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Lewis Hamilton wins wreck-marred Brazilian Grand Prix
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton dominated Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix to reduce his points deficit from 19 to 12 to teammate Nico Rosberg heading into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Two red flags and several Safety Car periods punctuated the event after heavy rains contributed to several scary incidents.
To start it all off, Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean spun on his way to the grid before the race even began.
Subsequently, the race start was delayed by 10 minutes with the Safety Car pacing the field.
On Lap 7, the Safety Car finally pulled in and pole sitter Hamilton led Rosberg away. Further back, Williams’ Felipe Massa passed Haas F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez under the Safety Car and was handed a five-second time penalty, which he served later in the race.
Several cars pitted for intermediate tires, including Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, even though he had spun on track on wets. Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson also pit for intermediate tires, but then crashed at pit entry, bringing out the Safety Car again and forcing pit road to be closed. However, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo came into the pits, and so was handed a five-second time penalty, which he served later in the race.
When the Safety Car pulled in after Ericsson’s incident, Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari on the front straight, bringing out the first red flag. Raikkonen had been running in third place on the wet tires. Debris from Raikkonen’s crash hit the front wing of Nico Hulkenberg, but he was able to continue. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat had also tangled on the restart, forcing Palmer to retire from the race.
The Safety Car headed back out onto the track less than an hour later, but shortly came back into the pits as the stewards deemed the circuit was too wet. During the Safety Car’s run, Hulkenberg was forced to pit from fourth position for a puncture.
Eventually, the Safety Car headed back out and then, on Lap 31, Hamilton led the field back away, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen making quick work of Rosberg for second. Verstappen pulled away until Lap 38, when he almost spun into the wall on the main straight. Somehow, he kept out of the barriers and maintained his position.
The Red Bull teammates soon pitted for intermediates, while the Mercedes teammates remained out on track on the same wets on which they started the race.
Not too much later, however, the Safety Car was deployed again as Massa crashed out of his final home race. The Brazilian walked down the closed pit road and was congratulated by all of the teams, who had emerged from their garages to give him a hand.
Meanwhile, the rain had intensified, and so both Red Bull drivers were forced to pit again for wets, meaning that the Mercedes teammate and Force India’s Sergio Perez had safely secured their podium positions. Or so they thought.
Verstappen was able to rally his way back up through the field with several incredible passes, crossing the line in third place. Meanwhile, Sauber's Felipe Nasr picked up the team's first points of the season in ninth.
"This has been my dream since the first time I watched Ayrton [Senna] race," said Hamilton following the race. This was Hamilton's first win in Brazil. "It's the 44th grand prix here, so it's kind of a lucky weekend," added the driver of the No. 44 car. He now has 52 career F1 wins, the second-most of all time.
Unofficial race results:
1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
4. Sergio Perez - Force India
5. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
6. Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
7. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India
8. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull
9. Felipe Nasr - Sauber
10. Fernando Alonso - McLaren
11. Valtteri Bottas - Williams
12. Esteban Ocon - Manor
13. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso
14. Kevin Magnussen - Renault
15. Pascal Wehrlein - Manor
16. Jenson Button - McLaren
17. Esteban Gutierrez - Haas (DNF)
18. Felipe Massa - Williams (DNF)
19. Jolyon Palmer - Renault (DNF)
20. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari (DNF)
21. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber (DNF)
22. Romain Grosjean - Haas (DNS)
