The six-time F1 World champion said we should reflect on the positives in these challenging times and come out of the situation better people.
The Formula One season has yet to start and the race at the southern circuit is the 10th to be affected by the new coronavirus.
Hamilton decided to take matters into his own hands and pass several cars ahead of him, without gaining anything as Verstappen's time stood the test.
Red Bull have given "a definite no" to four-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel's hopes of returning to them next year, team boss Christian Horner said on Friday. The German, who is out of contract with Ferrari at the end of the season and facing an uncertain future, had said on Thursday he would say yes to a Red Bull drive if one was offered.
Six-times World champion Lewis Hamilton expects Formula One drivers to be united against racism at Sunday's season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, and that could mean taking a knee before the start. There has been plenty of speculation about how the Mercedes driver might signal his support for the Black Lives Matter movement and those campaigning against racial injustice and inequality.
Max Verstappen won Red Bull's home Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday while Lewis Hamilton suffered his first race retirement since 2016 and lost the Formula One championship lead to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
Formula One teams will operate in bubbles within bubbles when the season starts behind closed doors in Austria next week after being stalled since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be no spectators, no sponsors or VIP guests wandering the paddock and limited social interaction even between team mates.
'If we want to go to Asia, or America, I think it's going to be when we get on planes and have to fly overseas where I think the risk will start to potentially get greater.'
Lewis Hamilton dominated Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position, with a bonus point for fastest lap, to take a five point lead over Bottas, the winner of the Austrian season-opener.
Lewis Hamilton, who won from pole position to take the championship lead after three races, again took a knee while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt, but some drivers were either too late or remained standing.
Ferrari, whose race on Sunday lasted about 20 seconds until Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided, said the team strongly supported diversity and equal opportunities.
The 35-year-old recently took part in a 'Black Lives Matter' march in London but said he was supporting racial equality rather than taking any political stance.
Formula One has said it hopes to get the season started some time in the European summer with a reduced calendar of 15-18 races.
Formula One is considering holding closed races without spectators, most likely at European circuits, once the season is able to start after being stalled by the new coronavirus pandemic. Formula One has brought forward and extended its August break from March through to May to clear the European summer for a rescheduled calendar that could see races on successive weekends and into the New Year.
The upgrades brought for the weekend helped the team significantly in the 66-lap race after Perez and Ocon had qualified eighth and 10th in the qualifying.
Since the traditional Australian opener was cancelled in March, Formula One has agreed changes to help teams hard hit by COVID-19.
'We do believe that staging the event behind closed doors, which our fans can still watch on television, is preferable to not having a race at all.'
The strangest of campaigns crammed 17 races, instead of the record 22 originally envisaged, into little more than five months from July with four triple-headers.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
- Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's last lap coming together at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on Sunday put the sport on front and back pages, reviving a narrative of battling team mates going back to the days of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Given how well Hamilton drove last weekend to win the Styrian GP in Austria, few would bet against the British driver securing an eighth success
While 40-year-old racers were relatively common in the sport's early days, they are a rarity in modern Formula One with an increasing emphasis on youth.
Formula One got back on track in changed circumstances on Friday but with Mercedes bringing a familiar look to the timing sheets as six times World champion Lewis Hamilton led team mate Valtteri Bottas one-two in Austrian Grand Prix free practice. The Briton did 41 laps and lapped with a best time of one minute 04.816 seconds in a damp and overcast session, 0.356 faster than the Finn.
Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix for the second year in a row in a Mercedes one-two finish with team mate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
Meet Lando Norris, who pipped Lewis Hamilton in the Austrian F1 on July 5 for a podium finish.
Valtteri Bottas won a dramatic first race of the delayed Formula One season for champions Mercedes in Austria on Sunday
The first race at the Red Bull Ring would be on the July 3-5 weekend.
Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in a Mercedes one-two finish on Sunday to stretch his championship lead over team mate Lewis Hamilton to 29 points after eight races.
Formula One could start the season behind locked gates due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the glamour sport will likely have to slim down considerably to get the green light to go racing. Across Europe, bans on mass gatherings and public events have been extended into July and August even as countries begin to emerge from the strict lockdowns that have put sporting activities on hold.
"It was not a problem of the mechanics, it was our problem and we have to make sure we fix it"
Nico Rosberg's hopes of a third successive Austrian Grand Prix win took a hit on Saturday when he crashed in final practice and damaged his Mercedes' gearbox, incurring a five-place grid penalty.
It was the first time this season that Mercedes had failed to take pole and Sunday's race will be Williams's first start from the front of the grid since Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado in Spain in 2012.
Valtteri Bottas seized his first pole position of the Formula One season in Austria on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second.
F1, Silverstone still optimistic despite UK quarantine rules
Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday after a last-lap collision with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg as they fought for the lead.
'Every great Formula One season is marked by a great rivalry. Last year it was our internal battle between Lewis and Nico and this year it seems that the fight is on between Ferrari and Mercedes and Lewis and Sebastian'
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was first and last in Austrian Grand Prix practice on a Friday that team principal Maurizio Arrivabene will not forget in a hurry after nearly being run over by Felipe Massa.
The 30-year-old Indian shuttler had an impressive run in the $75,000 BWF Tour Super 100 tournament before caving in tamely 14-21, 10-21 to Shesar in 28 minutes.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday in a damp qualifying session that saw both the Formula One world champion and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg skid off on their final laps.
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