FANTASTIC FOURTH FOR LEWIS
Champion storms through field in thrilling drive
LEWIS HamIlton starting at the back of the grid is like a burst of rain — a magic ingredient in Formula one’s mix. It was a truth the world champion proved by marauding through the Brazilian Grand Prix.
For 10 years he has been the man most likely to light up any dull race, and by setting off from the pit lane to finish fourth and within one second of the podium in sunny Sao Paulo, he lived up to expectations.
the world champion’s Sunday was a Sabbath of redemption after his Saturday trauma, a very rare mistake in his stellar season causing his mercedes to slew 90 degrees and plant itself into a tyre wall within the first two minutes of qualifying.
His mechanics, part of a team held up at gunpoint in the violent streets outside the Interlagos circuit on Friday night, toiled tirelessly into the evening to put everything back together, remedial work that included bolting on a new engine — one whose supreme power he never wasted in charging through the field.
Before the race, a crowd gathered in the relative quiet of Hamilton’s garage, away from the populated grid amid the undulations of the circuit, to witness the unusual sight of Hamilton starting 20th and last. He got a hug from former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone as congratulations on winning his fourth title a fortnight earlier.
Hamilton’s task had been in his mind from the moment he opened his eyes. ‘I messed up yesterday and put myself in the worst possible position,’ he said. ‘I was quick enough to win the race from pole, so I made the job a lot harder.
‘there is no room for mistakes when you want to be the best, but you must grow from them.
‘ Waking up this morning, my goal was just to redeem myself and do the team proud and try to get the points back.’
the points are hardly material now the contest is over, and Sebastian Vettel’s first victory since July was too late for him in the title reckoning.
as for Hamilton, it was a champion’s display. He even led the race for 12 laps, though that was because the four cars in front of him pitted. Hamilton’s hopes were given an early boost when three drivers retired on the first lap: Stoffel Vandoorne, Kevin magnussen and Esteban ocon — victims of two separate incidents. Romain Grosjean, who took out ocon, was handed a 10-second penalty for his part in the early pranging. But, even with those three gone, Hamilton still had plenty of work to do once the safety car made way. Yet at the start of lap nine of 71, he went past toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and was up to 10th and a points-scoring position. Hamilton produced his best move to overtake Sergio Perez for seventh, going around the outside of the Force India at the Senna Esses. ‘Gap to Vettel ( the leader) is 15
sec,’ Hamilton was told by race engineer Peter Bonnington, and the possibility of an improbable victory was openly, if optimistically, being discussed.
those in front of Hamilton peeled in to be re-shod, while he stayed out on a different strategy that gave him a shorter burst on the speedier supersoft tyres. ‘ we are chasing a podium,’ Bonnington added.
that was not quite to be, his final overtake being on Max Verstappen for fourth place. Hamilton then harried Kimi Raikkonen right to the line, but the red bus was too hard to pass. Hamilton finished an eighth of a second off third.
Up front, Vettel took the lead with a smart and brave move at the first corner, threading his Ferrari through the inside of pole-man Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes. they finished first and second.
Vettel now heads the race for second place in the drivers’ standings by 22 points over Bottas with just abu Dhabi to come in a fortnight. Felipe Massa, in his final race in front of his home fans before retiring at the end of the season, came seventh for williams. the crowd cheered him loudly on his farewell tour.
‘It’s an amazing feeling to drive here in Brazil for the last time,’ said Massa, 36, who is 10th in the championship table and made a speech to the faithful from the podium balcony.
‘the only thing I can say is thank you very much for all your work. I love you for everything you did for me,’ he said.
as for Hamilton, he was still buzzing long afterwards. ‘It was fun,’ he said of his rampage. ‘It felt reminiscent of my karting days, when I always started at the back.
‘I hope this continues to show me and everyone else that I still have a lot of fire in me, I’m still young at heart and there are still many, many more races to go.’