When push comes to shove, Hamilton guides Mercedes home
Ten years after securing his first Formula One title at Interlagos, fivetime world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday and helped his Mercedes team take the Formula One constructors’ title for the fifth straight year.
It was Hamilton’s 10th victory of the season, finishing 1.4 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
But it could have been a very different outcome for the British driver, who struggled with engine problems and medium tires as he waited for rain that never came.
Hamilton’s second win in Sao Paulo was only possible after Force India’s backmarker Esteban Ocon refused to let then leader Verstappen pass on lap 44, causing both cars to spin. At the time, the Red Bull driver led Hamilton by five seconds.
“That (incident) put us back in contention,” Hamilton said after the race. “Max is that go-getter guy and every now and again it bites you. But I am really, really proud here, I don’t care about anybody else.”
Off the track, the 21-year-old Dutchman later confronted — and pushed — former Formula 3 rival Ocon, who refused to apologise despite the stop-go punishment he was given during the race. The Force India driver finished 15th.
Verstappen managed to stay in the race after the incident and get closer to Hamilton in the final laps, but it wasn’t enough for his second consecutive victory.
“I hope I can’t find him in the paddock now,” Verstappen said of Ocon.
After
catching up
with
Ocon, Verstappen was given an unusual punishment for the pushes and insults he aimed at Ocon — he will have to perform two days of public service at the direction of motorsport governing body FIA.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium. His teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who is second in the overall standings, finished sixth. Kiwi Brendon Hartley was 11th for Toro Rosso, out of the points but two spots ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly.
Hamilton celebrated his win and his team’s fifth title with samba dancers on the podium, as Verstappen left, still fuming.
“This is what everyone works for, we really pulled together as a unit this year,” Hamilton said. Teammate Valtteri Bottas finished fifth.
Mercedes have an insurmountable 620 points against Ferrari’s 553.
It was Hamilton’s 72nd victory in Formula One, a much celebrated one after all the problems he faced during the race.
“We were managing that in the last part of the race, we were losing some power,” the British driver said.
In the first part of the race Hamilton kept the advantage he acquired by taking his 10th pole position of the season. Bottas overtook Vettel for second place, and for a moment it seemed Mercedes had the race in the bag already.
Verstappen, the winner of the Mexican GP two weeks ago, started in fifth and quickly overtook the two Ferraris, conquered Bottas on lap 10 and showed he would challenge Hamilton for the win.
The final race of the season — and, possibly, Hartley’s Formula One career — is at Abu Dhabi on November 25.