect lap.”

Read Giles Richard’s report from qualifying:

Good fact from David Croft on Sky Sports: this is not the first time the same track has hosted different Formula One races in the same season: Brands Hatch in 1983 hosted the ‘Race of Champions’ and the European Grand Prix, although the former was not a championship race, so this is the first time in F1 history that one venue has doubled up with two regular-season, points-scoring F1 events.

Here’s the starting grid. Charles Leclerc took a three-place penalty for impeding Daniil Kvyat during qualifying. The sound of engines roaring is ringing around the track ahead of the 2.15pm kick-off.

1 Lewis Hamilton – MERCEDES 1:19.273
2 Max Verstappen – RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:20.489
3 Carlos Sainz Jr. – MCLAREN RENAULT 1:20.671
4 Valtteri Bottas – MERCEDES 1:20.701
5 Esteban Ocon – RENAULT 1:20.922
6 Alexander Albon – RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:21.011
7 Pierre Gasly – ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:21.028
8 Daniel Ricciardo – RENAULT 1:21.192
9 Lando Norris – MCLAREN RENAULT 1:20.925
10 Sebastian Vettel – FERRARI 1:21.651
11 Charles Leclerc – FERRARI 1:19.628
12 George Russell – WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:19.636
13 Lance Stroll – RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:19.645
14 Daniil Kvyat – ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:19.717
15 Kevin Magnussen – HAAS FERRARI 1:20.211
16 Kimi Räikkönen – ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:21.372
17 Sergio Perez – RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:21.607
18 Nicholas Latifi – WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.759
19 Antonio Giovinazzi – ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:21.831
20 Romain Grosjean – HAAS FERRARI

“It’s down to focus, to how you study the track, your innate ability to be dynamic and manage the trickiest of conditions with the pressure on you. That is what the best athletes in the world do.”

Lewis Hamilton there, talking about, er, Lewis Hamilton. He is nothing if not modest. But sarcasm aside, the British world champion did produce a simply sensational flying lap in yesterday’s qualifying for today’s Styrian Grand Prix, securing pole position for the second event of the season. It was vintage Hamilton, producing an unbeatably-fast, near-perfect lap in the kind of rain-soaked conditions that separate the men who can drive cars fast from the men who can’t. It evoked memories of the great Ayrton Senna’s ability to race in the rain, not to mention the Hamilton vintage of 2008.

Contrary to some reports, ‘Styria’ is not a CGI-generated fantasy world cooked up by the tech boffins at the FIA in order to get their Covid-19-hit campaign up and running. It is in fact a south-eastern state of Austria. The Austrian Grand Prix took place last weekend at the same circuit, the Red Bull Ring, and Valtteri Bottas won it. Today’s meeting is being called the Styrian Grand Prix mainly so the pandemic-affected schedule doesn’t look weird.

Hamilton is on pole for Mercedes, Max Verstappen is second for Red Bull, and Carlos Sainz Jr. is in third with McLaren. The Styrian weather has improved massively since yesterday and this could well be a fascinating race. Start your engines.