@LewisHamilton wins #BrazilianGP, @MercedesAMGF1 wrap up fifth constructors title – #F1

Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix as Mercedes wrapped up it’s fifth successive Constructors Championship after Max Verstappen was taken out of the race lead while attempting to overtake Esteban Ocon.

 

 

Verstappen flew by Hamilton early in his second stint and was moving clear when his Red Bull got sent into a spin after a tangle with Ocon’s Racing Point Force India.

 

This relegated the Dutchman behind Hamilton, who managed engine and tyre concerns to remain clear and claim victory after clinching the title for the first time – the Briton was winless in the Grands Prix he completed after securing the championships in 2015 and 17 respectively.

 

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top three after taking advantage of team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s struggles early on and Valtteri Bottas’ hopes for a podium were dashed.

 

When the Brazilian Grand Prix began, pole sitter Hamilton got a great start off the line whilst Vettel locked up into turn one, allowing Bottas to pass the Ferrari around the outside and moved into second place.

 

On lap three, Hamilton was slowly pulling away as behind them Verstappen passed Raikkonen for fourth place with a stunning move before the braking zone around the outside on the crest.

 

A lap later, Verstappen dived past Vettel on the inside into turn one as the Ferrari’s were struggling to get the tyres up to grip.

 

Vettel then went wide at turn four after a lockup as Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen passed the German.

 

Verstappen continued his impressive charge as he gained closer to Bottas’ Mercedes and made the move stick on lap 10 on the inside into turn one for second place.

 

Bottas began to struggle as fellow Finnish compatriot Raikkonen started to attack the Mercedes attempting to pass him around the outside of turn four but Bottas held his ground and held onto fourth.

 

Hamilton continued to hold a 1.6 second gap over the Dutchman while team-mate Bottas was the first of the front runners to pit for mediums on lap 19.

 

The Briton pitted a lap later and relinquished the lead to Verstappen while the Ferrari’s of Raikkonen and Vettel’s longer first stint on the softs continued.

 

Hamilton emerged on track in seventh place and had to pass Leclerc and Grosjean to keep in the lead battle.

 

Verstappen remained out on track ahead of the two Ferrari’s of Raikkonen and Vettel as the Dutchman was comfortable out front.

 

Vettel was the first of the Ferrari’s to pit on lap 28 for a set of mediums and came out behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in ninth.

 

On lap 30, Verstappen held a 9.694 lead from Raikkonen, with Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo in third while Hamilton was up to fourth and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc completed the top five.

 

Raikkonen pitted on lap 32 and emerged behind team-mate Vettel in seventh as both Ferrari’s were less than two seconds behind fifth placed Bottas.

 

On lap 35, Vettel let Raikkonen by for sixth place to try and push Bottas for fifth.

 

Race leader Verstappen pitted from the lead on lap 36 for the soft compounds and emerged in third place behind Hamilton while Ricciardo continues his long first stint in-front.

 

Vettel was dropping back of the Bottas/Raikkonen fight for fourth.

 

Verstappen was eating into Hamilton’s advantage and on lap 40 caught the Briton and flew past the Mercedes on the main straight.

 

Hamilton then fought back at turn four, but Verstappen held his line while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo pitted from the lead for a set of softs and came out 1.6 seconds behind Vettel in sixth place.

 

Verstappen rapidly built a 2.2 gap over Hamilton while Ricciardo posted the fastest lap and was right on the tail of Vettel.

 

Ricciardo then made a move around the outside of the German into turn one but Vettel held his ground and ran the Australian out of room.

 

On lap 44, drama struck for Verstappen after he spun out after contact with Force India’s Esteban Ocon. Verstappen passed the Frenchman into turn one but Ocon fought back around the outside and the Dutchman tried to get ahead into the second part of the Senna S before the pairing collided giving Hamilton the lead.

 

While this took place, Raikkonen passed Bottas for the final podium position.

 

Ricciardo then attempted to go around the outside of Vettel again at the first corner and made slight contact, but this time the Red Bull squeezed his way through. Vettel tried to fight back at turn four with DRS but Ricciardo made it stick for fifth place.

 

On lap 50, Hamilton held a 4.727 second gap to Verstappen with Raikkonen third, Bottas fourth and Ricciardo rounding out the top five.

 

“I have massive floor damage,” said Verstappen. He asked for details, so he could understand how it’s affecting his RB14 racer.

 

Vettel pitted for a set of supersofts on lap 54 and returned to the track in seventh behind Leclerc.

 

In-front Verstappen was half a second quicker than Hamilton with the gap down to 3.5 seconds.

