Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton fought through to win F1 Sao Paulo GP from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
It was a frantic F1 Sao Paulo GP start as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas lost his lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Turn 1-2 sequence. The Finn’s wide moment at Turn 4 allowed Sergio Perez through to second as Ferrari duo followed him on the tarmac.
Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard had a small contact with McLaren’s Lando Norris at the start. The Brit tried to get the Spaniard going on the outside on the grass and a small touch sent him off with a puncture.
Norris continued on but had to pit, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was up to sixth ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo after starting from 10th on the grid.
There was a fight for ninth involving Ocon, Ricciardo and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, with the Australian getting ahead at moment but not for long. As Verstappen led the way from Perez, Hamilton climbed up to third after moves one lap after the another.
Mercedes asked Bottas to let Hamilton through but before he count mount an attack, there was a safety car for debris on track due to Turn 1 contact between AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with the Japanese on the inside.
The drivers were asked to get through the pitlane while the debris was cleared and the re-start worked well for Verstappen as he still had the F1 Sao Paulo GP lead from Perez, Hamilton and Bottas, who had to fend off Leclerc for multiple times.
Sainz was seventh from Vettel and Gasly, as Ricciardo passed Ocon for ninth as Stroll passed Alonso for 11th. The Canadian was unscathed in the incident with Tsunoda, who had to pit. The stewards handed him a 10s time penalty for causing a collision.
There was a Virtual Safety Car period to the clear the debris after Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen collided at Turn 1. The German lost his front wing and was forced to pit for a change as the re-start worked well for Verstappen.
Hamilton eventually got Perez after few laps of waiting at Turn 1 but the Mexican fought back and retook second at Turn 4. However, the Brit came back on the next lap and this time made the move stick to eventually take second from the Red Bull driver.
Bottas steadied in fourth from Leclerc and Sainz, as Gasly was seventh. Ricciardo was eighth but it was not easy against Vettel who passed him initially after the Australian made the initial move on him. The next time the Australian kept the place.
Ocon in 10th closed in on Vettel as well, as Alonso passed Stroll for 11th. The Canadian pitted before Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Norris could push him on. The pit stop game was started by Hamilton to get an undercut.
Verstappen answered the call and stayed ahead after his stop but Perez lost third to Bottas as a late stop for the Finn helped him with a cheap stop due to another VSC period to clear the debris. There was parts shed by Stroll on the main straight.
The Mexican seemed to be the only one to lose out as Leclerc had fifth from Sainz with Gasly seventh from Ricciardo, Norris and Tsunoda in the Top 10. Ocon lost out in 11th with Vettel 12th while a slow stop for Alonso dropped him to 13th.
With Norris pitting the second time, Ocon passed Tsunoda with a rather late move to be ninth. The Japanese then lost to both Vettel and Alonso at one go at Turn 1, with the Spaniard getting by the German to get himself in the Top 10.
The next set of pit stop was kicked-off by Verstappen who pitted first with Bottas and Perez following him the later laps. Hamilton went longer and stayed on the hard tyres in second with both the drivers not happy to switch the hard tyres as they wanted mediums.
It was Verstappen ahead of Hamilton and Bottas with Perez in fourth ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, while Gasly defended well from Ricciardo who was well clear of Ocon and Alonso in the Top 10. It wasn’t too long for the Australian as loss of power forced him to retire.
The fight at the front suddenly intensified after Hamilton got on the tail of Verstappen. He went for the move on Turn 4 and almost was in front. The Dutchman left it late in the left-hander as both went on the off-track tramac to finish the corner.
The FIA noted the incident but the stewards decided there was no investigation needed. While Red Bull were naturally fine, Mercedes thought otherwise. Hamilton was relentless in his chase of Verstappen as he continued to pile on the pressure on the Dutchman.
He finally got the move done even before they got into Turn 4 to take the F1 Sao Paulo GP lead with Verstappen shown a black and white flag for weaving at Turn 1. It was the for Bottas to push on as Perez steadied in fourth.
Leclerc and Sainz were fifth and sixth, on course to help Ferrari take a sizable lead over McLaren, with Gasly fighting back on the Alpine pair to be seventh. It was a late move from the Frenchman on Ocon at Turn 1 as they just managed to keep it on track.
Alonso then passed Ocon for eighth as they had one less top to Gasly. Norris was 10th but was being chased by Vettel. At the front, Hamilton had enough to see-through the race and win the F1 Sao Paulo GP by a comfortable margin of over 10s from Verstappen.
Bottas closed in on the Dutchman but did not have enough laps left to end up third as Perez ended up fourth, having pitted for the fastest lap and taken an extra point – away from Hamilton. The Ferrari duo had another superb race to be fifth and sixth.
It was Leclerc ahead of Sainz with Gasly in seventh from Alonso, Ocon and Norris in the Top 10. Vettel closed in on the Brit but didn’t have enough laps to get in his DRS range. Raikkonen was 12th ahead of Williams’ George Russell with Giovinazzi in 14th.
Tsunoda was 15th after serving his penalty in the pits with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi 16th as Haas pair of Nikita Mazepin and Schumacher rounded the 18 finishers. Everyone from Gasly onward were lapped once, with the Haas pair lapped twice in the race.
DNF: Ricciardo, Stroll.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1459954577059553283?s=20
UPDATE: Hamilton was fined €5,000 with an additional €20,000 which is suspended through the end of 2022 for undoing his safety belt on the lap after the chequered flag to celebrate his win – presumably when he took the Brazilian flag. The stewards understood the emotion but wants a F1 driver to lead by example with regards to safety matter.
“The Stewards heard from the team representative and reviewed video evidence. The driver of car 44, Lewis Hamilton, undid his seat belts on the in-lap at the end of the race. While the Stewards are sympathetic to the desire to celebrate, it is fundamentally unsafe to undo the seatbelts while the car is in motion. Slow speeds in these cars are very fast for an unrestrained occupant. Further, Formula 1 drivers set the example for junior categories. It is critical that junior category drivers learn the importance of using all the safety devices of the car at all times. The suspension of the penalty is subject to compliance with Appendix L, Ch. III of the ISC during the period specified,” said the statement.
