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Hamilton stuns as Vettel wins 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix

LEWIS Hamilton has left everyone with their jaws on the floor after thwarting Max Verstappen with a stunning drive.

Alex BlairAlex Blair
@alexblair_1
8 min read
November 13, 2017 - 7:18AM
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton powers his car during the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix, at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / EVARISTO SA
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton powers his car during the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix, at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 12, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / EVARISTO SA

F1 Brazilian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel has left Valtteri Bottas in the dust with a trailblazing victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

SEBASTIAN Vettel has taken home the Brazilian Grand Prix after a chaotic start saw the German slot ahead of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas in the first lap. Daniel Ricciardo fans had their hearts in their mouths from the outset as the Aussie spun out through a corner seconds after lights-out. The Red Bull star was clipped in a collision with Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen but was able to recover and place sixth.

Recently-crowned champion Lewis Hamilton drove out of his skin to finish fourth ahead of Max Verstappen after starting in the pit lane.


4:35am

Sebastian Vettel wins Brazilian Grand Prix

The photo says it all.
The photo says it all.

Sebastian Vettel has taken home the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix after a stunning overtake in the first lap saw him take first place from Valtteri Bottas.

The German sat relatively unchallenged for the top spot for the rest of the race and crossed the line with a 2.7 second gap between himself and the Finn.

“I had a chance to squeeze down the inside at the start and tried to control the race from there,” Vettel said after the race “I’m pleased for the guys back home who have been working so hard.”

Lewis Hamilton’s fourth place finish left fans stunned as the Brit sliced through the grid and left rival teams embarrassed.

“Waking up this morning my goal was just to redeem myself after yesterday’s mistake, really do the team proud and try to get the points back,” Hamilton told Sky F1’s Rachel Brookes. “I was trying to get back to third but I just ran out of tyres in the end.

“But I enjoyed the race and I enjoyed the battle. Hopefully that continues to show everyone that I still have a lot of fire in my heart, I’m still young at heart and there are still many, many more races to go.”

Daniel Ricciardo placed sixth after coming back from a 10-place grid penalty in qualifying. The Aussie slotted in ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa. who was racing in his final home country Grand Prix of his career.

“I’m really emotional today because of all of you guys,” Massa said to the giant crowd after the race. “Thank you for all your support and for helping me make the best race that I could.”

Bottas was understandably broken after having a win stolen out of his hands.

“I didn’t want to be sandwiched. We started from pole so the only goal was to win the race today,” he said.

“It’s very disappointing we lost in the race start. After that it was very close between them. I was trying to put pressure on Sebastian but it didn’t lead to anything more. Lewis (had) a great comeback. He got some really good points. On to Abu Dhabi.”

4:21am

Lewis jumps Max

Max Verstappen fired up over the radio as Hamilton closed in on his Red Bull, slamming his new tyres after failing to hold off the 2017 champion.

“The tyres feel like rocks, they are so stiff. Unbelievable,” Verstappen said as Hamilton took fourth place.

The 20-year-old took to the pits with eight laps to go after arguing with Red Bull over the radio. He returned to the track with a fresh set of supersofts and immediately broke Juan Pablo Montoya’s 2004 lap record.

Verstappen clocked in a stunning 1:11.044 time with three laps to go — but it was too little too late for the young gun with over 30 seconds splitting him from Hamilton.

4:05am

Massa guns for fairytale finish

Lewis Hamilton has finally hit the pits to grab a new set of super softs for the final 25 laps. The Brit has dropped back to fifth but is making moves on Max Verstappen in fourth.

Sebastian Vettel has reclaimed first place with a 3.5 second lead over Valtteri Bottas, but all eyes are on Brazilian Felipe Massa as he attempts to jump Daniel Ricciardo for sixth. Massa, 36, is racing in his final home Grand Prix after 15 years in Formula 1.

3:50am

Ricciardo lets Max through, Hamilton in first

Daniel Ricciardo let teammate Max Verstappen pass him to take fifth after an order came through from Red Bull. The Aussie sits behind his 20-year-old counterpart in sixth.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has jumped into first place before the 40th lap.

3:36am

Hamilton makes it look easy

Lewis Hamilton is proving his worth as the year’s best driver with a stunning performance to snag fifth place.

The Mercedes gun sits just 17 seconds away from Sebastian Vettel in first place after starting at the back of the grid. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo has slid into ninth after a first-lap spin-out saw a chain reaction of retirements from Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Ocon.

Vettel narrowly came out ahead of Valtteri Bottas after heading to the pits as the Finn struggled on his new soft tyres. Bottas registered the slowest lap out of the top five drivers after pitting and has sunk back to third.

3:20am

Ricciardo on a warpath

Daniel Ricciardo is slowly climbing his way up the ladder after a horror start saw the Aussie spin out in the first lap and sink to 17th place.

