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2024 F1 Grand Prix of São Paulo — Results & aftermath

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Verstappen recovers from P17 start to take masterful victory in the rain at Interlagos; McLaren & P6 Norris miss out with pit strategy, as Alpine capitalize on chaos to score surprise double podium with Ocon & Gasly

It was a tale of two polar opposite moods for Red Bull’s points-leading Max Verstappen in the quest for his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship and McLaren’s Lando Norris on his hunt for his first crown on a hectic, rain affected São Paulo Grand Prix. With Saturday qualifying postponed until Sunday due to torrential downpours, conditions were not that much better this morning, leading to multiple red flags and crashes. But it was also completed and set the race grid for just a little later in the day, with Norris soaring to take the pole while Verstappen was hampered by a red flag in Q2, thereby bounced in P12 and then handed a 5-spot grid penalty for engine component changes. That meant the Flying Dutchman was mired down in P17 to start the race, while his chief challenger started from P1. With the rain moderate on the formation lap,  Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll spun off the circuit, leading to confusion and a false start before the grid was reorganized for the proper beginning of the race. When the lights finally went off, Norris lost P1 to the ambitious Mercedes of George Russell, who made the superior getaway, while Verstappen set about picking off back markers and improving his position as much as possible. The modern Rainmaster did just that, and by Lap 11 he had already passed the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri for P7, with ambitions for even greater results.

The dilemma for all the drivers soon became when exactly to come in for fresh Pirelli wet weather tires. Ferrari were the first to pull the trigger, calling Charles Leclerc in for new Intermediates. While Norris debated making that move with his race engineer, the rain began intensifying again. When Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg brought out a Virtual Safety Car with a spin and temporarily getting stuck off track, both Norris and Russell pulled the trigger on their first pit stops. But Hulkenberg was quickly helped to get running again by the over eager marshals, for which the German was eventually black flagged from the race, and the VSC ended just as suddenly as it began, leaving Norris & Russell unable to take full advantage of the field’s previously reduced speed. With the rain now pelting down on Interlagos, a Safety Car was deployed on Lap 30 to slow things down to a safe pace. But very soon after rookie Franco Colapinto binned his Williams after hydroplaning, which brought out a Red Flag stoppage on Lap 32. Under Formula 1’s quirky rules, that meant that the entire field was entitled to a free change of tires while stationary in the pits, putting all those who had already stopped at a major disadvantage. 

For Verstappen, that was just the stroke of luck he needed and when the race resumed, he trailed only the unlikely leader, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Another Safety Car was deployed on Lap 43 when Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari, putting the Spaniard’s difficult weekend in Brazil out if its misery a week after his triumph in Mexico. When racing resumed on Lap 43, Verstappen got the jump on Ocon and took a lead he wouldn’t relinquish by the time the full 69-laps were in the books. Meanwhile, Norris ran wide on that same restart and found himself plummeting down to P7. Verstappen scampered away to the tune of an eventual 19.47-second final advantage over Ocon and took an astonishing win in São Paulo to earn his first victory since Round 10 in Spain back in June. But Norris was only able to gain one more place when all was said and done and finished P6. It was a huge shift in momentum back to Verstappen in the championship hunt and a blow to Norris, who now trails by 62-points with only  three races remaining. While the timing of the pit stop and the eventual Red Flag really hurt Norris, Verstappen made his own luck with a superb drive in the rain and an improbable and historic comeback victory after that lowly P17 start. This may well have been the race that ends up defining the 2024 season and secures Verstappen’s fourth consecutive title when the final story is written in the F1 history books.

