The start of the 2020 Formula 1 season is just a matter of days away, with teams making final preparations for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, the biggest Formula 1 2020 news at the moment is about a different sort of race. World champion Lewis Hamilton, who has been outspoken of late about the sport’s lack of diversity, has responded to former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone’s “ignorant” comments about race.
Meanwhile, Hamilton and his team Mercedes are focused on making improvements to their car as they look to stay ahead of rivals Ferrari, who have also ramped up preparations.
As always, SBOBET is here to catch you up on all of the biggest news ahead of F1’s season opener in Austria.
Lewis Hamilton responds to ex-F1 chief’s race comments
Lewis Hamilton delivered a strong rebuttal to former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone’s shocking remarks regarding race.
In a post on his Instagram account, Hamilton wrote: “damn, I just don’t even know where to start on this one. So sad and disappointing to read these comments.
“Bernie is out of the sport and a different generation but this is exactly what is wrong – ignorant and uneducated comments which show us how far we as a society need to go before real equality can happen.
“It makes complete sense to me now that nothing was said or done to make our sport more diverse or to address the racial abuse I received throughout my career.”
Ecclestone made headlines by claiming black people are “more racist” than white people in a recent television interview.
Formula 1 has since sent out a statement denouncing Ecclestone’s controversial comments while clarifying that Ecclestone has not played any part in the organisation since his exit in 2017.
Hamilton has been a high-profile advocate of the Black Lives Matter movement in the sports world. In light of this movement, Hamilton has recently launched The Hamilton Commission, aimed at making motorsport “as diverse as the complex and multicultural world we live in.”
Formula 1 has also set up a Task Force and foundation as part of the #WeRaceAsOne initiative, with the goal of increasing diversity and inclusion in the sport.
Mercedes set to unleash upgraded car in Austria
After a months-long delay, Hamilton is finally set to start the defence of his F1 world championship, and it sounds as if he will have a much-improved car in Austria.
Mercedes technical chief James Allison said that the team has been hard at work since Christmas to tweak the car and try to make it quicker.
“We haven’t yet done a single race, but actually quite a lot of time has passed since we launched this car,” Allison said. “And if you imagine where the launch car was and the car that would’ve gone to Australia, that was frozen around about Christmas so there was the whole of January, the whole of February, March – all making the car quicker in the wind tunnel and also in the design departments.
“So our challenge now is to make sure that that quarter of a year of development can get off the drawing boards and onto the car as swiftly as possible. We hope to have a chunk of that for the first race in Austria, and the season that follows will of course take as much of the development as fast as we can get it onto the car in turn.”
Mercedes have won the last six constructors’ titles in succession, and their car once again looked like the one to beat during pre-season testing.
Despite the fact that they haven’t won in Austria since 2017, the Formula 1 2020 betting odds will still have Hamilton and co. as the favourites. But if they can successfully incorporate their upgrades to the car by this weekend, they should stand a great chance of ending their mini drought at the Red Bull Ring.
Ferrari’s Leclerc, Vettel back on the track ahead of Austria
Ferrari ramped up preparations for the first race of the season in Austria by holding private testing in Mugello last week.
Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel used Ferrari’s 2018 car to get around the track. It marked the first time Vettel has been inside a Ferrari car since the blockbuster news came out that this would be his last year with the team.
Just a few days earlier, Leclerc took out the 2020 car for a quick spin around Ferrari’s base in Maranello.
Other teams such as Mercedes and Renault have also held testing using 2018 cars in preparation of the new season.
Ferrari’s SF1000 did not perform well during pre-season testing in Barcelona, but the hope is that they have made some adjustments over the past three months to remain competitive with champions Mercedes this season.
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