Sao Paulo, November 14 (BUS): Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton ended his “hardest weekend ever” with a stunning victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, gaining momentum in his Formula 1 title fight with the Red Bull Max driver. Verstappen.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton beat Verstappen despite starting from 10th on the grid due to a penalty – he faced Hamilton second this weekend in Sao Paulo, the Associated Press reports.
Verstappen, winner of the previous edition of the race in 2019, finished second and saw his driver’s championship lead shrink to 14 points, with three races remaining. The winner of the race gets 25 points.
Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas was third, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez fourth and the Mexican setting the fastest lap of the race. Ferrari Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Verstappen led most of the race after the first turn, when he beat polesitter Bottas. But Hamilton, who had risen from 10th to third in just six laps, got ahead of Verstappen on lap 59, and put a raucous crowd on their feet at Interlagos.
Hamilton finished the race by 10 seconds over Verstappen and said he felt like he had won his first race before a happy crowd at Interlagos.
Verstappen will also leave Brazil 50,000 euros ($57,200) poorer. He was fined after being seen touching the rear wing of Mercedes Hamilton on Friday.
Organizers at Interlagos celebrated the series’ return to the traditional track, which will host the race for another nine years. All 170,000 tickets were sold out for three days, as thousands of fans gathered in front of the podium – many of them exposed despite health protocols.
Formula One has cut Brazil off its 2020 calendar due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The São Paulo Grand Prix, which was renamed for this year, was allowed to open at full capacity just weeks ago when the state government eased restrictions in November.
insult