F1
History is made in Austria, as the 2020 F1 season finally gets underway at the Red Bull Ring with an action-packed grand prix full of wheel-to-wheel racing and high drama.
After more than 200 days with no real-world Formula One action, the 2020 season finally saw the red lights go out and fans across the world celebrated, as the sport mades it return while surrounded by the stunning Styrian countryside at the Austrian Grand Prix at the The Red Bull Ring.
For the first time ever the Austrian Grand Prix opened the F1 calendar and it proved to be a race full of controversy, carnage and multiple safety cars, as Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon dramatically missed out on a maiden podium finish after late-race contact with Lewis Hamilton.
After 71 laps of the 4.6km Red Bull Ring, only 11 of the 20 starters made the finish and it was Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas who won the first race of the season ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and McLaren's Lando Norris.
Both Aston Martin Red Bull Racing drivers had an eventful return to action, with Albon and Max Verstappen showing good pace in the hunt for a podium finish. However, both drivers failed to see the chequered flag and will be hoping to make amends as the teams and drivers return to the Red Bull Ring again next weekend for the first-ever Steiermark Grand Prix.
As with the vast majority of global events currently being held, the race took place with no fans in attendance and a limited number of personnel and media on location. Those few trackside and the millions watching at home watched history unfold, though, as an F1 season started in Austria in July, rather than the customary March start in Australia.
Usually, at this time of year, the compact Red Bull Ring is surrounded by tens of thousands of fans, all celebrating, partying and creating a noisy, amphitheatre-like atmosphere. With no fans, no pre-race festivities and no planned podium celebrations, things were very different at the picturesque circuit.
Minutes prior to the start of the race, all 20 drivers gathered on the start-finish line to show solidarity for the cause against global racism and discrimination, before the Austrian national anthem played out to the empty grandstands on the pit straight. Overhead, a three-aircraft flypast and helicopter aerobatic display was the only concession to the usual pre-race glitz and glamour.
Away from the on-track action, in the build up to race, the Red Bull Ring became the centerpiece of an anthem in celebration of Formula One's return, courtesy of Internationally renowned percussionist Martin Grubinger, who combined classical music with the sounds of motorsport to create a musical opener to back-to-back grands prix in Spielberg.
Grubinger brought together musicians from different backgrounds and a 150-strong choir to make his vision a reality, and at the heart of the musical installation known simply as Drum the Bull was the iconic 1,300 tonne, 18m-high steel Bull of Spielberg, which was brought to life by Grubinger and his fellow percussionists using brushes, drumsticks and even hammers.
"I was invited to see the Bull and I drummed a little bit on it, and found out that the acoustics are fantastic. I hit it and immediately I was in love," Grubinger explained. "It was clear to me that it would be great to create a hymn for the return of Formula 1."
Included in the musical tribute is Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (the Resurrection Symphony), which unites the carefully placed sounds created from racing vehicles such as a 1995 Sauber F1 car, NASCAR, Moto2 bikes and the Lockheed P-38 'Lightning' fighter plane. "It was very important to us not only to make music and then to put motorsport on top of it, but a score was actually created and everything was timed very precisely," added Grubinger.
Grubinger explained that the drivers and pilots had to be as accurate as musicians in order to be perfectly synchronised into the piece with the percussive ensemble and accompanying choir. "There's the musical score, with bars and tempo and the band playing, and then we had to put motorsport on top," explained Grubinger. "The score created needed everything to be timed precisely. For example, at bar 230 we had the air racer heading directly in the direction of the Bull and then at bar 237 he had to make the vertical flight.
"The pilots were deployed exactly to the beat. It was a lot of fun, because the engine sound mixes with music and a special dynamic is created. It's a work that stands for tradition, modernity, creativity, technology, the beautiful landscape, the love of art and culture, and also a certain amount of craziness."
Grubinger also asked American musician, Cameron Carpenter, who played his International Touring Organ (which took 10 years to build), to help out. Carpenter appeared in the musical work atop a Dakar Rally service truck, driven by 2018 Dakar bike class winner Matthias Walkner, a sight which capped a truly spectacular and bold performance.
"He [Grubinger] wanted a big and dramatic statement," stated Carpenter. "Martin and I have worked together before in Germany and we're friends, so he kindly asked me to join and bring the international touring organ to be a part of his work."
Check out the full-length video and details of the vehicles used in the creation of the music here.
Next stop: The Red Bull Ring again
Following a weekend of Formula One firsts, another unprecedented event will get underway next weekend, as the drivers and teams race once again on the exciting Red Bull Ring for the first Steiermark Grand Prix.
This unique set of circumstances has been enforced by current restrictions on the travel and logistics required by the normal F1 calendar, which has forced the FIA and all those involved with F1 to make the racing happen whichever way possible.
As a result, the teams will return in a week's time to race round two of the 2020 F1 season at the Red Bull Ring once again, under the banner of the Steiermark Grand Prix. Whilst fans around the world will be hoping for another breathtaking race, the drivers might well be hoping for a slightly less dramatic afternoon in Austria.
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