Just when it looked like Lewis Hamilton’s pursuit of a record-breaking eighth Formula One world championship was fading faster than one of his discarded engines, along comes a race like the Sao Paulo Grand Prix where the Mercedes driver proves why he’s one of the greatest of all time.
DQ’d in qualifying due to a technical infringement and dinged five spots on the grid in Sunday’s race for swapping internal combustion engines, Hamilton overcame the odds making up 15 places during Saturday’s sprint and nine in the grand prix to take the chequered flag in Brazil for his 101st career victory.
The only thing hotter than the track was Hamilton, who wasted little time at the start to make up ground on the field. Sunday’s race is more like a marathon than a sprint (pun intended) and Hamilton could have easily taken his time picking off the field one by one. However, you also don’t want to lose too much ground stuck in traffic. Hamilton jumped ahead from 10th to sixth on the opening lap then chased down the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Teammate Valterri Bottas, who started on pole position but lost two spots to the Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez on the opening lap, obeyed Mercedes’ orders to slow down and allow Hamilton to breeze by as the hunt was on.
A safety car and virtual safety car period allowed the field to bunch up and by lap 18 Hamilton was on Perez’s tail. The two shuffled spots before Hamilton was able to break away for good on the following lap.
The most intense moment came on lap 48 when Hamilton looked to make a move on Verstappen, however, the Dutch driver appeared to force both himself and his opponent off the course in order to maintain the lead. Although neither car made contact, it was enough for the stewards to investigate and Verstappen escaped without a penalty.
That set the stage for laps 58 and 59 with Verstappen weaving side to side to desperately fend off Hamilton until he couldn’t hold on any longer. Hamilton poured the pressure and forced Verstappen to defend too hard and lose his line. That opened the door ajar and Hamilton kicked it off its hinges to slip by and away.
No question Hamilton was the driver of the day as he had to fight to earn this victory and close the gap in the drivers’ championship. With Verstappen finishing second, his lead has now been cut down to 14 points with three races remaining.
Bottas, who finished third, helped Mercedes maintain their slim hold on the constructors’ with only a two-point gap over Red Bull.
Until today, no driver had won from further back than P8 on the grid at Interlagos @LewisHamilton started P10 today #BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/d6d8K9epb3
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2021
Red Bull gets the last laugh
Every point matters at this point in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings. With Perez safely secure in P4, Red Bull called him into the pits on the penultimate lap for soft tires in an attempt to steal the fastest lap point from Hamilton.
Mission accomplished. As Hamilton was already waving to the crowd on his victory lap, Perez laid down the fastest time of one minute, 11.010 seconds to snag the bonus point as he crossed the finish line.
It might seem petty but you never know how things will unfold in the chase for the championships, especially with only two points now separating Red Bull and Mercedes.
Every point is vital in this title fight P4 and Fastest Lap for @SChecoPerez #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/iDDotAP8Zg
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) November 14, 2021
Happy Birthday, Lando
It’ll be a birthday Lando Norris definitely isn’t going to forget anytime soon. The McLaren driver turned 22 on Saturday (if that makes you feel old, I’m not sorry) and started fifth on the grid.
Norris attempted to pass Sainz on the outside right at the start, but made contact with the Ferrari and sustained a punctured tire as his car limped all the way around almost the entire track to get back to pit lane.
Although that took Norris out of the contention, it didn’t take him out of the race as he was able to valiantly fight his way back up into 10th and into the final spot for points.
AlphaTauri, Alpine remain level
So, how did our driver of interest Pierre Gasly fare? Well, the AlphaTauri driver didn’t crack the podium but managed to finish seventh to score six points.
However, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished right behind him in eighth and ninth, respectively, to earn a combined six points and keep their team tied with AlphaTauri for fifth place in the constructors’ standings.
Dishonourable mention to Gasly’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who made a rookie mistake early in the race attempting to pass Canadian driver Lance Stroll of Aston Martin on the inside of turn one. Tsunoda quickly ran out of real estate and lost his front wing in the collision — not only forcing him to pit but also bringing out the safety car while workers cleaned up the debris. The Japanese driver was issued a penalty and finished 15th.
Canadian Content
Stroll’s collision with Tsunoda ultimately forced him to retire after completing 47 laps. It was the third DNF of the season for the Montreal driver.
Nicholas Latifi, who was born in Montreal and grew up in Toronto, managed to outperform Williams teammate George Russell in Saturday’s sprint to start 16th on the grid. That’s also where Latifi finished albeit thanks to retirements from Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren.
Early damage didn’t stop him from pushing hard, but in the end, his race came to an early finish. Lance will have another chance for points next week. #BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IsX4BX1G9Q
— Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) November 14, 2021
Up Next
The tour of the Americas has come to a close and it’s now off to the Middle East for the final stretch of the season beginning with the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix next Sunday at Losail International Circuit.
