Scene of the race: Five laps from the end, the Brazilian Grand Prix turned into a duel between the two Ferraris. First, Charles Leclerc pulled past in turn one, then Sebastian Vettel set on a straight line to the counterattack. Leclerc left his teammate little space, Vettel moved slightly to the left and it came to a crash. Both had to park their damaged cars. A debacle for the Italian racing team.
Moment # BrazilGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/Y77NrJMJ0g
- Formula 1 (@ F1) November 17, 2019Result: Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen triumphed for the third time this season. Second was Pierre Gasly in Toro Rosso, who crossed the finish line just one car ahead of world champion Lewis Hamilton. Third was not Hamilton, but McLaren driver Carlos Sainz, who benefited from a time penalty against Hamilton. Read the race report here.
Explanation: "My God, must it be?" Vettel shouted in the pit radio immediately after the collision with Leclerc: "Such a bullshit but also!" After the race, both drivers diplomatically. "We are mature enough to leave that behind," said Leclerc. Still had not discussed the incident, Vettel said: "There will certainly be discussions sometime."
It was not the first time that team-internal rivalry was causing problems. Team boss Mattia Binotto said after the recent annoyance, the drivers have the permission to "fight" on the track. Despite all the criticism of the Scuderia this season, one is second in the constructors' championship. Well, then you can be satisfied, in a competition in which only two teams have a realistic chance to win the title.
Read here how the Formula 1 is to become exciting again.
Tires on tires with the World Champion: In the last lap, Pierre Gasly was in second place and turned Hamilton on the home straight. With only six tenths of a second ahead, he prevailed against the old and new world champion. It's the biggest success in Gasly's career, he's never been on the podium before. The success is considerable, especially in a season in which he started at Red Bull, but was deported to the daughter team because of lack of success. The satisfaction was to be heard on the radio.
"Woooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - @PierreGASLY, 2019
Words to live by. # BrazilGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/7xESECgNJJ
Ironically? Gasly had taken second place because Hamilton had driven into the Red Bull of Alexander Albon. The 23-year-old fell back to 14th place, also Hamilton lost time. Gasly took the chance and pulled past both. Gasly had lost his cockpit at Red Bull to Albon during the season, after which he still awaits his first podium finish. Hamilton was subsequently given a five-second penalty for the maneuver by the World Federation Fia, but the Red Bull pilots did not help.
Carlos Sainz already: With just under four seconds behind Hamilton finished fourth, the Spaniard slipped through the penalty on the podium - for him, it is the first. Sainz had started just one and a half hours earlier from last place in the race after missing out on qualifying. The 25-year-old McLaren driver is known for singing in the Sade cockpit "Smooth Operator" after successful races or qualifying sessions. Because the podium was late, archive material must be enough.
Second consecutive P5. That deserves a (nother) song @ Carlossainz55 #HungarianGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/yjNMZaJRn6
- Formula 1 (@ F1) August 4, 2019Steep climax: The race had a strange course. For 52 rounds you would have been entertained just the same, if you had stared at the ceiling motionless. Then Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes suddenly developed smoke, the Finn had to park his car, the safety car came on the track and the field was squeezed together. It was followed by an in-team crash, another safety car, the world champion rammed the second of the track - and then lost a finish line head to head with a sorted-out talent. Ironically, the race after the World Cup decision two weeks ago was the most spectacular of the season.