 

Vettel then posted the fastest lap of the race and finally caught Leclerc to pass him for sixth place.

 

Ricciardo then passed Bottas for fourth into turn one as the Australian moved into fourth while Bottas pits again for soft tyres.

 

Verstappen brought the gap to race leader Hamilton down to 2.5 seconds with the Briton reporting understeer while Ricciardo posted the fastest lap of the race and 2.1 seconds behind Raikkonen in fourth.

 

Bottas and Vettel were half a second off the lead while the Finn pulled away from the German to hold fifth.

 

Hamilton called for blue flags as he dealt with traffic from McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Williams’ Lance Stroll.

 

Verstappen was two seconds behind Hamilton and needed to pass the backmarkers with the latter reporting his tyres were worn out.

 

Behind them, Ricciardo was right on the back of Raikkonen’s Ferrari in the battle for third and was within DRS range.

 

Verstappen then closed the gap down to Hamilton to 1.5 seconds, setting up a close finish.

 

Hamilton then moved by Sergey Sirotkin and Ocon, with Verstappen also getting by with the gap remaining the same.

 

With 5.2 seconds covered the top four of Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen and Ricciardo.

 

Hamilton just held on to win the Brazilian Grand Prix by 1.459 seconds from Verstappen while Raikkonen kept Ricciardo at bay to complete the podium.

 

“These guys have worked so hard, the last six years has been an incredible journey with them,” explained Hamilton after taking his 72^nd career victory. “Everybody tries to get the best out of themselves and pull together as a unit. It was an honour to drive for them today.”

 

“We were having issues with the engine, then we got back into contention. I saw it happen, it wasn’t surprised by it, I saw them racing, they weren’t racing for the same position. Fortunately, he was able to get back going.” Hamilton concluded.

 

Bottas completed the top five ahead of Vettel who was sixth and Leclerc who finished seventh.

 

Haas F1 Team duo Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen came home in eighth and ninth respectively with Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez rounding out the top ten.

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley finished outside the top ten in 11^th place, with the Kiwi furious over the radio at team-mate Pierre Gasly for not following orders to switch positions.

 

Gasly, who was also angry, eventually let Hartley by on the last lap but also lost a position to Renault’s Carlos Sainz and settled for 13^th.

 

McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne finished in 14^th place and ahead of the aforementioned Ocon who was 15^th and Sirotkin who took 16^th.

 

The other Renault-powered McLaren of Alonso who was given a five second time penalty for ignoring for blue flags, came home 17^th as Williams Martini Racing’s Stroll finished at the rear.

 

There were only two retirements at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson stopped in the early stages after sustaining damage at turn one, with the Swede falling down the order and suffering a spin following his pitstop.

 

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was told to stop after the Anglo-French outfit reported high engine temperatures.

 

The Formula 1 Grande Premio Heineken Do Brasil 2018 Race Results Classification (71 Laps)

POS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	GAP
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	71	1h27m09.066s
2	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	71	1.469s
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Scuderia Ferrari	71	4.764s
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	71	5.193s
5	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	71	22.943s
6	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	71	26.997s
7	Charles Leclerc	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	71	44.199s
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	71	51.230s
9	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	71	52.857s
10	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India F1 Team	70	1 Lap
11	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	70	1 Lap
12	Carlos Sainz	Renault Sport F1 Team	70	1 Lap
13	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	70	1 Lap
14	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	70	1 Lap
15	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India F1 Team	70	1 Lap
16	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Martini Racing	69	2 Laps
17	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	69	2 Laps
18	Lance Stroll	Williams Martini Racing	69	2 Laps
–	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault Sport F1 Team	32	Retirement
–	Marcus Ericsson	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	20	Retirement

 

 

2018 Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship Standings

1. Lewis Hamilton – 383 Points.
2. Sebastian Vettel – 302 Points.
3. Kimi Raikkonen – 251 Points.
4. Valtteri Bottas – 237 Points.
5. Max Verstappen – 234 Points.
6. Daniel Ricciardo – 158 Points.
7. Nico Hulkenberg – 69 Points.
8. Sergio Perez – 58 Points.
9. Kevin Magnussen – 55 Points.
10. Fernando Alonso – 50 Points.

2018 Formula 1 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 620 Points.
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 553 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing – 392 Points.
4. Renault Sport F1 Team – 114 Points.
5. Haas F1 Team – 90 Points.
6. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 62 Points.
7. Racing Point Force India F1 Team – 48 Points.
8. Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team – 42 Points.
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 33 Points.
10. Williams Martini Racing – 7 Points.

 

The final round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 2018 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from November 23-25.