Verstappen wins Brazilian GP as Ferraris crash out

The Ferraris pressed the self-destruct button, Lewis Hamilton lost his spot on the podium, and there were champagne moments for Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr. How did it all happen? Well, with the championship settled last time out in Austin, Texas, it was time to just go racing. The race around the Interlagos circuit in São Paolo effectively became a 12-lap dash to the flag when Valtteri Bottas triggered the safety car after he pulled his Mercedes over with engine trouble.And what a frantic, head-spinning dash it was.

Good fight

Race leader Verstappen pitted for fresh tires, putting Hamilton into the lead. The pair, who had toyed with each other all afternoon, went wheel-to-wheel at the restart and Verstappen passed the six-time world champion to retake the lead at Turn One. "It was not easy," Verstappen told Sky Sports. "Lewis was giving me a hard time. It was a good fight."Just a little further down the road, Alexander Albon followed his Red Bull teammate through round the outside to pass the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel and poach third spot. As Verstappen hit the gas and headed for home, Hamilton found himself under pressure from Albon, who was also being hustled from behind by Vettel.

Glancing blow

With five laps to go, Leclerc seized his chance and went down the inside of his Ferrari teammate to snatch fourth place. But Vettel fought back and, as he steered his Ferrari around Leclerc, the red cars made contact. It looked like a glancing blow, but it was enough for the Ferraris to collide with a spew of burst rubber and bodywork — and enough to put the dueling drivers out of the race. When the safety car came out again, Hamilton, who was running comfortably in second, chose to pit for new tires and dropped back to fourth. At the second race restart, he had just two laps to get himself back onto the podium and immediately set about his task by passing Gasly's Toro Rosso. But when Hamilton tried to overtake Albon, now in second behind Verstappen, he clipped the Red Bull and sent him spinning all the way down to 15th place. Gasly had steered clear of trouble to jump Hamilton into P2 and held off the world champion by a car's length in the fight to the flag. After a rollercoaster season, which saw him first promoted to ReRead More – Source