Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance

At the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, Bottas qualified on pole position. Hamilton initially qualified in second place but prior to the race, he received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow down sufficiently for yellow flags at the end of qualifying, dropping him to fifth.[17] Despite both drivers having to deal with gearbox issues which developed during the race, Bottas went on the win the race, the eighth of his career. Hamilton quickly recovered to second place but in the closing laps of the race received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Alexander Albon. Hamilton crossed the finish line in second but the penalty demoted him to fourth place.[18] Hamilton took pole position at the rain-affected qualifying session for the Styrian Grand Prix, over 1.2 seconds clear of nearest rival Max Verstappen.[19] Hamilton led most of the race and took the W11's second consecutive victory, whilst Bottas overtook Verstappen in the closing laps to finish second, having started fourth on the grid.[20]

At the Hungarian Grand Prix, the pace of the W11 was very apparent when Mercedes easily took a 1–2 in qualifying when Bottas took second by nearly a 0.9 seconds over third-placed Lance Stroll. Hamilton qualified on pole, 0.1 seconds ahead of Bottas.[21] Hamilton would go on to win the race for his second consecutive win and his eighth win at the Hungaroring equalling the record for most wins at one venue. Bottas made a mistake at the start when he moved slightly just before the lights went out then stopped his car and got away slowly, falling to sixth by turn one. He avoided a penalty for a jump start and managed to recover to third place, finishing just behind second-placed Max Verstappen.[22] At the British Grand Prix, Hamilton led Mercedes to another front-row lockout by taking his third consecutive pole position over Bottas by over 0.3 seconds. Bottas took second by over 0.7 seconds over Verstappen who qualified in third.[23] Lewis Hamilton led from pole position at the race start, as he leads Bottas to a large lead. In the dying stages of the Grand Prix, Bottas and Hamilton both suffered tyre delaminations on laps 50 and 52 respectively, which caused Bottas to come into the pits which made him drop to 11th place. Hamilton was forced to limp home, as his tyre delaminated, and the gap to second went from 30 to about 6 seconds when Hamilton won.[24]

At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Mercedes were once again unchallenged in qualifying as Bottas led Mercedes to another front-row lockout by edging Hamilton for pole position by only .063 seconds with Hülkenberg a further 0.8 seconds back.[25] Mercedes struggled with race pace due to high temperatures causing excessive tyre wear and blistering. As a result, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen was able to take the lead of the race and win. This was the first time in 2020 that Mercedes failed to win a race.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes continued their dominance in qualifying with Hamilton leading a fourth consecutive front-row lockout, qualifying 0.059 seconds faster than Bottas who was over 0.7 seconds faster than third-placed Verstappen.[26] Hamilton took the win in the race itself, leading every lap and coming home over 24 seconds clear of Verstappen in second. Furthermore, Hamilton also set a new Formula One record as he scored his 156th career podium finish, surpassing Michael Schumacher for most all-time. Bottas started poorly and dropped to fourth at the first corner. Although he was able to recover to regain third place, he couldn't overtake Verstappen and lost more ground to him in the drivers' championship.[27]

Hamilton won at the Bahrain Grand Prix but Bottas finished eighth after a puncture under the safety car. Hamilton was forced to miss the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix following a positive test for coronavirus and was replaced by Williams driver and Mercedes young driver George Russell for that event. Russell started second and led most of the race having overtaken Bottas, who had taken pole,[28] at the start. At the second pit stop, Mercedes made an error and Russell was fitted with Bottas' tyres, forcing Russell to make another pit stop on the following lap. A late puncture then cost Russell a potential podium and win and he finished ninth with the fastest lap. Bottas finished the race in eighth, having poor performance and old tyres at the end of the race.[29] Hamilton returned for the season finale having performed a series negative coronavirus tests ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix alongside Bottas meaning Russell returned to Williams.[30]