He now sits at 12th and under a second behind Pierre Gasly.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has capitalised on the early carnage to take seventh spot after starting the race in the pit lane following a crash in qualifying.

Sebastian Vettel continues to hold first place after pipping Valterri Bottas in the first lap.

3am

Ricciardo spins out in chaotic start

Oh dear.

Daniel Ricciardo has spun out in the first lap after a collision between Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen ended with his Red Bull’s rear bumped. The Aussie was able to recover through the Senna Esses — but the chaos was only just beginning.

Esteban Ocon and Romain Grosjean came into contact with each other while still in the first lap, forcing Ocon to retire for the first time in his 27-race career.

Magnussen and Vandoorne were also forced to exit the race as stewards began investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel has torn away from the pack to overtake pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas and take the lead.

2:10am

Brindle: ‘He needs to look in the mirror’

A tough end to the year.
A tough end to the year.

Sky Sports F1 expert and racing legend Martin Brundle has slammed Sebastian Vettel after a grim second half of the season saw him throw away hopes of a fifth championship.

The German’s troubles began in Baku after copping a 10-second stop-go penalty for a collision with Lewis Hamilton. He then totalled his car in a crash with Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the first lap at Singapore.

“Somebody asked me yesterday ‘who lost that championship, Ferrari or Vettel?’ which I found a very interesting question,” Brundle said.

“I thought about it and said ‘you win together, you lose together’ but on balance, if you look at the mistakes — Baku, the crash in Singapore and the clumsiness in Mexico — Seb has to look at himself in the mirror.”

2am

Lauda slams F1

Formula One legend Niki Lauda has slammed the sport’s administration in a bleak prediction for the future.

The 68-year-old critiqued new owners Liberty Media’s approach to the development of the sport, claiming the American company was treating drivers like “babies”.

“I’m worried,” said he told Gazzetto dello Sport.

“It was right that the American owners needed time to understand what F1 is — but that is about to expire. And what they think about the future is worrying me. The FIA, Chase Carey and Ross Brawn repeat that we need to level of the performance, but the DNA of F1 is the opposite.

“You are a fool if you think that to make grands prix more attractive you need to have a different winner every weekend. F1 is about competition.

“Developing cars is one of the important foundations, as well as the bravery of the drivers. Instead, you want to penalise the best teams, and protect the drivers as if they are babies — with the introduction of the Halo for example.”

The Halo, a protective device that fits over the cockpit, will be implemented in 2018.

1am

Ricciardo’s weird qualifying interview

Daniel Ricciardo left everyone scratching their heads after a strange interview with Sky Sports saw the Red Bull gun go completely left-field while answering questions about his disappointing qualifying session. The 28-year-old suffered a 10-place penalty before going on live television to give one of the weirdest responses seen all year.

“You were down on full power, were you just trying to bed it in?” the Aussie was asked.

“Yep, just bed it in,” Ricciardo said. “So we bought some new mattresses and you know the first night of sleep is a bit ... you need to get a few people on it to figure it out, pillow fights and all.

“We had a slumber party and it was pretty good ... it got wild.”

12am

Security ramped up after bus attack, Hamilton ‘horrified’

Scary stuff for Mercedes.
Scary stuff for Mercedes.

Security at the Brazilian GP has been tightened in the wake of the armed robbery of Mercedes team members leaving the circuit on Friday night.

Gunmen held up a minibus carrying Mercedes personnel and stole valuables, while a car carrying FIA officials was also threatened. No one was harmed in either incident.

The FIA issued a statement on Saturday night confirming an increased security presence from local police and have advised people to take all necessary precautions when travelling to and from the circuit on race day.

“The circuit has informed all of the event stakeholders that the Sao Paulo police force has taken additional measures after these regrettable incident,” read a statement.

“Heavy police reinforcements will be on duty for the remainder of the event.”

However, Sauber strategist Ruth Buscombe reported a fresh incident on Saturday night when the team’s crew left the circuit and narrowly avoided another apparent attempted robbery:

While Brazil is one of the sport’s most popular and vibrant races, incidents of F1 personnel being targeted on the roads outside the circuit are not uncommon.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who was not travelling in the vehicle that was targeted, said F1 collectively needed to do more to ensure all members of the paddock were able to travel safely.

“I was horrified to hear what had happened,” he said.

“I’m very close with all the guys that got pulled aside and you can’t imagine what they were feeling or going through at the time.

“After that, the most frustrating thing is I’ve been in Formula 1 for 10 years and every single year that has happened to somebody in the paddock. And it continues to happen.

“I’m sure that’s an issue that the government here are fighting, but maybe on this weekend there are protocols that are put in place that help.

“It should be for the whole paddock. That’s partly Formula 1’s responsibility but generally people at the top need to take action to keep everyone safe. It’s not good just the bosses having security and myself having security, everyone needs to be looked after.”

— James Galloway, Sky Sports

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