2020 picture special

November: Sakhir, Bahrain

Romain Grosjean’s 137mph crash on the first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix was a scene the modern F1 fan could barely comprehend. Incredibly, the Frenchman’s injuries were minimal

December:
Sakhir, Bahrain
If ever a Red Bull driver needed a spark, it was Alexander Albon. His RB16 lights up during practice, but was firmly shaded by Mercedes debutant George Russell during the race

December: Sakhir, Bahrain

Racing Point painted Bahrain pink with Sergio Pérez’s first Formula 1 victory. The last time a Mexican driver won a GP was Pedro RodrÍguez back in 1970

November: Istanbul Park, Turkey

Once again Lewis Hamilton was the man to beat, but he proved unstoppable in the wet of Turkey, taking his 10th win of the season, the 94th of his career and his seventh world title

November: Istanbul Park, Turkey

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll basks in the limelight during qualifying at the Turkish Grand Prix. He took pole — the first of his career

August: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana

An unfamiliar calendar slot welcomed the Indy 500, as Covid restrictions meant the 104th edition became the first ever to run in August rather than May. It had a familiar victor though, as Takuma Sato took his second Indy win

February: Bathurst, Australia

Little did we know what was around the corner… Before the pandemic Bathurst 12 Hour put on its usual glorious display at Mount Panorama. Here Maximilian Götz of Mercedes-AMG Team Triple Eight Race Engineering en route to the team’s third-place finish

August: Silverstone, UK

Martin Brundle at the wheel of Stirling Moss’ Cooper T51 before practice at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. “It’s a few months older than me but much better looking,” Brundle tweeted

August: Berlin, Germany

In the face of a virus-decimated calendar, Formula E rounded out its 2019-2020 season with an extraordinary sextet of races in Germany as Berlin Airport hosted the finale across three different layouts

September: Marmaris, Turkey

French duo Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais kick up dust clouds in their Hyundai i20 Coupé during the 2020 Rally Turkey. The gravel took its toll on the day, giving punctures aplenty

February: Daytona Beach, Florida

It’s lift-off for ‘Rocket Man’ Ryan Newman as his leading Ford is flipped at the Daytona 500. Despite serious injuries, Newman was back racing in May

September: Monza, Italy

Jack Aitken (9), Felipe Drugovich (15) and Artem Markelov (16) at the eighth round of the Formula 2 season

October: Goodwood, UK

A Brabham BT52 provides the pyrotechnics at Speedweek 2020, Goodwood’s first event to be completely live-streamed in the wake of spectator restrictions

January: Wadi Al-Dawasir, Saudi Arabia

Like something from a sci-fi film, the Russian Kamaz 43509 of Dakar 2020 truck winner Andrey Karginov, Andrey Mokeev and Igor Leonov takes the desert dunes in its stride

September: Le Mans, France

At Le Mans it was a case of Toyota vs the rest. Conway, López and Kobayashi had taken pole but lost 30 minutes in the pits overnight with exhaust and turbo problems, dropping the crew to third

December: Kyalami, South Africa

Bentley bowed out of factory GT3 racing at the end of 2020, and not in the way it would have liked. This is the charred aftermath of Maxime Soulet’s Continental GT3 at the 9 Hours of Kyalami. The sister car was ninth, three laps down

August: Spa, Belgium

With his grand prix options closed off, Robert Kubica took to the DTM for his 2020 campaign, handling a BMW M4 Turbo for the ART team. It proved a tough gig, but he did score a podium finish at Zolder

October: Nürburgring, Germany

A wonderful moment at the Eifel Grand Prix when Mick Schumacher presented Lewis Hamilton with one of his father’s crash helmets as a token for equalling Michael’s tally of 91 wins

August: Red Bull Ring, Austria

It’s incredible there were no serious injuries in this crash at the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix. Petronas Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli clipped Johann Zarco’s Ducati, and the stray bike somehow missed Valentino Rossi by inches

September: Nürburgring, Germany

Another spectator-light event was the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Postponed in May, it finally ran four months later

June: ‘Le Mans, France’ ‘

The show must go on’ was the thinking behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual. Taking place on the traditional LM24 weekend, this simulated version mixed top real-life racing drivers with elite sim racers

February: Austin, Texas

Aston Martin Racing’s Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen on the way to their third WEC GTE Pro win of the season at COTA, setting them up to secure the 2019-2020 title. Remember February? A time before furloughs, drive-in test centres, tiers and lockdowns