Top 10 finishers of the São Paulo GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

69

2:06:54.430

26

2

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

69

+19.477s

18

3

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

69

+22.532s

15

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

69

+23.265s

12

5

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

69

+30.177s

10

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

69

+31.372s

8

7

22

Yuki Tsunoda

RB Honda RBPT

69

+42.056s

6

8

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

69

+44.943s

4

9

30

Liam Lawson

RB Honda RBPT

69

+50.452s

2

10

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

69

+50.753s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

After an absolutely bonkers conclusion in Brazil to a three races in a row triple header, the teams finally get a breather. The next race is three weeks hence, as the Formula 1 circus travels back to the United States for the Las Vegas Grand Prix under the gaudy lights of the strip and the Sphere. With momentum now swinging firmly back towards Verstappen after his heroics in São Paolo today, Norris and McLaren will look to regroup and get their man back into his now long shot Drivers’ Title hunt. Who knows how things will go in this most unpredictable Formula 1 season? But there is one sure thing — rain will definitely not be a factor in Vegas. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of São Paulo — Qualifying results

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Norris takes pole amidst carnage of delayed, rain soaked, red flag-affected Quali in Brazil; Russell fights to an impressive P2, Tsunoda a surprise P3 for RB Honda; Sainz crashes out, Verstappen & Perez also knocked out in Q2

Driver Alexander Albon walks away from his crash-damaged Williams

Top 10 qualifiers for the São Paulo GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:30.944

1:24.844

1:23.405

33

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:29.121

1:26.307

1:23.578

29

3

22

Yuki Tsunoda

RB Honda RBPT

1:29.172

1:26.464

1:24.111

30

4

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

1:29.171

1:26.206

1:24.475

31

5

30

Liam Lawson

RB Honda RBPT

1:30.758

1:25.654

1:24.484

30

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:29.839

1:26.097

1:24.525

29

7

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:29.072

1:25.889

1:24.657

28

8

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:30.114

1:25.179

1:24.686

28

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:30.207

1:25.035

1:28.998

21

10

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:30.580

1:26.334

19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Verstappen sambas to record extending & record breaking victory in Sao Paulo; Norris takes another second place in breakout season; Alonso out-duels Perez in scintillating battle for P3

Hot on the heels of his Saturday Sprint win, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his campaign of total dominance on Sunday, surviving early race chaos behind him to take yet another assured win at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Despite a solid effort by eventual runner-up Lando Norris of McLaren, Vertsappen was never put under any real pressure during the 71-lap contest and simply managed the race and his tries from the point all day long. Verstappen bested Norris by a comfortable 8.277-seconds in notching his record-extending seventeenth win of the season, also breaking the 71-year old record for greatest percentage of wins in a season, previously held by the legendary Ferrari pilot Alberto Ascari. With his third consecutive F1 title in the bag several races ago, Verstappen simply keeps putting the pedal to the metal and, with only two more rounds remaining in the season, it’s hard to see the flying Dutchman lifting off the throttle and giving someone else a chance at the top step. Continue reading →

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Russell takes first F1 win in Sao Paulo, Hamilton P2 to extend Mercedes’ late season surge; Sainz P3 for Ferrari ahead of Leclerc; Verstappen vociferously refuses to help teammate Perez

Mercedes up and coming young driver George Russell made good on the team’s constant faith in his talents and earned his first Formula 1 victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday. Spearheading a late season charge by the Silver Arrows, Russell started first on the grid after winning Saturday’s Sprint race and then survived an incident-filled 71-laps on the short and tricky Interlagos circuit to break his duck and claim his maiden F1 win. Better still for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton was able to survive early contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to come home P2, proving that the recent improved showing by the W13 were not just flukes due to the thinner atmosphere in Mexico City or a unique synergy between driver and track after Hamilton’s excellent showing at COTA in the USGP. After struggling mightily with porpoising to begin the campaign under the new aero specs and then being simply too draggy to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari until really the latter third of the season, Mercedes’ advancements might be too little too late for this year but bode well for a more competitive, possible 3-team competition in 2023. Hamilton and Verstappen also collided after a Safety Car restart on Lap 7, with neither car badly damaged but Verstappen requiring a new front wing and receiving a 5-second penalty as the guilty party, there were certainly shades of last year’s epic tense and testy season-long duel. Let’s hope it’s foreshadowing for next year.

Behind the top two Mercs there was a ton of tension and intrigue. Ferrari managed to come home with Carlos Sainz in P3 and Charles Leclerc in P4 after somehow recovering from a Lap 7 coming together with McLaren’s Lando Norris just after the Hamilton-Verstappen kerfuffle. It was an impressive rally from the Monegasque, whose Prancing Horse at first looked to be in real trouble after spearing into the barriers. While both Leclerc and his F1-75 proved resilient as they fought their way forward, less impressive was his repeated requests to the Ferrari pit wall to tell Sainz to let him by for the extra points. While it’s understandable that Leclerc would want every available advantage to try and secure second in the Drivers’ championship, bumping his teammate from a podium was never going to fly and simply made Leclerc seem a little whiny and desperate.

But that was nothing compared to what went down late race at team Red Bull. With Verstappen’s race compromised because of that early clash with Hamilton, it seemed that Perez might have the best opportunity to spoil Mercedes’ day. But the team had kept Perez out on Medium tires late in the race and the Mexican was forced to defend rather than attack, as Sainz came upon him after another Safety Car period ended on Lap 59 on fresher and superior Soft tire. Despite his best efforts, the veteran Mexican was easy meat for Sainz, the Spaniard making the overtake on Lap 63, a lap after DRS had been re-enabled. Worse still, Leclerc followed suit a lap later and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso also scooted by him on Lap 65. At this point, Verstappen had caught also up to Perez and the team somewhat curiously told Perez to let Max through to “take some points off Alonso and Leclerc”. But, despite the fact that Verstappen couldn’t make anything happen with that theory and stayed stuck in P6, the current World Champion then inexplicably refused direct team orders to hand the place back to Perez to finish out the race. That proved pivotal in the Drivers’ Standings, because while Leclerc salvaged P4 after his stressful adventures on the day, Perez sank to P7 behind his not-very-team oriented teammate Verstappen. The resultant points scoring on the day put Leclerc and Perez into a tie with 290 points, but Leclerc would earn the tiebreaker if it remained that way because he has more wins on the season. It remains to be seen if Verstappen, who many are theorizing still holds a grudge for Perez bringing out the Red Flag way back at Monaco qualifying to deny the Dutchman pole, will feel he’s made his point and go back to aiding Perez’s quest for P2 in the Championship at the last race in Abu Dhabi. However things turn out at Yas Marina next week, Verstappen’s diva-like behavior in Sao Paulo will likely not be forgotten by the popular Perez or by his legions of Mexican and non-Mexican fans. Frankly, there’s no putting that particular toothpaste back in the tube and it could cast Perez’s continued membership on the Red Bull team into some serious doubt.

With the two Alpine’s of Alonso and Esteban Ocon playing reasonably nice for a change, the team had a very good day at the races. First and foremost was Alonso’s most impressive drive. Staring from P17 on the grid behind Ocon after the pair had tangled multiple times in the Sprint race, the Spanish two-time World Champ put in a brilliant effort to come home all the way up in P5 and ahead of both Red Bulls. Combined with Ocon’s solid P8 and a double DNF for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who knocked out Haas’ Kevin Magnussen along with himself on the opening lap, and Lando Norris, whose car died on Lap 52 bringing out the final Safety Car, it made for a 19-point lead for Alpine over McLaren for P4 in the all-important Constructors’ points with only the one race remaining. Valtteri Bottas also scored decent points for Alfa Romeo with a ninth-place finish and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took the final point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paulo GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 1:38:34.044 26
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +1.529s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +4.051s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +8.441s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 71 +9.561s 10
6 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +10.056s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +14.080s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 71 +18.690s 4
9 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 71 +22.552s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 71 +23.552s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In one week’s time, it’s the final race of the 2022 season — the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the futuristic and colorful Yas Marina Circuit. The last of the prizes will be claimed and it will be more than a little interesting to see if Verstappen can overcome his bizarre fit of pique and actually help his teammate Perez to prevail over Leclerc for P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Likewise, can Mercedes finish on another high and keep the good vibes flowing into the off season? Stay tuned & hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out as Formula 1 draws to close for the year!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Sprint Qualifying results

Magnussen earns first F1 pole in rain-effected quali but Russell wins Saturday Sprint race at Interlagos

Formula 1’s final Sprint Qualifying of the season went down on Saturday at a wet Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo. While Haas’s Kevin Magnussen had the thrill of winning his first F1 pole during Friday qualifying thanks in no small part to a well-timed Red Flag and subsequent rainy conditions, that only earned the veteran Dane the honor of starting first in the Sprint race, which will actually set the grid for Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP. While it was a more lively than usual affair, probably due to all the major 2022 prizes having already been scooped up by team Red Bull and their peerless ace, Max Verstappen, the fairly gimmicky 24-lap Sprint format began in dry conditions that saw Magnussen quickly overwhelmed by faster cars. Mercedes’ George Russell, driving aggressively but smartly, eventually earned the win ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P2 and Verstappen in P3. In truth, the Haas driver benefitted greatly on Friday from Russell beaching his Silver Arrow midway through Q3, which brought out a Red Flag just before the skies opened over Interlagos. So, no other drivers could match Magnussen’s fast lap that he had set in drier conditions. But on Saturday the conditions were not particularly wet from the start despite cloudy skies, allowing the field to start on slick tires rather than Intermediates and the stronger cars to perform up to their true capabilities. As Magnussen faded to a P8 finish, Russell surged forward to dice with Verstappen, eventually passing the Dutchman for the race lead, the Red Bull having picked p some front wing damage after a clash with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz early on. That slowed the Red Bull enough to where both Sainz and the second Merc of Lewis Hamilton were also able to pass Vertsppen in the waning laps of the Sprint, though Sainz will be relegated 5-grid spots come race day due to engine component changes, making a front row lockout come race time.

Saturday Sprint Race Top 10:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 24 30:11.307 8
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 24 +3.995s 7
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 24 +4.492s 6
4 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 24 +10.494s 5
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 24 +11.855s 4
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 24 +13.133s 3
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 24 +25.624s 2
8 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 24 +28.768s 1
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 24 +30.218s 0
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 24 +34.170s 0

Friday Qualifying results:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:13.954 1:11.410 1:11.674 26
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:13.625 1:10.881 1:11.877 23
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:14.427 1:11.318 1:12.059 24
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:13.106 1:11.377 1:12.263 25
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:14.680 1:10.890 1:12.357 24
6 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:14.663 1:11.587 1:12.425 22
7 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.542 1:11.394 1:12.504 21
8 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:13.403 1:11.539 1:12.611 25
9 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:13.613 1:11.456 1:15.601 26
10 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:14.486 1:10.950 DNF 25

Complete results and final starting grid available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP airs live on ABC beginning at 1PM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Mercedes resurgence is for real, if Ferrari can overcome their tentative and clumsy strategy calls to grab a victory or if Verstappen has been sandbagging en route to padding his record win total.

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Hamilton battles back from penalties & P10 start to take crucial victory in Brazil, besting P2 Verstappen; P3 Bottas heads P4 Perez on good rebound day for Mercedes

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton put his indelible stamp on this race weekend from Sao Paolo, Brazil, and added to his already formidable legend as one of Formula 1’s absolute greats. Overcoming adversity in the form of multiple penalties that led to him starting from P10 on the grid today, he masterfully drove his way through the field to earn a decisive victory over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Brazilian Grand Prix. The hard earned win delivered a crucial hit of momentum to Hamilton’s quest for an unprecedented eighth Drivers’ Championship. After seeing his top spot in the Sprint Qualifying race disqualified due to an illegal rear wing DRS aperture after Friday “qualifying”, the English marvel put the bit between his teeth to finish P5 in Saturday’s Sprint race, which sets the grid for Sunday’s GP. But he was already facing another 5-spot penalty for the team’s decision to change internal combustion components, so that meant he therefore lined up in P10 to start the race. However, Mercedes power proved supreme at the short, high speed Autódromo José Carlos Pace, aka Interlagos, and no matter how many advantages Verstappen appeared to have by starting from P2 and quickly passing Hamilton’s pole-sitting teammate Valtteri Bottas for the top spot midway into Lap 1, Hamilton just kept coming at the Dutchman all race long.

