Hamilton narrows gap to Verstappen
LEWIS Hamilton reignited his bid for a record-breaking eighth world championship after taking a quite brilliant victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started tenth after a series of penalties, but on an extraordinary afternoon in Sao Paulo he fought his way past rival Max Verstappen with just 12 laps left following a ding-dong battle in the race of the season. His Mercedes colleague Valtteri Bottas took third ahead of Sergio Perez.
Hamilton slashed Verstappen’s title lead from 21 to 14 points with three races left and 78 points still available.
Hamilton, starting down the order following a combined 25-place grid penalty, gained four spots on the opening lap to move up to sixth before roaring past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc on successive laps.
And by the start of lap five, the world champion was up to third after pole-sitter Bottas, passed by both Verstappen and Perez on the opening lap, was ordered aside at the first corner following an instruction from the team.
Hamilton soon made his way past Perez to set up a lengthy head-to-head with Verstappen.
On lap 48, Hamilton drew alongside Verstappen on the 200mph drag to the fourth corner. Both drivers ran off the track, with Hamilton kicking up turf as he rejoined the track. The stewards looked at the flashpoint but took no further action.
Would Hamilton get another chance? The answer arrived on lap 58 with Verstappen weaving from one side of the track to the other in a desperate attempt to stop Hamilton from getting through. It worked, but only for one lap as Hamilton out-dragged his Red Bull rival before the braking zone for the fourth corner with a dozen laps remaining. Verstappen had no reply.
Hamilton said: “What a race. The team did an amazing job. I was pushing as hard as I could. From last on the grid and then another five-place penalty was the hardest weekend I’ve had.
“Coming into the weekend, I never thought we would be able to close the gap like we did today, things kept going against us. But it just shows that you have to keep pushing and never, ever stop fighting. That’s how I’ve approached this weekend.”