Only four races left.
The world championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton continues to come to a head.
In Brazil there is even a Formula 1 peculiarity.
São Paulo - Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is racing towards his first world title in Formula 1.
The São Paulo Grand Prix in Interlagos on Sunday (6 p.m. / Sky) will show how close the Dutchman is to his dream.
Or can Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton fight back four races before the season finale?
Can Verstappen already reach for the World Cup?
The World Cup leader is at least close to it.
The Dutch Red Bull driver has 19 points more than his rival Hamilton in the Mercedes.
Verstappen arrives with two Grand Prix victories one after the other.
And the Autódromo José Carlos Pace at around 800 meters above sea level is Red Bull. “It's difficult to say how competitive we will be.
We won the race in 2019, but it was a close fight the whole time.
I expect something similar this year, ”said Verstappen.
Before the fourth last race of the season, he paid a visit to Nelson Piquet senior, father of his girlfriend Kelly and three-time Formula 1 world champion, on the way to his first World Cup.
Is Hamilton still capable of the World Cup turning point?
It's getting tighter for the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton finally has to win again.
His last Grand Prix victory was in Russia at the end of September.
"We believe that we have a solid car and that we can be closer to Red Bull than here," said Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff before leaving Mexico.
The mountain air lies with Red Bull and the Honda engine.
Brazil is therefore once again considered a course that particularly suits the Brause racing team.
Then there is the desert triple with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi - Mercedes should be able to cope better here.
Hamilton insisted that he would give everything for his eighth title.
After all, at the gates of São Paulo, he was victorious in 2016 and 2018.
What's the sprint race all about?
After Silverstone and Monza, Formula 1 is holding a sprint race in Interlagos for the third and last time this season.
It's supposed to add extra excitement to the Grand Prix weekend.
After all, the sprint winner even gets three points, the second two and the third one more.
The mini-event on Saturday is a race over 100 kilometers, which corresponds to 24 laps in Interlagos.
The fans should get 25 to 30 minutes of spectacle including free choice of tires and without strategic help from the command post.
The result of the sprint determines the starting grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday.
The usual qualification with the three knockout rounds takes place on Friday.
The result of this unit is the basis for the sprint line-up the next day.
How much drama potential does Interlagos offer?
Brazil's controversial President Jair Bolsonaro had seen the Formula 1 race of Brazil from 2021 almost 100 percent in Rio de Janeiro in 2019.
But first the corona pandemic came - and then nothing changed at the São Paulo location.
After a year break, Formula 1 is back in Interlagos and the event is now even named after the most populous state: the São Paulo Grand Prix.
It is considered a success for Governor João Doria.
More important than what happened behind the scenes is what happens regularly on the asphalt at the gates of São Paulo.
There have been many dramas in the history of the Grand Prix, which also has to do with the sometimes adverse weather conditions when heavy rains present the drivers with great challenges.
dpa
