Preview: Everything you need to know about the coming season
Published on 09 March 2020 by Mike Motilall
In about a weeks’ time, it will be lights out in Australia for the first Grand Prix for the 2020 Formula 1-season. This will be Max Verstappen’s sixth season in Formula 1 and after a third place finish overall in the championship in 2019, he hopes to be able to fight for the title this year. Verstappen.nl looks ahead to the coming campaign and will run through the drivers and teams with you.
On the calendar this year there are two new races: the return of the Dutch Grand Prix on the updated Circuit Zandvoort, giving Max Verstappen his first real ‘home race’ and the Grand Prix of Vietnam on the streets of the capitol Hanoi. The German Grand Prix, during which Max drove to victory in the rain last year, has been deleted from the calendar, while the Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed due to the Corona virus and will most likely not even take place. Because of the virus it remains a question whether the rest of the 21 races will be held.
Just like the previous years, ten teams and twenty drivers will partake in the world championship. The following is an overview of all the teams and their drivers:
Mercedes 2019: First, 739 points Drivers: - Lewis Hamilton - 2019: 1st with 413 points - Valtteri Bottas - 2019: 2nd with 326 points
Mercedes has been dominating the Formula 1 since 2014. This year looks good again for the German squad. Lewis Hamilton is up for his seventh world title, which will match Michael Schumacher’s record, while Bottas wants to prove that he can take the fight to Hamilton.
Ferrari 2019: Second, 504 points Drivers: - Charles Leclerc - 2019: 4th with 264 points - Sebastian Vettel - 2019: 5th with 240 points
The Scuderia came in, for the third time in a row, second last year in the Constructors’ championship. The Italians are under tremendous pressure to bring home the title this year. Leclerc proved last year that he is quick while this year can be a very important one for Vettel’s career. If he finishes once again behind of Leclerc in the standings, it could spell the end of the Ferrari-career of the German. However, Ferrari would be wise to keep both drivers in check.
Red Bull 2019: Third, 417 points Drivers: - Max Verstappen - 2019: 3rd with 278 points - Alexander Albon - 2019: 8th with 92 points
The first year working with Honda was an overnight success for Red Bull, with three wins and a third place finish for Max in the championship. This year the team wants to fight for the title. All components are there: Max in the best shape of his life and a good Winter for the Milton Keynes based team. Team mate Albon, who joined Red Bull halfway the season, has shown that he also has a true racing spirit and could be a key figure in the championship.
McLaren 2019: Fourth, 145 points Drivers: - Carlos Sainz - 2019: 6th with 96 points - Lando Norris - 2019: 11th with 49 points
McLaren had a resurgence in 2019 and finished best of the rest in fourth. With Sainz and Norris the Woking based team has two excellent young guns in their team. The squad hopes to be able to close the gap to the three top teams, but is feeling the teams of the midfield breathing down their neck.
Renault 2019: Fifth, 91 points Drivers: - Daniel Ricciardo - 2019: 9th with 54 points - Esteban Ocon - 2019: did not partake
For Renault, 2019 was a disappointing year as they got outdone by their customer team McLaren. The French factory team will do their utmost to find their way back to the top again. With Ricciardo in their midst and the return of Ocon, the French have, in any case, two fast drivers in their ranks who are also equally matched.
AlphaTauri 2019 (before: Toro Rosso): Sixth, 85 points Drivers: - Pierre Gasly - 2019: 7th with 95 points - Daniil Kvyat - 2019: 13th with 37 points
Toro Rosso, which is now AlphaTauri, has had a very successful 2019 with two podiums to its name. Gasly found his mojo back after he left Red Bull and went back to Toro Rosso and subsequently had a very strong end of the season. For his more experienced team mate Kvyat, it will be an important season as at the end of the season, undoubtedly a fresh batch of Red Bull-juniors will be knocking at the doors of the Formula 1.
Racing Point 2019: Seventh, 73 points Drivers: - Sergio Perez - 2019: 10th with 52 points - Lance Stroll - 2019: 15th with 21 points
After Lance Stroll’s father took over, end of 2018, Racing Point had a difficult start of the season last year. During the second half of the season, it was Perez who was busy racking up the points for the team. With a significant capital boost and an almost replica of last year’s Mercedes, the team hopes to be able to turn the tide.
Alfa Romeo 2019: Eighth, 57 points Drivers: - Kimi Raikkonen - 2019: 12th with 43 points - Antonio Giovinazzi - 2019: 17th with 14 points
Alfa Romeo got off to a good start last year, but gradually dropped back as the season progressed. It looks like Raikkonen, who will become Formula 1’s most experienced driver ever and team mate Giovinazzi will be in the thickest of it all in the midfield.
Haas 2019: Ninth, 28 points Drivers: - Kevin Magnussen - 2019: 16th with 20 points - Romain Grosjean - 2019: 18th with 8 points
The Haas team had a poor season last year. Despite the fact that the car showed some pace, during qualifying, Magnussen and Grosjean kept on dropping back to the back of the field during every race. If the team fails to get matters sorted this year, then in all likelihood it wouldn’t come as a surprise if team owner Gene Haas decides to pull the plug on this project.
Williams 2019: Tenth, 1 point Drivers: - George Russell - 2019: 20th with 0 points - Nicholas Latifi - Rookie
For the Williams team, things can only get better after last year. Both Williams were often seen at the very back of the pack and were even struggling keeping up with the pace of the midfield. Just a mere point in 2019 meant this was the worst year in the history of the team. Hopefully they won’t face another disastrous year like the previous one. With Russell in their team, they have in any case a huge talent in house while Latifi, the only rookie in the field, still needs to prove himself.
