Verstappen wins wild Brazilian GP as Ferrari hit disaster with Gasly and Sainz claiming first-career podiums

 

 

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen claimed his eighth-career victory in an edge-of-your-seat Brazilian GP as Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly claimed second, his maiden podium while disaster struck for Ferrari.

 

Pole-sitter Verstappen had to pass Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton twice to score his third win of the season, whilst Gasly beat Hamilton in a straight-line drag race to the chequered flag after being handed second place when Hamilton and Alexander Albon tangled on the penultimate lap.

 

A collision between Ferrari team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc caused the second deployment of the safety car to set up a final four-lap climax to a thrilling Grand Prix, with Albon in second because Hamilton made a switch to the softer rubber under the SC and fell to third.

 

 

When Hamilton attempted to pass Albon on the second to last lap, they hit each other, and the Red Bull spun. This gave Gasly a chance to jump Hamilton and then managed to resist the Mercedes on the rundown to the line in a narrow-close finish.

 

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz also clinched his first-career podium and the Woking-based outfit’s first since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix after being cleared of not using DRS under a double-waved yellow and following Hamilton’s post-race five second time penalty for his collision with Albon, which demoted the Briton to seventh and promoted the Spaniard to third from fourth.

 

Pole sitter Verstappen got a brilliant getaway to lead the Brazilian GP but behind the Red Bull, Vettel not so well as Hamilton aggressively found his way around the Ferrari into turn two to snatch second.

 

Verstappen was already 1.7 seconds clear of Hamilton in the lead while Bottas was pressuring Vettel for third.

 

Charles Leclerc moved up a place after the start and managed to get in-front of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo before the end of the first lap.

 

The Monegasque-youngster tried to get past McLaren’s Lando Norris, but was blocked at Juncao – only to move past the MCL34 with ease on the main straight.

 

After lap five Verstappen lead from Hamilton by 2.5 seconds, with Vettel third, Bottas fourth and Albon fifth.

 

Hamilton was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 21 for a set of softs in an attempt to undercut Verstappen’s Red Bull.

 

Verstappen followed suit a lap later for a fresh set of soft rubber, but was stuck behind the released Williams of Robert Kubica, which allowed Hamilton to move by the Red Bull into the lead.

 

Hamilton and Verstappen were then behind the yet-to-pit Leclerc. They both flew past the Ferrari in quick succession.

 

Verstappen then quickly attacked Hamilton and dived on the inside of the Mercedes to reclaim the lead into the Senna S.

 

Hamilton tried to attack Verstappen again on the back-straight, but the Dutchman had it sorted and easily passed Red Bull team-mate Alexander Albon into third too.

 

Hamilton then went around the outside of Albon’s Red Bull into the Senna S to take fourth.

 

Hamilton reported he wasn’t properly informed about Verstappen’s attack yelling: “Come on guys, give me the information when my battery’s dead!”

 

Vettel then pitted from the lead and put on a set of medium tyres as the German emerged in fifth place between Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and Albon.

 

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas then dived into the pits, with Verstappen leading from Hamilton by 2.2 seconds.

 

On lap 27, Verstappen was 1.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton followed by the yet-to-pit Leclerc, with Vettel fourth and Bottas fifth.

 

Vettel then passed his yet to stop Ferrari team-mate Leclerc for third and then posted the new fastest lap of a 1:12.259.

 

Leclerc pitted as Ferrari put the Monegasque-youngster and made the switch to a fresh set of hards to re-join in sixth place behind Albon.

 

Kubica was then hit with a five-second timed penalty for an unsafe release for the incident with race leader Verstappen in pit-lane.

 

On the 40^th lap, Verstappen lead the Brazilian GP from Hamilton by 3.3 seconds, with Vettel third, Bottas fourth, Albon fifth and Leclerc sixth.

 

Bottas made his second stop on lap 43 for a fresh set of mediums and emerged in sixth behind Leclerc.

 

Hamilton pitted a lap later also for a fresh set of mediums on lap 44 and came out in-front of fourth-placed Albon.

 

Race leader Verstappen reacted a lap later and emerged ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen and Hamilton who was tucked behind the Dane.

 

Verstappen took 1.5 seconds off race-leader Vettel on his first flyer lap with Hamilton a couple of tenths quicker than the Dutchman.

 

Vettel pitted from the lead on the 50^th lap for a fresh set of soft rubber and came out in fourth behind Albon as behind the German, the battle for fifth between Leclerc and Bottas intensified.

 

Bottas was the first retiree from fifth place on lap 52 due to an overheated engine with the Finn slowing to a halt on the inside at the Descida do Lago.

 

It initially was double-waved yellows but required a safety car when a recovery vehicle came to retrieve the Mercedes.

 

The safety car was deployed on the 54^th lap to clear Bottas’ Silver Arrow as race leader Verstappen took advantage to pit a lap later while Hamilton done the opposite of the Dutchman and remained on track.

 

When the race resumed, Verstappen immediately attacked Hamilton straight away as the Dutchman went around of the Briton into the second part of Senna S to reclaim the lead.

 

Behind them, Albon moved passed the Ferrari of Vettel to move into third.

 

Albon then closed in on the Briton for second but found himself under pressure from Vettel again when the Ferrari launched a move around the outside into turn one with seven laps remaining, but Albon managed to resist.

 

With five laps remaining, Verstappen lead the Brazilian GP from Hamilton with Albon third, Vettel fourth and Leclerc fifth.

