The five best race drives of F1 2020

In a truly unprecedented Formula 1 campaign, the 2020 world championship season still provided some all-time classic races and within those a handful of stunning drives.

From tyre management masteries, to the very definition of a super-sub and even a race-winning performance that is set to be remembered as one of the greatest of all-time.

Here's a run through of the five best individual race drives, not ranked in any order, from an incredible 2020 F1 season.

Charles Leclerc - 70th Anniversary GP (4th)

Either of Leclerc's drives at Silverstone could have made this list but, although his British Grand Prix podium was the better result overall, the Ferrari driver needed a massive slice of luck to rise from fourth, which he was holding just in front of Daniel Ricciardo.

His drive the following week edges it, despite the lack of a trophy, because Leclerc executed a one-stop strategy on tyres that were a step softer, in hotter conditions, on the same demanding track. The 70th Anniversary GP also came two races after Leclerc had struggled to keep his rubber alive in Hungary, but this time he was masterful as the lead one-stopping driver.

Leclerc's drive also featured a recovery, as he lost two places to Lando Norris and Alex Albon on lap one, falling to 10th from his starting spot of eighth. The key was keeping his hard tyres alive once he'd run to lap 18 of 52 on his starting mediums - the joint second-longest opening stint on the softer rubber (no drivers started on the softs) - as he gained when others pitted again. Leclerc had no explanation for his strong pace, but described his result as "like a victory".

Daniel Ricciardo - Belgian GP (4th)

This race did not end with Ricciardo's best result of 2020, which was third - achieved twice, at the Nurburgring and Imola. But both of Ricciardo's podiums required one of F1's leading trio to hit trouble, and at Spa he nearly beat one of them - Max Verstappen - on pace.

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Ricciardo had sealed his best qualifying result of the season with fourth, and at the start was able to challenge his former Red Bull team-mate through the race's opening corners before ceding ground running wide at Les Combes. He dropped back slightly in the opening stint, and then got caught behind the yet-to-stop Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez after the safety car for the Antonio Giovinazzi/George Russell crashes.

This proved to be crucial later on in the race as the Renault star closed in again on Verstappen's third place with a string of stunning laps in the final stages, cutting the gap by more than 10 seconds in the final four laps to finish just 3.422s adrift. He also set the race's fastest lap on the final tour on 33-lap-old tyres.

While Verstappen was easing home, Ricciardo's close presence throughout the race stopped Red Bull trying an alternative strategy to attack the mighty Mercedes duo.

Nico Hulkenberg - Eifel GP (8th)

We really had to include Hulkenberg somewhere in the story of F1 2020 considering his 'supersub' appearances at Racing Point. His two events at Silverstone in place of Sergio Perez ended with a non-start and a creditable seventh place, which followed a starring drive to third in qualifying.

But it was his race at the Nurburgring for the same team, this time in place of Lance Stroll, that earns his place on this list. And it's because of the last-minute nature of his call-up. Stroll was only ruled out after missing FP3, with Hulkenberg - expecting to cover the Eifel GP for German TV - rapidly reporting to the track to get a negative COVID test confirmed less than an hour before qualifying started.

Given his lack of practice compared to the Silverstone weekends (although FP1 and FP2 at the Nurburgring were washed out for his rivals), Hulkenberg finished last against the clock, but his race was brilliant.

He executed a long opening stint on the softs, never exactly easy, taking advantage of incidents and retirements to climb the order. Then the late safety car meant he could pit again and take more softs, which he used to seal a remarkable eighth.

Pierre Gasly - Portuguese GP (5th)

Gasly's sensational Italian GP victory was our Moment of the Year, but his battling fifth in Portugal also deserves to be recognised.

The Frenchman's weekend got off to a tough start when his AlphaTauri caught fire in FP2, but he nevertheless qualified ninth. The race will be remembered for the action-packed opening laps, as light drizzle fell and the Mercedes drivers struggled to fire temperature into their harder tyres, the Black Arrows being swamped by the pack.

Carlos Sainz Jr and Lando Norris slipped back after their fast starts on the softs, but Gasly kept the red-walled rubber alive in a way most others could not. This helped him to put moves on Alex Albon, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo and the McLaren pair in the opening 20 laps to rise to fifth.

Stopping for mediums - ultimately the better race tyre, which enabled Charles Leclerc to take a fine fourth by starting on it - meant Gasly had to battle back again. But he did so with aplomb, not even overly ruffled by Sergio Perez's aggressive defensive swipe late on, with Gasly making the pass stick to take fifth for good one lap later.

Lewis Hamilton - Turkish GP (1st)

Of Lewis Hamilton's 11 2020 wins, his victory at Istanbul Park stood out because for once the mighty Mercedes W11 was really struggling ahead of the race.

Even in dry practice for the first F1 event in Turkey since 2011, Mercedes was in trouble. Like most, the team was having a hard time getting its tyres up to temperature on the new, oily and gripless track surface, which had only been finished less than two weeks before. The rain in qualifying compounded the issue, with Hamilton taking his worst grid spot of the season - sixth.

For much of the race it was hard to see how Hamilton might prevail, given the early stages were dominated by Racing Point, and Max Verstappen had been looking rapid before his spin when attacking Sergio Perez. But when it started to dry, Hamilton came into his own.

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As most of the rest pitted for fresh intermediates, Hamilton, who had been gaining massively on the leaders while adapting his driving to keep his tyres alive, stayed out. He passed Perez for a lead he would not lose and romped home in a class of his own to seal his seventh title.