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Hamilton leads the many storylines of a remarkable 2020
It seems strange to be running our Formula 1 season review in the last issue of the year, but lots of things have been out of the ordinary in 2020. As Luke Smith shows on page 70, that F1 managed to get in 17 races is a testament to everyone involved.
That was the normal length of a season as recently as the early 2000s – and we’d suggest it is a more sensible number than the 23 being targeted for 2021 (p8). A less compressed schedule would be welcome.
Remarkably, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 13 December is not the latest a world championship event has run. The 1962 showdown in South Africa between Jim Clark and Graham Hill took place on 29 December, Hill dramatically clinching the title when the Lotus failed.
There was no such climax to the 2020 season. The Mercedes W11 was too fast for its rivals and Lewis Hamilton was too good for Valtteri Bottas. It was another remarkable campaign for Hamilton, who broke so many records and scooped the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award just before Christmas. He’s the fifth F1 star to win (John Surtees won for his two-wheeled exploits), and only the third to take it twice.
There were many fine motorsport moments this year – including the first F1 victories for Pierre Gasly (p60) and Sergio Perez, who thankfully now has a confirmed drive (p6) – but I think most of us are looking forward to getting away from 2020 and into 2021. Autosport wishes you a happy and safe New Year.
Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com
NEXT WEEK 7 JANUARY 2021 Heirs to the throne The F1 stars most likely to challenge Hamilton
and Verstappen
COVER IMAGES Motorsport Images/ Etherington, Mauger, Sutton; Red Bull
PIT & PADDOCK
6 Perez in as Red Bull ousts Albon 8 F1 confirms 23-race calendar 10 Aston Martin pulls out of WEC 12 Ingram and Speedworks split 15 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 16 Opinion: Sara Esposito 17 Feedback: your letters
F1 2020 SEASON REVIEW 19 How Hamilton took his seventh title 28 Autosport’s top 10 drivers 34 Win Lewis Hamilton’s gloves 35 Team bosses’ top 10 drivers 36 Technical analysis 42 Red Bull: ‘nearly’ is not enough 48 The end of Vettel’s Ferrari mission 54 How McLaren topped ‘Class B’ 60 Gasly’s career resurrection at AlphaTauri 64 The rise of Russell and Williams’s revival 68 The best race drives of 2020 70 Coronavirus and the year in politics 74 Top 10 autosport.com F1 stories 76 The season in numbers
INSIGHT 80 World Rally Championship review 86 Autosport Awards: 2020 winners 92 2020 index: what we wrote and when
CLUB AUTOSPORT 102 Renault Clio Cup won’t run in 2021 104 GT champ Mitchell’s factory Lambo deal 105 Opinion: Kerry Dunlop 106 The UK champions of 2020
FINISHING STRAIGHT 110 What’s on this week 112 From the archive: 1981 Rally Portugal 114 Autosport 70: Ferrari, Alfa and Moss
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31 DECEMBER 2020 AUTOSPORT.COM 5
