In a race full of stoppages and delays, it was Hamilton who dominated throughout. However, the amazing drive for Verstappen from 16th to 3rd in just a few laps stole the headlines, the Dutchman once again proving his incredible talent. Here is a round up of all the action surrounding the Brazilian GP.
Mercedes
A dominant showing from Hamilton, saw him take an easy win, unchallenged throughout, with a perfect drive in the tricky conditions. Rosberg was off the pace all weekend, and struggled in the race. Fortunately for him, the Red Bulls messed up their strategy, handing him second place. He is now 12 points ahead going into the final race of 2016.
Lewis Hamilton P1
Coming into this weekend, Hamilton knew he needed to prevent Rosberg from winning in order to keep his championship hopes alive. Having never won in Sao Paulo, the home race of his hero Ayrton Senna, he was determined to add this race to his tally of victories.
And he did just that, dominating the whole weekend, he was unbeatable in qualifying. A drive of perfection in the treacherous conditions on Sunday, which caught out so many, meant he won by a huge margin over his teammate. Between laps 31 and 49, he built up a 23 second lead, only to lose it all in the safety car period.
Despite looking to be in a vulnerable position, he was immediately on the charge and by the end of the race, after just 16 laps, that advantage over his teammate was back to 11 seconds. Even though his hopes of a fourth world championship win this year look unlikely, he certainly showed why he is one of the most successful Formula One driver of all time.
Nico Rosberg P2
Rosberg did once again do all that he needed to keep his title hopes on track. However, as Hamilton didn’t hesitate to point out, luck was certainly on his side. Had Red Bull not made the wrong call for both Ricciardo and Verstappen, he could have found himself down in fourth. On pace alone, Verstappen should have finished ahead. And if Rosberg hadn’t saved his spin on the last corner? Well, it would have been a different story all together…
Despite this, 18 points is still 18 points whether or not we believe he deserved them. And it means Rosberg is certainly most likely to win the championship at the title decider in Abu Dhabi. If he does, he is a deserving champion. With 9 wins this season and 23 career wins, he is the most successful driver not to win a championship. But, this weekend once again proved that Hamilton – on his day – is a much better racer.
Red Bull
Making two pit stops to Mercedes’ zero, Red Bull were on the backfoot going into the final 15 laps of the race. Ricciardo was 12th and Verstappen 16th with few laps left. Ricciardo drove well to eighth but it was Verstappen who stole the show. An incredible drive, likened to that of Senna, saw him fly though the pack, up to third place. However, disappointing as could have secured second today.
Max Verstappen P3
Wow… just wow! From 16th to 3rd in just 15 laps. His sensational drive into the podium spot was nothing short of extraordinary. Christian Horner described it simply as “one of the best drives I’ve ever seen in F1”.
Easily picking off his rivals one by one, Verstappen made incredible progress through the field at a rate of one driver per lap just about. In the tough conditions, most drivers were struggling to keep their car on the track, but not Verstappen. Passing around the outside, in moves considered risky even in dry conditions, Verstappen once again proved he is an incredible talent – with many once again making the comparison to the likes of Schumacher and Senna.
Daniel Ricciardo P8
Despite a number of great overtakes after also finding himself near the back after the safety car, Ricciardo’s performance was overshadowed somewhat by the incredible showing from Verstappen. Even though he was ahead of Verstappen after the race resumed, he finished down in eighth.
He also was handed a penalty for entering the pits when it had been closed, after failing to see the red light was on in the pit lane entrance after an incident. This meant he had to serve a 5-second time penalty during his pit stop, which had little effect on the result in the end.
Ferrari
Raikkonen was disappointed to crash out whilst running third, on lap 10. His frightening incident brought out the red flags for the second time. Vettel was also caught out by the treacherous conditions, but managed to keep his car out of the wall. Dropping to 19th, he recovered well to finish 5th.
Sebastian Vettel P5
Another disappointment for the Ferrari driver, who had hoped a podium would be possible. Instead, a small mistake on lap 10 and then an additional pit stop, dropped him way down the order. From 19th he recovered well, but was frustrated to be beaten by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz. He also once again showed his annoyance at Verstappen’s aggressive driving style, but the Dutchman received no penalties for the incident much to the frustration of Sebastian Vettel.
Kimi Raikkonen DNF
A brilliant third in qualifying, despite not being pleased with his lap, set Raikkonen up for a strong race. However, a frightening crash just seconds after the second safety car period finished, ended his race prematurely.
Aquaplaning on the pit straight, he made contact with barriers on both sides of the track, fortunately narrowly missing the rest of the pack as they returned to racing speed.
Force India
Sergio Perez P4, Nico Hulkenberg P7
Another impressive showing from Force India, despite both drivers having incidents during the race. Hulkenberg picked up a puncture, which effectively ruined his race, as he had to make a pit stop. This dropped him to a frustrating 15th place, but he fought back into the points from there.
