The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Hamilton wins in Brazil after late collision for Verstappen
GRAND PRIX: Backmarker crashes with then-leader, handing Hamilton victory
Max Verstappen labelled Esteban Ocon an “idiot” after the Red Bull driver was robbed of a brilliant victory following a sensational collision at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was in complete control of the race after passing both Mercedes and both Ferrari cars in a superb performance at the Interlagos circuit.
However, it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed the 10th victory of his championship-winning campaign, after Verstappen was taken out of the lead when attempting to lap Force India’s Ocon.
Ocon, running way down the order, bizarrely raced wheel-to-wheel at 200mph with the leader before banging into the right-rear of Verstappen’s car through the Senna Esses.
The force of the hefty impact on lap 43 sent Verstappen into a spin and with the Dutchman facing the wrong way, Hamilton sailed by to resume the lead.
Verstappen was now five seconds down on Hamilton and – with a wounded car – he was unable to claw the Mercedes back in before he finished in second.
Ocon was hit with a 10-second stopand-go penalty, the most severe punishment available to the stewards, but it will come as little consolation to a furious Verstappen.
Kimi Raikkonen finished third for Ferrari, but it was not enough to stop Hamilton’s Mercedes team from winning their fifth consecutive constructors’ championship.
Hamilton started from pole position and made no mistake from his starting blocks as he won the race to the uphill opening left bend.
Behind, Sebastian Vettel got a decent getaway, too, but locked up his front-left tyre and lost second place to Valtteri Bottas.
It was not long before Verstappen, the winner in Mexico a fortnight ago, was on the move from fifth on the grid.
On lap three, Verstappen launched a charge down the inside of Raikkonen at Turn 1 before producing the same move on Vettel a little over 60 seconds later.
The Red Bull star was on a flyer and it did not take him long to get the better of Bottas, sailing past the Silver Arrows at Turn 1.
Hamilton’s lead was little more than two seconds clear of Verstappen, but the British driver was the first of the front runners to stop for fresh tyres, boxing for new rubber on lap 19.
Verstappen took the lead of the race but – despite failing to build up enough of a margin to leapfrog Hamilton during his change for tyres – the Dutchman did his talking on the track, comfortably dashing past Hamilton on the main straight with 31 laps to go.
That looked to be that, but just four laps later, the result dramatically turned on its head when Verstappen was swiped out from the lead by Ocon.
Verstappen was furious and he yelled over the radio: “What a f ****** idiot.”
“I don’t know what to say,” the Red Bull driver said after the chequered flag.
“I hope I can’t find him now in the paddock,” he added, followed by a series of bleeped-out expletives.
Daniel Ricciardo took fourth for Red Bull ahead of Bottas and Vettel.