Hamilton wins after Verstappen is shot

The 33-year-old Brit achieved a hard-fought victory in the thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo on Sunday ahead of Mexican winner Max Verstappen in the Red Bull and Kimi Räikkönen in the Ferrari. Fourth in the tire and overtaking thriller was Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull, followed by Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes. Only then did Vettel follow. The 31-year-old Ferrari driver didn't get past sixth place.

On the journey to the team title in the penultimate race of the season, the Silver Arrows duo first proved their class. Hamilton's noble helper Bottas pushed past Vettel on just 340 meters uphill to the left bend with a downhill gradient. Before that, Hamilton confidently defended the 100th pole for Mercedes in the premier motorsport class. Things could hardly have started worse for Vettel and Ferrari on the already extremely difficult mission of stopping Mercedes from winning another constructors' triumph. If there hadn't been Verstappen there too. Vettel struggled more with his car and had to let Räikkönen pass and then the Dutch Red Bull driver.

Ferrari's tactics don't work Ferrari's supposed rubber trump card was lost after just a few of the 71 laps. Vettel and Räikkönen opted for the more durable soft tires in the crucial section of qualifying. Hamilton and Bottas started on the softer supersoft compounds. Meant: faster wear, earlier pit stops. In addition, the asphalt temperatures on Sunday were higher than during the laps on the previous days.

This obviously bothered the Red Bull less than the Silver Arrow. On lap ten, Verstappen also grabbed Bottas and set off in pursuit of Hamilton. Behind him, Bottas also kept his Finnish compatriot Räikkönen on Vettel. The big question: When did Hamilton and Bottas have to go into the pits and change the tires? Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen mostly drove behind in their Ferraris. © APA/afp / NELSON ALMEIDA

At first, surprisingly, Ferrari indicated a stop, but in fact first Bottas changed the four wheels on their cars in 2,4 seconds and then Hamilton in 2,6 seconds. Both received medium mixture. Would they be able to complete the race to the end?

They wouldn't feel good, Hamilton complained after a short time and feared that he had changed the tires too early in the duel for victory with Verstappen. Almost ten laps after the silver duo, Vettel drove his Red Goddess into the pits and also had the medium rubber fitted - in an incredible 1,9 seconds. But Vettel would have nothing to do with the victory, that was clear. Verstappen became the top candidate when he regained the lead from Hamilton on lap 39 after changing his tires. Shortly before, the Mercedes man had complained about a drop in performance and called for rain. “What a fucking idiot” It wasn't rain that washed him forward again, but rather a collision between Verstappen and Esteban Ocon in the Racing Point Force India on the 44th lap. “What a damn idiot,” Verstappen cursed. Ocon received a ten-second penalty for the completely unnecessary maneuver. Verstappen was now really up to speed. While Vettel had the tires changed for the second time, the 21-year-old chased the leader Hamilton. In vain, the Briton won a race for the first time after an early World Cup triumph. It was the 72nd of his career.

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Hamilton wins after Verstappen is shot

For Sebastian Vettel, the last hope of winning the consolation prize in the Ferrari this year was destroyed. Two weeks after his fifth driver's title in Formula 1 with Mercedes, rival Lewis Hamilton also celebrated his fifth triumph in the constructors' championship for the Silver Arrows.

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