Vettel beats Bottas to win Brazilian GP while Hamilton storms to fourth

 

 

Sebastian Vettel broke Ferrari’s drought with victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix by passing Valtteri Bottas at the start while Kimi Räikkönen kept a fast-charging Lewis Hamilton at bay to complete the podium.

 

Vettel took a great launch to pass pole sitter Bottas into the Senna S and controlled the entire race with a sole pit-stop from the red-branded Super Softs to the Softs.

 

Hamilton however, started from the pit lane after crashing out in the first stage of qualifying and stormed through the field, coming out of the pits in fifth place as the newly crowned four-time World Champion pumped one fastest lap after the other.

 

 

Hamilton flew past Max Verstappen’s RB13 and closed-down the gap to his rivals upfront, but could not get by Räikkönen, who ensured the Scuderia scored a double podium.

 

When the 71 lap Brazilian Grand Prix began, Bottas and Vettel got a similar launch off the line, but the German pushed alongside the Finn and took the inside line into the Senna S and swept his way into the lead.

 

While the front-runners avoided the chaos behind, Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne and Daniel Ricciardo tangled upon the exit out of the Senna S, inflicting terminal damage to the Haas VF-17 and McLaren, while Ricciardo spun and fell to the back.

 

 

Further up into sector two, Romain Grosjean and Esteban Ocon went wheel-to-wheel as they approached Ferradura, though the Frenchman lost control of his VF-17 racer in the middle of the corner and collected Ocon, causing the duo to spin in the process.

 

Ocon’s VJM10 suffered internal damage, giving the Mercedes prodigy his first retirement in Formula 1, while the Safety Car was released to clear the debris.

 

After five laps, the race resumed as Vettel re-established his lead Bottas, which hovered around the two-second area, with Räikkönen Verstappen held third and fourth respectively.

 

 

Hamilton meanwhile, jumped to 14th through the dramatic start and charged through the midfield putting on a series of overtakes into the Senna S.

 

Hamilton after flying past Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley into Ferradura, stormed ahead of Lance Stroll, Marcus Ericsson, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr. into the Senna S on consecutive laps.

 

Hamilton got passed Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg into Descida do Lago, flew around the outside of Sergio Pérez at the Senna S, and rapidly caught Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso who were battling ahead and made short work of the duo.

 

 

That put Hamilton in fifth place, with the Briton seventeen seconds behind Vettel, who still had Bottas behind who remained in the two second gap.

 

Mercedes made the first move by pitting Bottas on lap 27, and Ferrari replied next lap bringing in Vettel.

 

The undercut assisted Bottas to tuck right behind Vettel’s SF70H racer, but the German moved clear and escaped DRS range by the time they reached the next zone.

 

With Räikkönen and Verstappen also pitting, Hamilton stayed in-front on Softs and maintained a three-to four-second lead over Vettel as they made their way through the tailenders.

 

Hamilton made his stop on lap 43 and emerged 18 seconds behind race-leader Vettel as the Briton started charging towards Verstappen, who reported rear-tyre struggles on his RB13 racer.

 

Verstappen kept Hamilton behind into the Senna S but Hamilton breezed passed along the Reta Oposta and continued to eat into the leading trio’s gap.

 

However, Hamilton locked up into the Senna S and lost valuable time as the Briton was unable to put Räikkönen under intense pressure for the final podium place.

 

Vettel kept a comfortable lead over Bottas for the rest of the proceedings and reached the chequered flag 2.762 seconds ahead to score his fifth victory of the season, and first since the Hungarian Grand Prix.

 

“Initially I had a good getaway then I had wheelspin, so I thought I missed my chance,” Vettel explained as he took his 47^th F1-career victory.  “Then Valtteri had the same so I think I surprised him. I wanted to pull a gap and control the race from there. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for us but it’s nice to get both cars on the podium here.”

 

Verstappen who fell behind Hamilton, begged his team to allow the Dutchman to make a second stop as the Milton-Keynes squad approved his request as he rounded out the top five.

 

Ricciardo after being involved the opening lap tangle, made a great recovery, storming through his midfield challengers with a succession of passes into the Senna S.

 

Ricciardo’s alternate Soft/Super Soft strategy put the Australian in sixth place as he finished ahead of the battling Massa, Alonso and Pérez.

 

Massa undercut Alonso in the pits and remained in-front as the Spaniard spent the rest of the Grand Prix trying to get within DRS range of the Brazilian, while the fast-charging Force India of Pérez was behind.

 

The trio were running close towards the end as Massa crossed the line in seventh place in his final home Grand Prix and received a huge roar from the fans as he was given time on the podium alongside Brazilian-compatriot Rubens Barrichello after the race.

 

Alonso fended off Pérez to finish eighth, as Renault’s Hülkenberg completed top 10 for Renault and ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz.

 

Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly came home in 12^th place and in-front of Sauber duo Marcus Ericsson and Pierre Gasly who were 13^th and 14^th respectively.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean and Williams’ Lance Stroll finished at the rear and two laps down.

 

Formula 1 Grande Premio Do Brasil 2017 Full Results Classification (71 Laps)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	Pts
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	71	1:31:26.262	0
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG F1	71	+2.762s	0
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari	71	+4.600s	0
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG F1	71	+5.468s	0
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	71	+32.940s	0
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	71	+48.691s	0
7	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing	71	+68.882s	0
8	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda F1	71	+69.363s	0
9	11	Sergio Perez	Force India F1	71	+69.500s	0
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault Sport F1	70	+1 Lap	0
11	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault Sport F1	70	+1 Lap	0
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso	70	+1 Lap	0
13	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team	70	+1 Lap	0
14	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber F1 Team	70	+1 Lap	0
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	69	+2 Laps	0
16	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Martini Racing	69	+2 Laps	0
NC	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso	40	DNF	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India F1	0	DNF	0
NC	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	0	DNF	0
NC	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda F1	0	DNF	0

 

2017 World Drivers Championship Standings – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – 345 Points
2. Sebastian Vettel – 302 Points
3. Valtteri Bottas – 280 Points
4. Daniel Ricciardo – 200 Points
5. Kimi Räikkönen – 193 Points
6. Max Verstappen – 158 Points
7. Sergio Pérez – 94 Points
8. Esteban Ocon – 83 Points
9. Carlos Sainz – 54 Points
10. Felipe Massa – 42 Points

 

2017 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG F1 – 625 Points
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 495 Points
3. Red Bull Racing – 358 Points
4. Force India F1 Team – 177 Points
5. Williams Martini Racing – 82 Points
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso – 53 Points
7. Renault Sport F1 – 49 Points
8. Haas F1 Team – 47 Points
9. McLaren-Honda F1 – 28 Points
10. Sauber F1 Team – 5 Points

The final round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the 2017 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from November 24-26.