In Pictures: Austria 2020

After several races being cancelled at the beginning of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic, racing returned and what a thrilling way to start the 2020 Formula One season that was! Valtteri Bottas started on Pole with teammate Lewis Hamilton right behind him in second, only to be demoted by a three place grid penalty for not respecting yellow flags during qualifying. That meant Max Verstappen, local hero, started alongside Bottas and McLaren's young gun Lando Norris right behind him in third.

The race saw nine retirements! (Verstappen, Ricciardo, Stroll, Magnussen, Grosjean, Russell, Raikkonen, Albon, and Kvyat). Albon's retirement came after his rear tire became in contact with Hamilton's front, sending him in a spin through the gravel trap. That accident, oddly similar to the one between the same drivers at Brazil 2019, was examined and ended up handing a five-second penalty to Hamilton, and even though he finished second on the road after a dominant Valtteri Bottas, it was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who finished second, and an ecstatic Lando Norris in third, his first podium in F1 and the third youngest in F1's history.

Here are a few selected photos from that awesome, albeit fan-less, weekend: