Strategy to chaos, Verstappen kept his head to win in Brazil
Max Verstappen beat first time podium finishers Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz to the Brazilian Grand Prix victory while Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton provided the late-race drama.
Ferrari were left with nothing but recriminations as Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided, putting both out of the race, while Hamilton could blame Mercedes for his late-race clash with Alexander Albon given they put him that position through an ill-timed pit stop.
He crossed the line in third place behind the Honda-powered Verstappen and Gasly but dropped to seventh when he was penalised by the stewards.
Mighty Max banishes 2018 memories
After last year’s disappointment in which Verstappen led only to finish second after he was pitched into a spin by Esteban Ocon as the then-Racing Point driver tried to unlap himself, he wanted revenge at the Brazilian GP.
He succeeded.
The Dutchman and Red Bull had all the answers throughout the 71-lap race as Mercedes and Hamilton threw everything – even a surprise late pit stop into the mix – into the mix.
Verstappen led from pole position through to the chequered flag, only ever relinquishing the lead through pit stops but then quickly making his way back to the front.
The Dutchman and Hamilton mimicked each others’ strategies with Verstappen pitting a lap before Hamilton and then Hamilton a lap before Verstappen.
The story line changed, though, when Valtteri Bottas retired with an engine issue on lap 52, bringing out the Safety Car.
Verstappen pitted for fresh tyres, Hamilton did not opting instead to take track position.
The Mercedes champ found himself to be a “sitting duck” as Verstappen stormed by at the restart prompting Mercedes to try a similar move on Verstappen at the second Safety Car restart, this time this result of the Ferrari team-mates clashing.
But with just five laps remaining in the race it was ill-timed move with Hamilton falling to fourth. He hit Alexander Albon as he tried to recover, the Thai racer paying a big price for Hamilton’s mistake as he lost his first podium finish.
Verstappen raced unchallenged to the chquered flag ahead of Gasly and Hamilton before the stewards penalised the reigning World Champion, dropping him to seventh.
Gasly benefitted from the chaos as the Toro Rosso driver, who was on course for best of the rest in P7, made up five places in the final 20 laps.
He rose up the order as Bottas, both Ferraris, Hamilton and Alexander Albon came up short to grab his first-ever F1 podium.
It was also a first visit to the top-three for McLaren’s Carlos Sainz as he was promoted through Hamilton’s penalty.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, the stewards only made the decision after the podium ceremony meaning he has yet to enjoy the full podium experience.
Mercedes and Ferrari throw it all away
Both Mercedes and Ferrari had a Sunday afternoon to forget.
Mercedes’ first signs of trouble came on lap 51 when smoke began to pour from the back of Bottas’ W10.
In a season in which the Brackley squad has shown remarkable reliability, Bottas’ Sunday ended in an engine failure as he ground to a halt on the side of the track.
The Finn was the first retirement of the grand prix but by no means the last as 10 laps after the restart Ferrari put not only but two cars out of the race.
Vettel was running fourth when his team-mate Leclerc attacked him for a position, a great pass by the youngster.
Vettel, though, didn’t take it lying down and fought back only for the two to make contact. Both suffered punctured and were forced to park their cars.
As to be expected the team-mates blame one another for the incident. The team boss, Mattia Binotto, blames them both.
But while the Ferrari drivers should hang their heads in shame, it was perhaps Mercedes decision to pit Hamilton under that second Safety Car that raised eyebrows the most.
The very late in the race call dropped the Brit from second to fourth, leaving him with a lot of work to do in two laps.
Hamilton was over-eager and hit Albon.
“Having not had the shiniest of races to that point, we then just did something plain dumb, which was – we thought we were exchanging a place for fresh rubber with enough laps left to get that place back properly and then have a go for the lead,” Mercedes technical director James Allison told Motorsport.com.
“That was just factually incorrect because we were exchanging two places, we hadn’t factored [in] Gasly and secondly with the amount of debris on the track, there was just a lot more laps taken up by the safety car than we’d anticipated.
“And that was just, I think, that your rookie error of a not quite quick enough car on the day and trying to stretch too far for victory. It wasn’t on, we just made a mistake.”
Brazilian GP Result
1 Max Verstappen – Red Bull
2 Pierre Gasly – Toro Rosso – 6.077s
3 Carlos Sainz – McLaren – 8.896s
4 Kimi Raikkonen – Alfa Romeo Racing – 9.452s
5 Antonio Giovinazzi – Alfa Romeo Racing – 10.201s
6 Daniel Ricciardo – Renault – 10.541s
7 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 11.139s
8 Lando Norris – McLaren – 11.204s
9 Sergio Perez – Racing Point – 11.529s
10 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso – 11.931s
11 Kevin Magnussen – Haas – 12.732s
12 George Russell – Williams – 13.599s
13 Romain Grosjean – Haas – 14.247s
14 Alex Albon – Red Bull – 14.927s
15 Nico Hulkenberg – Renault – 13.059s
16 Robert Kubica – Williams – 1 LAP
Did not finish
- Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari – crash with Leclerc
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – crash with Vettel
- Lance Stroll – Racing Point – suspension
- Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes – engine
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