 

Disaster struck for Ferrari, when Leclerc attacked team-mate Vettel on the inside into the first corner, but when Vettel charged back on the run down to the Descida do Lago the German moved left and the two Ferraris collided.

 

The impact broke Leclerc’s front right wheel and forced the agitated Monegasque-youngster into retirement, whilst Vettel – who blamed Leclerc – suffered a right-rear puncture.

 

This deployed the final safety car under which Hamilton opted to pit yet again, dropping the Briton to fourth place behind Albon and Gasly.

 

A two-lap dash to the finish ensured the safety car period ended and saw Albon and Hamilton collide. Hamilton accepted blame for the incident and was hit with a five-second timed penalty after being held under investigation from the stewards with Albon dropping to 14^th and the Briton was relegated to seventh.

 

Verstappen crossed the line to win the Brazilian GP 6.077 seconds ahead of Gasly who scored an emotional second place by keeping Hamilton at bay by keeping the Silver Arrow behind until Hamilton drew level at Juncao, but the Honda-powered STR14 racer narrowly stayed ahead in a drag to the chequered flag.

 

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz clinched the Woking-based outfit’s best result of the season finishing third following Hamilton’s post-race penalty after starting at the rear of the grid due to not taking part in qualifying.

 

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi scored the team’s best result of the year in fourth and fifth respectively, in-front of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, who came back from a broken front wing and a five-second timed penalty for his early collision with Magnussen to finish sixth.

 

The aforementioned Hamilton following his post-race five second timed penalty for his collision with Albon was demoted to seventh.

 

McLaren’s Lando Norris came home eighth and ahead of ninth-placed Racing Point of Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat who completed the points places.

 

The aforementioned Magnussen was 11^th and in-front of ROKiT Williams Racing’s George Russell who finished 12^thand Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean who took 13^th.

 

The aforementioned Albon was 14^th and ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who was demoted to 15^th from twelfth after being his with a post-race five second-time penalty for overtaking before the race restart.

 

The other ROKiT Williams Racing FW42 of Kubica finished at the rear and one lap down.

 

SportPesa Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was the other casualty on lap 65 after running over debris from the Ferrari incident.

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The Top Three

 

Winner – Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “A lot of fun out there and great to win the race. I was pushing flat-out in my out lap and it was my only shot. We knew we had great top speed all weekend, so I was happy to get past.”

 

 

2^nd – Pierre Gasly, #10, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda, STR14: “For sure, I’ll never forget it. It’s such a special moment, it’s so emotional and to get it with Toro Rosso, these guys have given me a great car since I came back.”

 

 

3^rd – Carlos Sainz, #55, McLaren-Renault F1 Team, MCL34: “PODIUM! A bit weird not being there after the race, but still extremely happy. Today’s race was just unbelievable. The one stop strategy was difficult but paid off. Congrats to the whole team!”

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Formula 1 Heineken Grande Premio Dos Brasil 2019 Race Results Classification (71 Laps)

 

POS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	GAP
1	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda	71	1h33m14.678s
2	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	71	6.077s
3	Carlos Sainz	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	71	8.896s
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	71	9.452s
5	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	71	10.201s
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault F1 Team	71	10.541s
7	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	71	11.139s
8	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	71	11.204s
9	Sergio Perez	SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team	71	11.529s
10	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	71	11.931s
11	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	71	12.732s
12	George Russell	ROKiT Williams Racing	71	13.559s
13	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	71	14.247s
14	Alexander Albon	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda	71	14.927s
15	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault F1 Team	71	13.059s
16	Robert Kubica	ROKiT Williams Racing	70	1 Lap
17	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	65	Collision
18	Lance Stroll	SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team	65	Not running
19	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari	65	Collision
–	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	51	Power Unit

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Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – 387 Points.
2. Valtteri Bottas – 314 Points.
3. Max Verstappen – 260 Points
4. Charles Leclerc – 249 Points.
5. Sebastian Vettel – 230 Points.
6. Pierre Gasly – 95 Points.
7. Carlos Sainz – 95 Points.
8. Alexander Albon – 84 Points.
9. Daniel Ricciardo – 54 Points.
10. Sergio Perez – 46 Points.

 

You can see the rest of the World Driver’s Championship standings at the following link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/drivers.html

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Formula 1 2019 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 701 Points.
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 479 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda – 391 Points.
4. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 140 Points.
5. Renault F1 Team – 91 Points.
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 83 Points.
7. SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team – 67 Points.
8. Alfa Romeo Racing – 57 Points.
9. Rich Energy Haas F1 Team – 28 Points.
10. ROKiT Williams Racing – 1 Point.

 

The final round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 from Friday November 29-Sunday December 1.

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You can catch up on what happened during the week of the Brazilian GP at the following links:

 

@Max33Verstappen beats #Vettel to #BrazilianGP pole. #F1 #BrazilGP #Qualifying

 

#Vettel leads @ScuderiaFerrari 1-2 in red-flag affected #BrazilianGP FP2. #F1 #BrazilGP

 

@RedBullRacing’s @Alex_Albon tops dampened #BrazilianGP FP1 session despite crashing. #F1 #BrazilGP

 

#F1 Newsbites – #BrazilianGP Edition. @F1 #BrazilGP

 

@RedBullRacing confirm @alex_albon for 2020 and @ToroRosso retain @PierreGASLY & @kvyatofficial. #F1