Lewis Hamilton experiences a debacle.
First he receives an engine penalty, then he is also disqualified.
The World Cup slips away from him.
Max Verstappen can live with a fine.
A Mercedes wins in the sprint.
São Paulo - On a disastrous weekend in Brazil, Lewis Hamilton's chances of the World Cup in the fight against Max Verstappen slipped further.
After an engine penalty, the Englishman dealt with an irregular rear wing on his Mercedes, disqualifying him from the start chase in São Paulo.
Hamilton lost his pole position for the sprint, but from the very back he raced 15 places to fifth.
Due to a five-place penalty, Hamilton has to start from tenth in the fourth last race of the season on Sunday (6 p.m. / Sky).
From first place on the grid at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Verstappen was unable to stay ahead in the sprint.
As second behind winner Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes, he extended his championship lead to 21 points on Hamilton.
In the fourth last race of the season on Sunday (6:00 p.m. / Sky), Verstappen can score further championship points from second place.
Hamilton with a technical violation
But the drama had taken place in the hours before.
After much fear, the race stewards recognized a technical violation and moved Hamilton to the very back for the sprint.
Mercedes waived an objection.
With position five in the new format over 24 laps, Hamilton operated damage control.
Verstappen had to worry himself in Interlagos - at least a little.
He received a fine of 50,000 euros for violating the provisions of the so-called Parc Fermé.
The race stewards saw it as proven that he had illegally touched the rear of his Red Bull and especially that of his rival Hamilton during the technical inspection on Friday.
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The Dutchman Max Verstappen controls his Red Bull racing car on the racetrack.
© Marcelo Chello / AP / dpa
“It is clear to the stewards that it has become a habit of the drivers to touch the cars after qualifying and the races,” the stewards wrote on Saturday.
“This general tendency was seen as largely harmless and was therefore not penalized uniformly.
Nevertheless, it is a violation of the Parc-Fermé regulation and has a considerable potential for damage. "Verstappen touched the rear of Hamilton's car with" insignificant force ".
Mercedes later declared itself that the inspection of the championship leader had unlikely to lead to the defect at the rear.
Nevertheless, the penalty for Hamilton was brutal.
A new engine had already been used illegally on his company car on Friday.
The penalty: five places back for the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Bottas wins the sprint race
His team-mate Bottas won the sprint start before Verstappen.
After a heated duel with Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari, the Dutchman even had to go over the curbs on the first lap and was only third.
But then Verstappen pushed past again.
In the duel with Bottas at the top, he no longer took the extreme risk.
Hamilton raced spectacularly from 20th place.
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Motorcyclist comes off the road and injures herself
A motorcyclist fell with her bike near the small town of Könnern in the Salzland district and was seriously injured.
As the police announced on Thursday evening, the 17-year-old came off the road with her motorcycle in a left curve, fell and was unconscious in the ditch.
Because of her life-threatening injuries, the young woman was taken to hospital by rescue helicopter.
Motorcyclist comes off the road and injures herself
With the new drive, Hamilton left his rival Verstappen behind by more than four-tenths in the chase for the starting position.
The stewards of the world motor sport federation Fia later stated that the rear wing on its Silver Arrow was bending too much.
The so-called Drag Reduction System (DRS), which increases the speed on the straights, gave Hamilton an illegal advantage.
The stewards at least accepted the Mercedes declaration that something "went wrong" when the acceptance test was not passed and that there was no intention to do so.
The Silver Arrows suggest that “some kind of damage” must have been caused to the rear of the asphalt.
dpa