
Lewis Hamilton made an impressive win after a no-holds dual disqualification at the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Also, his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas set to finish on the final podium place.
Hamilton was disqualified from Friday qualifying after placing the top position. Following it was judged that the opening of his car’s DRS system was illegal, Hamilton started the sprint qualifying race from the rear-end of the grid. The Mercedes driver carved his way through the field from 20th to 5th. He still had to serve a five-place grid penalty for an engine change and started Sunday’s race from 10th.
The seven-time world champion produced a exceptional drive after starting P10 on the grid, fighting his way through the pack and eventually managed to overtake Max Verstappen to made victory at Interlagos.
Hamilton’s victory over Verstappen has closed the gap between the pair in the drivers’ title standings to 14 points ahead of next weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
“Lewis was in his own league today,” says Valtteri Bottas about his team-mate’s winning performance.
“What a race! Hamilton said after the race.
“The team did an amazing job. Valtteri did a great job to get as many points as possible.
“I was pushing as hard as I could. From last on the grid and then another five-place penalty I think was the hardest weekend I’ve had, but my dad reminded me of 2004 when I was in Formula 3 when I was in Bahrain when I started last and then I finished 10th and then I finished first. So this one was for my dad.
“Coming into this weekend I never ever thought we would be able to close the gap like we had today. Then these things that just kept going against us but it really shows for everyone, never give up. Never, ever stop fighting and that’s how I’ve really approached this weekend.
“It feels like the first because I don’t feel like I’ve had a win for a long time.”
Verstappen’s reactions after finishing second behind Hamilton:
“We tried everything we could today of course. It was a good battle but at the end we just missed a little bit of pace. We gave it our all today, it was a lot of fun.” The Dutchman said.
“We still have a good points lead. Today was a bit of damage limitation on a weekend that was difficult for us. I’m confident that the coming races we will bounce back.”