After both Red Bull and Mercedes teams determined that a two-stop strategy and doing the last two stints on Hard Pirelli tires was optimal for this warm weather, 71-lap contest and the quartet of top contenders had all made their second stops — Verstappen trying for the undercut on Lap 40, followed by Bottas on Lap 42 and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Hamilton on Lap 43 — the blue touch paper on this simmering race was well and truly lit. On lap 47, P2 Hamilton set the race’s fastest lap and pulled himself within DRS range of the leader, Verstappen. On the subsequent lap he tried for a move going into Turn 4 and Verstappen appeared to shove him off track and into the large runoff area in defense but the stewards determined no investigation was warranted. Hamilton was forced to grit his teeth, clean his tires for serval laps and regroup for another run to try and take that elusive lead. By Lap 58 he was back on Verstappen’s tail despite the Dutchman’s use of creative lines to defend. But on Lap 59 the pure power of that fresh Mercedes engine paid the dividend the team were looking for, as Hamilton again made a forceful move against the weaving Red Bull heading into Turn 4 to finally execute the pass and take a lead that Hamilton held, leading to an ultra-satisfying victory when the checkers flew.

Perez was able to steal the bonus point for fastest lap off Hamilton with a late pit stop but Lewis still pulled himself to within 14 points of Max in the title hunt. Mercedes also slightly padded their lead in the all important Contractors’ standings to a still pretty skinny eleven points by dint of Hamilton’s win and P3 Bottas finishing ahead of P4 Perez. With just three races remaining in the season, it will now be difficult but not impossible for Hamilton to come from behind and derail Verstappen’s quest for his first title. After his sublime and gritty performance to take a remarkable victory in Sao Paolo, Verstappen certainly knows Hamilton can never be counted out. He has, of course, done it seven times before.

Top 10 finishers of the Bazilian/Sao Paolo GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 1:32:22.851 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 71 +10.496s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 71 +13.576s 15
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 71 +39.940s 13
5 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +49.517s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +51.820s 8
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 70 +1 lap 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 lap 2
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time but half a world away — the debut of the Qatari Grand Prix and the Losail International Circuit on the F1 calendar at a vital point in the season. Heading to the third leg of a triple header of race weekends, the teams will be under tremendous pressure to get all their gear over, get set up and then extract as much data as they can about this brand new circuit before next Sunday’s race. And nothing will be as pivotal as how Hamilton and team Mercedes and Verstappen and team Red Bull deal with that diamond-forming pressure as the 2021 Championship enters its final trio of contests. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Sprint Qualifying results

Bottas wins Saturday Sprint race to wrest pole from Verstappen; Sainz stays ahead of Perez for P3; Hamilton makes mighty recovery drive from last to take P5 after losing Friday’s qualifying time due to rear wing violation

The last of the experimental and somewhat gimmicky Sprint Qualifying races of the 2021 Formula 1 season here at Interlagos in Sao Paolo, Brazil provided the most entertainment since deploying this format, primarily due to the fact that Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton had his Friday qualifying results disqualified when his rear wing’s DRS aperture failed inspection for being too wide. That sent Hamilton, who thought he had grabbed “pole” for this mini race that sets the grid for tomorrow’s Brazilian GP all the way to the rear to start the 24-lap Sprint quali. Compounding his challenge, Hamilton, who is in the unfamiliar position of trailing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the championship by nineteen points with just four rounds remaining, was already facing a 5-spot grid penalty after the team decided to take a fresh power unit for this weekend. But, displaying his supreme competitiveness in front of happily packed grandstands, Lewis drove the wheels off his Silver Arrow in an effort to make the very best of a bad situation, passing a veritable passel of cars to take a P5 finish after starting twentieth and dead last on the grid. That means he will at least have a fighting shot at a podium come race day Sunday, as even with his engine change penalty he will start in P10 tomorrow.

