Lewis Hamilton has a mixed record at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Excluding the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, which was held at the same circuit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton has featured on the podium at the Red Bull Ring four times in 11 years.
Moreover, he has stood on the top step of the rostrum just once in that period. That came at the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix, in which Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg collided with each other on the final lap.
All told, then, the Red Bull Ring is not one of the Briton’s best.
Indeed, his collision with Rosberg isn’t the only time Hamilton has come together with another driver at the Red Bull Ring. An incident in 2020 was similarly controversial, putting an end to the race of a young starlet who was on the charge.
Lewis Hamilton ruined Alex Albon’s chances of a first Formula 1 victory at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix
Due to the aforementioned COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to sports globally, the 2020 Formula 1 season kicked off with the Austrian Grand Prix in July of that year.
After qualifying in second behind Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton started the race in fifth because of a three-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags in Q3.
In the early stages of the race, he made his way past Alex Albon, who was starting his one and only full season at Red Bull, McLaren’s Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen, the Dutchman retiring on Lap 11 with a mechanical issue.
Running comfortably behind Bottas, a safety car caused by the retirement of George Russell’s Williams on Lap 51 allowed those behind the leading duo to pit for new tyres without losing track position.
One of those to pit was Albon, who, soon after the safety car ended, was all over the back of Hamilton.
Going for an audacious overtake around the outside of the Briton at Turn 4, Albon appeared to have the move done.
However, contact between the two drivers was made just as Albon attempted to accelerate past Hamilton, causing the Thai driver to spin into the gravel.
On fresh rubber and with 10 laps to go, it cost Albon a chance to hunt Bottas down and claim his first-ever Formula 1 win.
Instead, the 29-year-old would retire with an electrical issue on Lap 67. Hamilton, meanwhile, would finish in fourth after being handed a five-second penalty for causing the incident and dropping two positions as a result.
The closest Alex Albon has come to winning a race since the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix
It’s difficult to understate how significant a win would have been for Albon at that year’s Austrian Grand Prix.
After replacing Pierre Gasly at Red Bull midway through the 2019 season, Albon hadn’t yet finished on the podium, let alone won a race.
With one of Formula 1’s greatest ever drivers as his teammate, a good start in 2020 would have filled the current Williams man with confidence.
As it was, he struggled from that moment onwards, taking two third-place finishes from an otherwise disappointing year that saw him dropped by Red Bull at the end of the season.
Fortunately, after returning to the F1 grid in 2022, Albon has been able to rebuild his career with Williams.
Still, had the events at the Red Bull Ring in 2020 played out differently, the path of the former Red Bull driver may have taken a different trajectory.