Brazilian GP: Valtteri Bottas takes pole on up and down day for Lewis Hamilton + FULL grid

Valtteri Bottas took pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday as team-mate and world champion Lewis Hamilton endured a controversial and barnstorming day on and off the Interlagos track.

READ | DARRYN BINDER JOINS BROTHER BRAD BINDER IN MOTOGP IN 2022

Bottas claimed pole for Sunday’s showpiece by winning the 24-lap sprint race.

World championship leader Max Verstappen will start the grand prix beside the Finn on the front row in his Red Bull.

It was Lewis Hamilton, however, who ended the day as the chief headline maker.

READ | MARC MARQUEZ SEEING DOUBLE, SITS OUT FINAL MOTOGP RACE

The seven-time world champion, who now trails Verstappen by 21 points in the title race with four events left, was relegated to the back of the grid for Saturday’s sprint.

That was due to his disqualification from Friday qualifying, where he had been the fastest man on the track, after his car was judged to have breached technical rules.

Hamilton shrugged off that setback by flying through the field from last place to finish fifth from 20th in the sprint.

However, he will still start Sunday’s race in 10th place having already been given a five-place grid penalty for an engine change on his Mercedes.

“Of course, it was devastating,” Hamilton told Sky Sports of his disqualification.

“But you can’t let that hold you back, keep your head down, I’ve got to keep going.”

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff was overjoyed at Hamilton’s performance.

“Brilliant job, damage limitation,” said Wolff on the team radio.

“Copy,” replied Hamilton. “It’s not over yet.”

You heard the man. #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/6i8JUcXMnX

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 13, 2021

Verstappen was passed by Bottas on the first corner and then briefly by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz before coming home in second place.

“The start itself wasn’t the best and then we were on the harder compound, that didn’t help,” said the Dutchman.

“I think the pace was quite good but around here once you close up you can’t really pass. But it’s OK.”

Earlier on Saturday, after a lengthy stewards’ meeting, Hamilton was penalised after his Mercedes’ DRS system (the flap mounted on the rear wing of the car which opens to gain top speed) was judged to have exceeded allowed limits.

“The team will not be appealing Lewis’ disqualification from Quali. We want to win these World Championships on the race track,” tweeted Mercedes.

Verstappen, meanwhile, was fined 50,000 euros ($57,000) for “touching” the Mercedes of Hamilton but was not handed a grid penalty.

The Red Bull star was spotted examining Hamilton’s car in the secure parc ferme after qualifying on Friday.

“It is clear to the stewards that it has become a habit of the drivers to touch cars after qualifying and the races,” said a statement from the stewards.

“This was also the explanation of Verstappen, that it was simply habit to touch this area of the car which has been a point of speculation in recent races between both teams.

“This general tendency has been seen as mostly harmless and so has not been uniformly policed. Nevertheless, it is a breach of the parc ferme regulation and has significant potential to cause harm.”

The rest of Sunday’s leading places will see Sainz and Sergio Perez in the Red Bull on the second row.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari make up the third row ahead of Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri and Esteban Ocon of Alpine.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in an Aston Martin shares the fifth row with Hamilton.

The Brazilian Grand Prix, which was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, was the third race this season to stage a Saturday sprint after Britain and Italy.

After Sunday’s grand prix, three more remain in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Sunday’s race is due to start at 19:00 SA time.

Brazilian Grand Prix grid on Sunday:

Front row

Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes)

Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda)

2nd row

Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)

Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda)

3rd row

Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)

Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

4th row

Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda)

Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault)

5th row

Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes)

Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)

6th row

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)

Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault)

7th row

Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari)

Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes)

8th row

Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda)

Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes)

9th row

George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes)

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari)

10th row

Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari)

Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari)

Note: Lewis Hamilton demoted five places on grid for engine change in his Mercedes