Tuscan Grand Prix

The 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio della Toscana Ferrari 1000 2020) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 September 2020 at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in Scarperia e San Piero, Tuscany, Italy. The race was the ninth round of the 2020 Formula One World Championship and the first race of the season with spectators.

The race was won by Lewis Hamilton of the Mercedes team, with teammate Valtteri Bottas in second; Mercedes scored their third 1–2 finish of the season. Alexander Albon of Red Bull Racing-Honda scored his first podium in Formula One with a third-place finish, becoming the first Thai driver to do so.

The race was the first since the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix to have two red flags. Due to the two stoppages, the race had three standing starts.

 Background 
The race was held as an event celebrating Ferrari's 1000th race in the Formula One World Championship and the safety car used a red livery, instead of its usual silver colour, to mark the occasion. The Mugello Circuit hosted a World Championship Formula One race for the first time. The Ferrari SF1000 sported a special livery: instead of the traditional rosso corsa, the car was painted dark burgundy. Both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc wore special racing overalls, and both had special helmet designs.

 Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 

The  championship was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the originally scheduled Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to draft a new calendar. While the previous eight events were held behind closed doors, organizers announced that up to 2,880 spectators would be allowed for the Tuscan Grand Prix.

 Entrants 

Ten teams (each representing a different constructor) each entered two drivers. The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.

 Tyres 

Sole Formula One tyre manufacturer Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the three hardest compounds available.

 Qualifying 

 Qualifying classification 
DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:15.7781:15.3091:15.1441277 Valtteri BottasMercedes1:15.7491:15.3221:15.2032333 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda1:16.3351:15.4711:15.5093423 Alexander AlbonRed Bull Racing-Honda1:16.5271:15.9141:15.9544516 Charles LeclercFerrari1:16.6981:16.3241:16.2705611 Sergio Pérez1:16.5961:16.4891:16.3117718 Lance Stroll1:16.7011:16.2711:16.356683 Daniel RicciardoRenault1:16.9811:16.2431:16.5438955 Carlos Sainz Jr.McLaren-Renault1:16.9931:16.5221:17.87091031 Esteban OconRenault1:16.8251:16.297No time10114 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1:16.8951:16.640N/A111226 Daniil KvyatAlphaTauri-Honda1:16.9281:16.854N/A12137 Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari1:17.0591:16.854N/A13145 Sebastian VettelFerrari1:17.0721:16.858N/A14158 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1:17.0691:17.254N/A151610 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda1:17.125N/AN/A161799Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari1:17.220N/AN/A171863 George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1:17.232N/AN/A18196 Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes1:17.320N/AN/A192020 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1:17.348N/AN/A20107% time: 1:21.051Source:

  – Sergio Pérez received a one-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Räikkönen during the second practice session.
  – Daniil Kvyat and Kimi Räikkönen set identical times in Q2; Kvyat was classified ahead as he set his lap time before Räikkönen.

 Race 
The race was marked by several incidents. On the first lap at turn 2, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Kimi Räikkönen, and Romain Grosjean collided, resulting in Gasly and Verstappen retiring from the race and Räikkönen having to change his front wing. Verstappen's car was beached in the gravel trap. A separate incident at the same corner involved Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lance Stroll, as Sainz spun round and damaged Sebastian Vettel's front wing. These incidents together brought out the safety car. On lap 6 the safety car pulled in, but an accordion effect led the midfield drivers to accelerate up to racing speed before the leaders did and were forced to brake, triggering a collision involving Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Nicholas Latifi. Grosjean blamed the leader, Valtteri Bottas, for causing the accordion effect, and stated "this is the worst thing I've seen ever." All four drivers retired from the race and the red flag was brought out. During the red flag period, Esteban Ocon retired due to a brake failure; George Russell had earlier reported Ocon's brakes being on fire. The second red flag came on lap 45, after Stroll suffered a tyre failure at lap 43 turn 9, and went into the barrier. His Racing Point RP20 caught on fire, making it harder for the marshalls to clear the track.

Lewis Hamilton won the race, his 90th career win. Valtteri Bottas came in second and Alex Albon finished third; his first career podium. By finishing in ninth place, Kimi Räikkönen scored his first points of the season. A poor restart after the second red flag meant George Russell slipped from ninth to 12th and last. He eventually finished 11th leaving him out of the points. Twelve drivers were warned by the FIA for their part in the accident at the restart on lap 6. Writing for the BBC, former GP2 Series champion Jolyon Palmer praised the circuit, saying that it "defied all the [Hermann] Tilke design theories and yet provided a great spectacle in the traditional sense."

 Race classification 
DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes592:19:35.060126277 Valtteri BottasMercedes59 +4.880218323 Alexander AlbonRed Bull Racing-Honda59 +8.06441543 Daniel RicciardoRenault59 +10.417812511 Sergio Pérez59 +15.65071064 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault59 +18.883118726 Daniil KvyatAlphaTauri-Honda59 +21.756126816 Charles LeclercFerrari59 +28.3455497 Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari59 +29.770132105 Sebastian VettelFerrari59 +29.9831411163 George RussellWilliams-Mercedes59 +32.40418128 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari59 +42.03615Ret18 Lance StrollRacing Point-BWT Mercedes42Accident6Ret31 Esteban OconRenault7Brakes10Ret6 Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes6Collision damage19Ret20 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari5Collision20Ret99Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari5Collision17Ret55 Carlos Sainz Jr.McLaren-Renault5Collision9Ret33 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda0Collision3Ret10 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda0Collision16Fastest lap:  Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:18.833 (lap 58)Source:

 Notes

  – Includes one point for fastest lap.
  – Kimi Räikkönen finished eighth on the track, but received a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit entry line.

 Championship standings after the race 

Drivers' Championship standings
  Driver Points 10px1 Lewis Hamilton190 10px2 Valtteri Bottas135 10px3 Max Verstappen11010px 14 Lando Norris6510px 15 Alexander Albon63Source:

Constructors' Championship standings
  Constructor Points10px1 Mercedes32510px 2 Red Bull Racing-Honda17310px3 McLaren-Renault10610px4 Racing Point-BWT Mercedes9210px5 Renault83Source:

 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

 Related pages 
 2020 Mugello Formula 2 round
 2020 Mugello Formula 3 round

 Notes 

 References 

Category:Formula One Grands Prix