Lewis Hamilton produces stunning drive to claim F1 Brazilian GP victory
F1 Brazil GP 2021 – race analysis
Great comeback for Hamilton from tenth position
It is a World Cup that does not stop giving emotions. A Lewis Hamilton stronger than the disqualification and the penalty for replacing the engine goes to win the São Paulo Grand Prix in an amazing way and keeps the fight for the championship alive more than ever. The comeback of the English driver was amazing, protagonist of a battle of the past with Max Verstappen before the decisive paw 12 laps from the end.
The Dutchman tried them all to defend himself from an unrivalled Mercedes on the Interlagos track, first pushing his rival off the track in turn 4 (a maneuver not evaluated by sanction for the Race Direction) and then zigzagging on the Reta Oposta (exposure of the white and black flag), but he could not do anything in the decisive lunge always at the Descida do Lago.
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Verstappen had however been the protagonist of a perfect start, passing Valtteri Bottas at the first corner and taking Sergio Perez behind. The Finn then easily passed Hamilton, who in a few laps had already risen from tenth to fourth place, also benefiting from a Virtual Safety Car to overtake the Red Bull Mexican and bring home a very important third place for the Constructors’ World Championship.
Ferrari before the others, but very far from Mercedes and Red Bull. Charles Leclerc finished fifth ahead of Carlos Sainz, with the Monegasque showing a better pace this time than the Spaniard after passing him at the start. Behind them Pierre Gasly, author of two beautiful overtakes on the Alpine of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in the last laps of the race, while Lando Norris takes home a tenth place after suffering a puncture at the start.
Daniel Ricciardo retired: a significant blow for McLaren in the fight for third place in the Constructors’ standings.
Race results. F1 Brazil GP 2021.
Hamilton: “You must never give up”
“Now I think I’ve experienced what a Brazilian was experiencing with all the support behind him. I’m really grateful, it was from Silverstone that I didn’t have so much cheering on my side. Today was really difficult. I have to say thank you to the team, the team did a fantastic job. Valtteri was very good today, bringing as many points as possible to the team. I pushed as hard as I could, but starting from the last place on the grid, with five more penalty positions, I think it was the hardest weekend of my life. But my father reminded me of 2004, when in F3 in Bahrain I started last. I had finished in tenth place and then in first. This race is for my father. Fight for the championship? On the eve of the weekend I never thought we could recover so many points as we did today. This shows that you must never give up. We must continue to push and fight. You must never stop fighting. This victory seems to me like the first. I hadn’t won in a long time.”
From P10 on the grid to P1 at the finish 🚀
You have voted @LewisHamilton as your Driver of the Day in Brazil! 🏆#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/PhgsQalB5L
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2021
Read the interview of Lewis Hamilton here!!!
Wolff and the “friendly greeting to the Race Director”
The São Paulo Grand Prix rewarded Lewis Hamilton as the overall winner of the race, characterized by a comeback by the British Mercedes driver as exciting as it was spectacular. The reigning champion, who started from 10th position on the grid, recovered to second position, completing an overtaking of Max Verstappen that allowed him to cross the finish line first to the applause of the Brazilian public. A weekend, that of Interlagos, started very badly for the number 44, between penalties and disqualifications suffered even before the Sprint qualifying. Yet, despite these not insignificant obstacles, The Hammer has launched itself in the hunt for its biggest rival Red Bull, shortening the gap in the championship standings to 14 points, with three more races to play.
A result that made the team principal of the German team, Toto Wolff, go crazy with joy, who thus vented his enthusiasm at the end of the race also in Sky Sport F1, not without giving up some arrows aimed at Red Bull:
“Lewis was smart, super smart to avoid contact – he commented – and it was great to see these two drivers fight, but there would have been to give a five-second penalty or other similar sanctions. In some respects the race was also difficult for us, and Lewis did not want to comment on this decision made by the Race Direction. It’s really hard to defend yourself like that to the limit.
Hang this in the Louvre. 😂 pic.twitter.com/Xk9Ah6L8pB
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 14, 2021
My gesture in the pits was just a friendly greeting to the race director. Yes, because we started the weekend on the wrong foot for the penalty inherent in the power unit, and then we got a disqualification yesterday that was hard to accept. However, the team has always remained united, even more so after these verdicts. We will continue to fight, and we will never be victims. I’d just like to see Max’s on-board. It’s spectacular to see how Lewis moved outside to avoid contact. Red Bull wing? It is the third time they have made a change in the closed park. We did it yesterday for a part that was broken and we didn’t even get permission, while they did it three times. But that’s the way it is. The strength we put into this race allowed us to win. We know that Red Bull always has to complain, we expect their protests, but this is the philosophy of this championship. There is inquisition and protests, it is part of the game. Whoever wins this championship at the end of the season will have deserved it, and we will always respect it. The car is completely legal – he added – and we thought it was even after qualifying. He didn’t pass the test because the flap because the rear wing was damaged.”
Verstappen: “Penalty? No, we were fighting for the position”
“I could have lost ten points, but I lost five. So I would say that overall it went well.” Max Verstappen today could not oppose the cyclone that was Lewis Hamilton, who took his sixth victory of the season despite a weekend full of difficulties, first with the new thermal engine that cost 5 penalty positions and then even with the disqualification from the Grand Prix Qualifying for an irregularity found at the level of DRS that led to the exclusion and therefore to the start from the bottom in the Sprint Qualifying. The new thermal engine, however, allowed Hamilton to fly at the level of top speed, making vain the strenuous defense of Verstappen, who did not hesitate to send himself and Hamilton on the grass in Turn-4 on the occasion of Hamilton’s first attack.
The Red Bull driver does not consider himself lucky not to have received a penalty:
“We were fighting for the position. I do not think that the Commissioners should have taken any action. It was a good battle. Not just once, but several times I had to defend myself and tried to do everything I could. I believe that the result, however, is the maximum we could achieve. Surprised by their performance? Yes, I was hoping that we would have a little more, but already at the beginning of the weekend we saw that it would be hard. See. Now there are three races that are totally different and we’ll see how it goes there.”
FERRARI
Sainz: “Good pace, but I started really badly”
Race completely in contrast to the Sprint Qualifying for Carlos Sainz in Brazil. The first key point to analyze for the Spaniard is the start, where he failed to replicate yesterday’s masterpiece by unintentionally coming into contact with Lando Norris’ McLaren. An ineffective exit from the S do Seine also facilitated the overtaking of Leclerc, to whom he could not respond to the Descida do Lago.
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“I lost at the start even before the contact with Norris – Sainz specified – I didn’t have to find myself fighting with him in turn 1, I started really badly. I think I did the same procedure as yesterday, I did everything the same but for some reason I had a lot of skating. It’s one of those things that I don’t understand and that we’ll have to analyze with the engineers. From then on I had a good pace and good tyre management, but here it’s difficult to pass.”
“I was very fast all weekend. I wanted to finish in the top-5, I had the pace and all the credentials to finish later – added the Spaniard – I followed Charles throughout the race but with the dirty air it was difficult to get closer to more than two seconds. We had a good pace, but when you lose everything at the start, for two weekends in a row like here and in Mexico, when you were faster, it leaves you with a bad feeling. But things can go like this and we will continue to improve. The important thing is that I’m improving every race and I’m giving myself opportunities.”