Better still for Mercedes and their own Constructors’ Championship aspirations, their second pilot Valtteri Bottas got the better of Verstappen when the lights went out and stole the lead from the erstwhile Sprint pole-sitter, which the Finn did not relinquish despite the Dutch contenders best efforts. That puts Mercedes in a good spot because it certainly looks like the Silver Arrows duo, who both have fresher engines now than their Red Bull counterparts, seem to have the legs over their arch-rivals at this short, high speed circuit. That observation appeared to be confirmed when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was able to keep the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez behind him despite being on the more rapidly degrading Soft Pirellis, the Spaniard edging the Mexican P3 to P4.

Top 10 Sprint race qualifiers for tomorrow’s Brazilian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 24 29:09.559 3
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 24 +1.170s 2
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 24 +18.723s 1
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 24 +19.787s 0
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 24 +20.872s 0
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 24 +22.558s 0
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 24 +25.056s 0
8 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 24 +34.158s 0
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 24 +34.632s 0
10 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 24 +34.867s 0

Complete Sprint results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 12PM Eastern here in the States. If today’s Sprint was any harbinger, look for Hamilton to carve his way to the front while hoping that Bottas can keep Verstappen behind him until he arrives at the scene. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Verstappen rolls to victory for Red Bull in wild Brazilian GP; Gasly an ecstatic P2, Sainz promoted to P3 after Hamilton penalized for late race collision with Albon; Ferrari teammates crash out

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had the wings all day long and rolled to a dominant win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, his peerless performance the one constant in a topsy-turvy contest at sunny Interlagos on Sunday. With no bad weather to throw curveballs during the proceedings the contestants themselves provided the unpredictability and occasional rashness that led to a thrilling race and the unexpected result of having Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz take P2 and P3 respectively to share the podium with Verstappen and grab their highest career finishes in Formula 1. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was demoted from P3 after a late race gamble to pit from the lead for fresh rubber under Safety Car conditions backfired. Instead, it led to a major loss of track position when the Englishman emerged in P4 and a desperate attempt to get back to the front when the Safety Car was withdrawn with only three laps remaining. But while the newly minted six-time champ got by Gasly for P3 easily enough he couldn’t make a clean pass on the P2 Red Bull of Alexander Albon. Hamilton stuck his nose in forcefully on the penultimate lap going into Turn 10 but the door closed quickly and he ended up spinning out the impressive Thai rookie, denying Albon a probable second place result — a first potential podium for the youngster — and what could have been an even more amazing day for the Red Bull team. Hamilton, perhaps a bit too honestly, accepted full responsibility for the incident and was promptly penalized off the podium down to P7, much to Sainz’s and McLaren’s overjoyed advantage. Worse still for Mercedes, the second car of Valtteri Bottas suffered an oil pressure failure on Lap 52 that led to the Finn’s first retirement since the rainy crahfest at Hockenheim in late July.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But as disappointing as things ended up for mighty Mercedes they went even more sideways for Ferrari. With Charles Leclerc making a heroic effort to claw back positions after a pre-race grid penalty saw him start down in P14 and Sebastian Vettel running solidly at the front and hunting a podium, it seemed almost inevitable that the two intra-team rivals would end up fighting over the same piece of track as the laps wound down. With Leclerc on slightly fresher Soft Pirellis, having pitted four laps later than Vettel during the Bottas Safety Car period, the Monegasque was able to close the gap to his senior teammate, who had lost precious time and, in fact, lost out while dicing with Albon for P3. On Lap 66 of this 71-lap contest, Leclerc was close enough to make a move and pass Vettel coming out of Turn 3 heading into the Reta Oposta. But Vettel got the DRS on Leclerc as they both steamed into Turn 4, the Descido do Lago. Vettel got his nose ahead but pressed his advantage just a little too aggressively, pushing across the track and into Leclerc’s front tire and wing with his left rear tire. As quickly as that, both Ferraris were out of the race, with the hard-charging Leclerc’s day of brilliant recovery work done in by a broken front right suspension courtesy of his teammate. Simultaneously, Vettel’s left rear tire delaminated badly after the contact and the carcass became a buzz saw whipping away at all that precious carbon fiber body work. It was a hell of a finish for the famed Scuderia going from a guaranteed strong points day to zero and will certainly not please the braintrust at Maranello. It’s also sure to worsen the already strained relations between the upstart would-be team leader and the decorated veteran, who has in truth made more than his fair share of mistakes during his tenure at Ferrari.

