F1 Starting Grid 2020 Eifel GP
F1 Race Event: Eifel Grand Prix
Race Track: Nurburgring
Start time: 14:10 local | 13:10 UK | 05:10 LA | 21:10 Tokio
Mainstraight Nürburg, Germany
The very first Eifel Grand Prix will be run on the good old Nurburgring. Not the legendary Nordschleife, but the GP circuit.
Valtteri Bottas will start from P1 for the first time in his career. It will be third time this season. Until now all poles positions were scored by a Mercedes driver. Bottas now have scored 3 poles while Lewis Hamilton already has 8 poles under his belt.
All cars in the top 10 will start on the C4. The C4 compound is the softest compound Pirelli choose for the German track.
F1 Starting Grid 2020 Eifel GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Lap Time | Pole gap | Tyres |
| 1 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:25,269 | S (C4) | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:25,525 | +0,256s | S (C4) |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:25,562 | +0,293s | S (C4) |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:26,035 | +0,766s | S (C4) |
| 5 | 23 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | 1:26,047 | +0,778s | S (C4) |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:26,223 | +0,954s | S (C4) |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1:26,242 | +0,973s | S (C4) |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:26,458 | +1,189s | S (C4) |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Racing Point | 1:26,704 | +1,435s | S (C4) |
| 10 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 1:26,709 | +1,440s | S (C4) |
| 11 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:26,738 | +1,469s | |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:26,776 | +1,507s | |
| 13 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | 1:26,848 | +1,579s | |
| 14 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1:26,936 | +1,667s | |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:27,125 | +1,856s | |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:27,552 | +2,283s | |
| 17 | 63 | George Russell | Williams | 1:27,564 | +2,295s | |
| 18 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1:27,812 | +2,543s | |
| 19 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | 1:27,817 | +2,548s | |
| 20 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Racing Point | 1:28,021 | +2,752s |
2020 Russian F1 GP Race Strategy
The most likely strategy for the 60-lap Eifel Grand Prix is a two-stopper, but with the track not having been used for Formula 1 since 2013 and with no running yesterday, strategy is something of a question mark for all the teams. Adding to the tactical complexity is the fact that tomorrow could be wet – and it will certainly be cold – making it even harder to accurately predict tyre behaviour.
The theoretically quickest way will be to start on the P Zero Red soft, then on lap 19 switch to the P Zero Yellow medium for 22 laps, and finally do a 19-lap stint on the soft again. As usual, this combination of compounds can be used in any order.
Second-fastest is another two-stopper: one 18-lap stint on the soft plus two 21-lap stints on the medium.
Slower is a one-stopper, going from medium to P Zero White hard after 29 laps (or the exact opposite, running 31 laps on the hard before going to medium). The data suggests that a one-stop strategy using medium and soft is not possible.
2020 Russian F1 GP Race Notes
- Weather. Track temperatures were the coldest seen all year during a race weekend, with 10 degrees ambient and 17 degrees of track temperature at the end of qualifying. Even cooler conditions are likely tomorrow, and there is a high risk of rain as well. Getting the tyres up to temperature (particularly the fronts) and keeping them there will be crucial: especially if there is a safety car.
- Track evolution. This was influenced by the track not having been used yesterday and no rubber laid down, with conditions still 'green' and slippery.
- Experience. Formula 1 hasn't raced at the Nurburgring since 2013 and there was no running on Friday, so the teams and drivers headed into qualifying and the race with much less experience and information than they would normally have.
- Strategy. The lack of information will have a big impact on strategy. The race strategies are much less clear cut than usual, as it's really not clear which strategy is most advantageous in real world conditions.
- Speed. The evolution of the cars and tyres since the last time F1 went to the Nürburgring meant that the all-time track record, set by Michael Schumacher back in 2004 (1m28.351s) was already broken by most of the field in FP3.
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