Despite a spin during the safety car, Perez looked set to take a podium finish with just a few laps to go. However, he was unable to keep the incredible Verstappen behind, losing the position. But he was still extremely pleased with fourth.
This result almost guarantees Force India fourth in the championship, after Williams failed to score. 29 points behind, Williams would need a shock result in order to come close to Force India with just a single race remaining.
Williams
Valtteri Bottas P11, Felipe Massa DNF
What could have been a strong result for Williams ended as a huge disappointment. With the heavy rain, Williams knew it would be a tough job, as they usually struggle for pace in such conditions.
At his final home grand prix, Massa had hoped to have a strong showing in front of his fans for the last time. But it was not to be. It started off badly, with him receiving a five-second penalty for overtaking before the safety car line. Hoping the gamble would pay off, Massa then switched to the inters.
Unfortunately, just a few laps later, he aquaplaned into the wall and his race was over. But, he received incredible support from both fans and mechanics from all teams as he returned to the pits. An emotional way to end his final home race in Brazil.
Bottas struggled also on the intermediates, just missing out on the final point to Fernando Alonso, who made it past in the closing stages of the race.
McLaren
Fernando Alonso P10, Jenson Button P16
A fantastic performance in qualifying for Alonso saw him once again make it through to Q3, despite his teammate failing to escape the first session of qualifying. He gambled on the intermediates during the race, dropping him to the back of the field. However, he soon made it back into the top ten before a spin undid all his hard work.
With 15 laps to go, he was behind his teammate Button. But 7 overtakes later, he was 37 seconds ahead of him by the chequered flag. Although, many missed this incredible drive, as Verstappen made his charge through the pack.
A horrible weekend for Button at his penultimate race in Formula One. In both qualifying and the race, he struggled for pace compared to his teammate, believing that something was not right with the car. Finishing last in the race, he was very disappointed with the performance.
Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz P6, Daniil Kvyat P13
After qualifying down in 15th in the dry conditions on Saturday, Sainz welcomed the prospect of rain for the race. Benefitting from not switching to the inters, he was running 7th by the first red flag, despite very few racing laps. From there, he stayed within the points until the end, finishing 6th and collecting an unexpected 8 points for his team.
Suffering a puncture early on and then sustaining damage after being hit by Palmer, Kvyat was unlucky in the early stages of the race. Struggling with the damage along with the wet conditions, he found it hard to make much progress. He was happy to make it to the end after a tough race, but was disappointed with 13th.
Haas
Esteban Gutierrez DNF, Romain Grosjean DNF
Matching Haas’ best qualifying result, with 7th on Saturday, Grosjean was hoping for good things in the race. Sadly, however, he didn’t even make it to the start. Embarrassingly crashing out on his way to the grid, he received too much damage on the car to race. A huge disappointment after a fantastic weekend up until that point.
Gutierrez was disappointed to be out-qualified once again by his teammate, and started 12th, still a strong performance for Haas. Once the race finally got underway, he made good progress through the field and points looked like a real possibility. Unfortunately, however, he had to retire the car with MGU-H issues. Another frustrating race for Gutierrez, who found out this week that he doesn’t have a drive with the team next year.
Renault
Kevin Magnussen P14, Jolyon Palmer DNF
After a tough qualifying, Magnussen started well down the order having failed to reach Q2. During the race, he gambled on the intermediate tyres, one of the first drivers to make the switch, but in the end it didn’t pay off and he finished a long way from the points.
In the difficult conditions, Palmer struggled a huge amount with visibility. On lap 19, after the restart, he was caught out by Kvyat slowing down due Raikkonen spinning across the track and hit the Toro Rosso driver. The contact resulted in substantial damage to his car and he was forced to retire from the race.
Sauber
Felipe Nasr P9, Marcus Ericsson DNF
Qualifying last on the grid, Nasr welcomed the rain as a potential chance to move up the order. Opting not to make the switch to inters, he found himself running within the top ten for the majority of the race. Despite running 6th at one point, he finished the race ninth. But these two points are hugely critical to the team, moving them up from the bottom of the leaderboard. Sauber’s first points of the season came much later than they had hoped but it is incredibly important for them to finish ahead of Manor.
Ericsson, on the other hand, failed to make it to the end of the grand prix. One of the first drivers to change onto the intermediates, he aquaplaned into the wall just two laps later. This incident brought out the red flag and ended his race prematurely.
Manor
Esteban Ocon P12, Pascal Wehrlein P15
A frustrating result for Ocon, having ran inside the top ten for most of the race, only to lose the position just two laps from the end. Although tenth would not have been enough to prevent Sauber from passing them in the constructors’, he would have welcomed his first points in Formula One.
Despite being quicker in qualifying, Wehrlein was well off his teammate in the race. He also opted not to switch to the intermediates and was inside the top ten after the red flags. However, after this, he slipped down the order quickly and finished 15th of the sixteen who made it to the end.
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