Valtteri Bottas claimed his second Sprint Race Qualifying victory of the season to claim pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen finished in second while Lewis Hamilton stormed through the field to finish fifth.
After a long and drama filled Friday, Hamilton found himself at the back of the grid after his car was found in breach of FIA rules, with his DRS wing being too big. This left a massive task on the seven-time world champions hands, with him already taking an engine penalty that will see him drop five positions for tomorrows race.
But the reigning World Champion put on a show, much to the delight of the crowd at Interlagos. Hamilton gained four spots on the opening lap and worked his way into the top 10 by the mid-point of the race.
But unlike previous races, Hamilton didn’t get stuck behind the midfield teams and passed most of them with relative ease, highlighted by a last lap divebomb on Lando Norris to claim fifth.
Bottas, who started on soft tyres, enjoyed a great getaway as he overtook Verstappen going into turn one. Verstappen, on medium tyres, bided his time and waited for the softs to wear away, but stout defending from the Finnish driver means he will start tomorrows race in second, behind Bottas.
But it wasn’t all bad for Verstappen. Due to finishing second and Hamilton not finishing in the top three, the Dutchman’s championship lead grows to 21 points.
Carlos Sainz, similar to Bottas, profited from a great getaway on the soft tyres to briefly climb to second. After Verstappen got past him, he managed to hold off the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez to finish in third.
Hamilton, has stated, finished fifth but will start tenth due to the engine change. Norris will be the one who inherits the spot. Charles Leclerc will start sixth with Pierre Gasly starting seventh. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon will start eighth with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in ninth. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo will round out the top ten.
By Charlie Parker
