BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - RACE
The title fight will go down to the wire as Lewis Hamilton took his first win in Brazil after a stop-start race at Interlagos. Teammate and championship rival Nico Rosberg came home second and more than eleven seconds behind Hamilton.
Right from the start, the weather was causing trouble, the stewards deciding to delay the start of the race by ten minutes to give the rain a chance to ease. On the out lap to the grid, Romain Grosjean showed why, losing the rear end of his Haas under acceleration and crashing into the wall.
The rain didn’t ease up, and the race started behind a safety car so drivers could get a feel of the track conditions. After seven laps of follow the leader, the green flag was brought out and the race started proper. Hamilton immediately got off to a fantastic start, building up a gap to Roseberg. Behind them, Kimi Raikkonen was caught sleeping as Max Verstappen sped past him up the inside. In a matter of moments, the young Red Bull was on the back of Rosberg’s Mercedes. Verstappen swept across the track, finding the best grip on the still wet tarmac.
Already, drivers were beginning to pit for Intermediate tyres. Renault’s Kevin Magnussen was the first, but Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa, Daniil Kvyat, Jolyon Palmer, and Marcus Ericsson were all quick to follow. Not the Mercedes drivers, though. Both drivers were adamant it was too soon for the green walled tyres.
Sebastian Vettel proved them right. Still on wet tyres, the Ferrari driver was sent into a spin when he dropped a tyre onto the slippery white line, falling back through the field. Still, Vettel followed the flow of the competition and pitted for intermediate tyres.
A few laps later, Ericsson also spun, but his spin ended in the wall at the entry of the pit lane. The safety car was brought out and the pit lane entry was closed, but not before Max Verstappen had dived in to put intermediates on. It was before Daniel Riccardo came into the pits though. The Australian was later given a five second penalty for entering the pit lane whilst the entrance was closed. Home hero Felipe Massa was also under investigation and later handed the same penalty for overtaking before the safety car line on the first race start.
The safety car came into the pits on lap nineteen and almost immediately the chaos resumed. Kimi Raikkonen span at almost the exact same place as Ericsson, colliding with the pit wall and bouncing back onto the track, a Manor car narrowly avoiding the Ferrari. Meanwhile, Palmer crashed into the back of Kvyat, severely damaging his Renault. The red flags were brought out to clear the stricken Ferrari and, though Palmer was able to hobble back to the pits, he wouldn’t return to the track when the race resumed.
The race resumed under safety car conditions, with everybody back on wet tyres. Hamilton and Verstappen were both eager to get racing but, after just a few laps behind the safety car, the race was red flagged again, with running water on the track causing concern for race control.
After a lengthy delay, the race resumed again under the safety car. This time, the race would start again proper, and Verstappen was on the attack. It didn’t take long for the Red Bull to find a way past Roseberg, around the outside of turn three. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo was also on the move, slipping up the inside of Carlos Sainz to take fifth.
Vettel, after his earlier spin and pit stop, was working his way up through the pack. The German soon made his way into the point, knocking Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein into eleventh.
Verstappen tried to take the race to Hamilton, setting a fastest lap to attempt to close the gap to the championship contender, only for Hamilton to reply with a fastest lap of his own. Rosberg, however, was no where to be seen, unable to keep the pace in the wet conditions.
A big slide for Verstappen had everybody’s hearts in their throats. The Dutchman spun after touching the white line, and was sent into a slide, but was just about able to keep his Red Bull out of the barriers. Rosberg saw his chance to regain second, coming alongside Verstappen, but Verstappen was able to keep second place.
On lap forty, Ricciardo pitted for intermediate tyres, serving his five second penalty in the process. Meanwhile, Vettel was still pushing to move forwards. The Ferrari’s back-end was twitching as Vettel struggled to keep it under control, but that didn’t stop him trying to make a move on Alonso. The German managed to get past the McLaren car, but Alonso fought back. Vettel had the inside line, forcing Alonso off track as he kept the position, but both cars managed to keep going.
Verstappen, still running in second, followed Ricciardo’s lead and pitted for intermediate tyres, coming out in fifth position. Ricciardo proved that the switch was working by setting a fastest lap. Button, also on intermediates, had other ideas, though. He’d already said that there was no difference in grip between the two tyres, but now he wanted to put wets back on his McLaren. The McLaren came in to pit for wets and it soon became clear that was the right choice.
Felipe Massa crashed, bringing out the safety car and bringing an end to the Brazilian’s final home grand prix. It was an emotional scene as mechanics from Mercedes and Ferrari lined up to clap Massa on his way back to the pits. Massa sobbed as he was joined by his family, come to watch his final Grand Prix on the Interlagos circuit. Massa’s first home grand prix, way back at the start of his career, ended with a retirement, and so would his last.
There was still a race to go though. Ricciardo and Verstappen both pitted for wet tyres, making it seem like a podium might be out of reach for either Red Bull driver, but the race wasn’t over yet. As soon as the safety car returned to the pits, Verstappen got back to what he did best: overtaking.
One by one, Verstappen picked off drivers: Bottas, then Ricciardo, then Kvyat, Ocon, Nasr, Hulkenberg. The Red Bull looked almost unstoppable as he cut through the field. Sebastian Vettel, who had managed to climb up all the way to fifth, looked to put a stop to that progress though. V
Verstappen tried a move around the outside of the Ferrari, but Vettel closed the door on the youngster. Next, Verstappen tried the inside line, pushing Vettel onto the grass and speeding past the Ferrari. Another clean, decisive move brought Verstappen past former teammate Sainz, and then there was only Perez between him and the podium it seemed he was almost destined for. Verstappen looked at the outside line before trying to get past the Force India all the way around the outside. He briefly lost the back of the Red Bull, but kept in control to come side by side with Perez. Verstappen pushed past, into third.
Ahead, Hamilton had had a quiet race, speeding away whenever there wasn’t a red flag or a safety car, and took a comfortable win. The Brit has been trying for ten years to get a win at Interlagos and now, in the 44th race at the track, he’s got it. Rosberg finishing second brings the gap down to twelve points ahead of the final race at Abu Dhabi.
RESULTS:
1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points
2. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 18 Points
3. Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Netherlands / + 15 Points
4. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 12 Points
5. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 10 Points
6. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Spain / + 8 Points
7. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / + 6 Points
8. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Australia / + 4 Points
9. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil / + 2 Points
10. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / + 1 Point
11. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland
12. Esteban Ocon / Manor-Mercedes / France
13. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Russia
14. Kevin Magnussen / Renault-Renault / Denmark
15. Pascal Wehrlein / Manor-Mercedes / Germany
16. Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain
RETIRED - Esteban Gutierrez / Haas-Ferrari / Mexico / Engine Failure
RETIRED - Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / Collision
RETIRED - Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain / Collision Damage
RETIRED - Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / Collision
RETIRED - Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / Collision
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Collision
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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