But whatever drama and fireworks happened behind them, the day belonged to the trio of Verstappen, Gasly and Sainz. No one could touch the Dutchman all race long and both Red Bulls seemed to be way ahead of their key rivals in terms of getting their tires to both turn on and maintain performance here at this very short and busy 4.3 kilometer circuit. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Verstappen seizes pole in Sao Paolo for Red Bull; Ferrari’s Vettel P2, Hamilton P3 for Merecedes

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen earned his second career pole position and second of the year during Saturday qualifying for the Brazilian Gran Prix. The Dutch wunderkind was consistently faster than the more vaunted Ferraris and Mercedes, as the Red Bull team look to finish the season strong and stick it to the big boys in the penultimate race of the Formula 1 calendar tomorrow at Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Sao Paolo, more commonly know as Interlagos. Verstappen was over a tenth quicker than Sebastian Vettel’s P2 Prancing Horse and the P3 Silver Arrow of newly minted 6-time champion Lewis Hamilton. Known for having driven one of the best ever wet weather races here back in 2016, Verstappen will be looking to keep his top spot until the checkered flag flies on Sunday and earn his first Brazilian GP win.

With the teams originally mixed and matched at the front of the grid, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was promoted to P4 alongside his teammate Lewis Hamilton even though Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc bested the Finn in quali because Leclerc faces a 10-spot grid penalty come race day due to a power unit change. It should be fun watching the talented young Monegasque motor his way back up to the front from a lowly P14 start. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Hamilton gifted win in Sao Paolo after Verstappen tangles with backmarker, Bottas P5 to secure Contructors’ title for Mercedes; Raikkonen P3, Vettel P6 as Ferrari fall short once again

Newly crowned World Champion Lewis Hamilton is never one to pass up an opportunity for victory despite having already clinched his fifth world title. Looking like a certain runner-up to  the dominant Red Bull of Max Verstappen in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, Mercedes’ ace pilot instead took advantage of Verstappen’s misfortune and possible impatience to positively snipe the win at Interlagos in Sao Paolo. After running a flawless race with great strategy and a surprisingly quick Red Bull beneath him, Verstappen’s race was undone in an instant a mere 8 laps after he made his first stop for tires and just four laps after passing Hamilton on the circuit to take what looked to be an unassailable lead. It all went sideways on Lap 44 when a backmarker, the Force India of Esteban Ocon, tried to unlap himself and raced the Dutch wunderkind hard going into the Senna esses.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Perhaps expecting Ocon to back off, Verstappen appeared to turn in as the Frenchman instead dove down the inside to try and stay on the lead lap. The two cars collided with the result that Verstappen spun off the track and watched helplessly as Hamilton steamed by him to regain the lead while his Red Bull waited to reenter the track safely. Verstappen also incurred significant damage to his RB14 chassis’ floor but was able to maintain his P2 position and even hound Hamilton a bit towards the end of this 71-lap contest. But despite having to nurse his slower Medium compound Pirellis to the end of the race and with some potential engine gremlins creeping into the mix, Hamilton had enough pace to hold off the irate Dutchman and win his tenth Grand Prix this year out of twenty races. Hamilton’s victory coupled with his teammate Valtteri Bottas’s P5 finish locked up the Constructors’ title for mighty Mercedes, their fifth in a row, and ensured that this resurrected Mercedes factory effort will go down as one of the most dominant teams of any era.

After the race, a livid Verstappen confronted Ocon at the post-race weigh-in and initiated a shoving match. Continue reading →