Sunday, November 12, 2017

Sebastian Vettel wins Brazilian GP



In the canon of catapulting drives from the outer darkness, Lewis Hamilton produced one of Formula One’s finest yesterday, starting in the pit lane under flawless Brazilian skies and finishing a mere five seconds adrift of winner Sebastian Vettel. It was as if he had reconnected with his younger karting self, deciding, after the catharsis of his fourth world title, that it was time to have some fun.
After the indignity of crashing out in qualifying, Hamilton mustered quite the riposte here at Interlagos, scything through the field with exquisite timing and instinct. Even Fernando Alonso, his old nemesis at McLaren and often deemed the one driver who could hold a candle to his race-craft, offered no resistance. “My goal was just to redeem myself, to do the team proud,” he said.
There have been more significant come-from-behind surges, not least John Watson’s success in propelling himself from 22nd on the grid to victory at Long Beach in 1983. Watson’s team-mate that day was a certain Niki Lauda, now non-executive chairman at Mercedes and one of Hamilton’s most passionate advocates. His verdict on this latest exhibition? “Incredible.”
For a while, Hamilton was even leading, courtesy of a canny Mercedes pit-stop strategy as his engineers sought to undercut Ferrari. Ultimately, there was no be denying Vettel, who reeled off fastest laps with metronomic consistency, after his engine was dialled up to its most screaming.
But it was the quadruple world champion who drew all driver-of-the-day plaudits, shaking off the after-effects of his smash – which required almost an entire reconstruction of his car in 24 hours – to challenge Kimi Raikkonen for a podium spot. All things considered, fourth place had seldom been so satisfying.
“I had messed up in qualifying to put myself in the worst possible position,” Hamilton reflected. “I was quick enough to win the race from pole to the flag, but I made the job a lot harder. I was trying to get back to third, I just ran out of tyres in the end. But I enjoyed the race and I enjoyed the battle. It continues to show to me and, I hope, to everyone that I still have a lot of fire, that I’m still young at heart and that I still have many, many more races to go.”
This was one of Hamilton’s most emphatic statements that he intended to stay in F1 for the long haul. Only 32, and a far more complete driver than in his youth, he is only likely to stop in this sport if he loses interest.
But there appeared scant danger of that as he wore a bright yellow helmet in honour of his late idol Ayrton Senna, attacking this grand prix with an audacity that the Brazilian would have applauded. Soon enough he will sign a contract extension with Mercedes that could earn him a record £45 million a year.
His rivalry with Vettel, likewise, looks poised to last. So evenly matched were Mercedes and Ferrari yesterday that a mere five seconds separated first and fourth. In another example of this season’s mystifying turns, Red Bull, who had streaked to victory two weeks earlier in Mexico, were “not in the race”, in the words of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, more than half a minute distant.
For Vettel, who never looked back after darting past pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas at Turn One, this was a triumph tinged with a sense of lost opportunity. There has been such a delicate sliver of difference between the pace of Vettel and Hamilton this year that their duel seemed primed to endure the final race in Abu Dhabi in a fortnight’s time.
Alas, that prospect was eradicated by Ferrari’s errors in the Far East over recent weeks, and one could sense the frustration in Vettel’s voice. His message of *Grazie, ragazzi* to his team garage carried barely a hint of emotion. The best response to a sense of loss, or so the theory goes is to keep busy. The German was not about to demur. “It helps that there are races, to get over it,” he said. “It helps to have something to do.”
In a wider context, no team has had a more draining weekend in Sao Paulo than Mercedes. Several members of staff had valuables and passports stolen in an armed ambush on Friday night, even before they faced the toil of reassembling Hamilton’s shattered car.
“This has been a weekend of extreme and contrasting emotions for us, but this morning the guys came in and rebuilt Lewis’ car from the ground up,” Wolff said. “It has been humbling to see their resilience.”
Bottas had his chance to write a rousing ending to his colleagues’ ordeal, having delivered a brilliant qualifying lap, but he encountered a spot of wheelspin off the start as Vettel streaked by. Once the safety car peeled in, after damage from a crash between Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen was cleared, Vettel never took a backward glance. Hamilton, in pristine weather unusual for this race, simply soaked up the sunshine. This felt, in every respect, like his lap of honour.

Obrigado Massa


A little disappointment


The race winner


Felipe's despedida

Massa joins the top three on the podium along with Rubens Barrichello and his little boy.
It's clear how much love the fans have for both of them.

Brazilian GP results


Who was your driver of the day?


No, you're crying...

Mini Massa just said over the radio: "Daddy I am so proud of you and wherever you go, I will support you. I love you."
How sweet.

The top three


SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS THE BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX

Vettel takes the chequered flag ahead of Bottas, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Massa, Alonso, Perez and Hulkenberg.
Massa somehow held onto P7 with ALonso and Perez breathing down his neck and the Brazilian will be missed, that is for sure.
P11 is Sainz and followed byt Gasly, Ericsson, Wehrlein, Grosjean and Stroll.

Lap 69 of 71

Massa, Alonso and Perez have just 1s between them as they all fight for P7. Either way, we will see Massa on the podium after the race as the local boy is celebrated.
Stroll is out after his front left tyre goes, which is interesting as he did query it and was told it was safe about five laps ago. It looks like he was right.

Lap 67 of 71

Verstappen sets a new fastest lap of 1:11.044 after getting those new tyres. Can he get into the 1:10's?
It's unlikely Hamilton has enough time to get close to Vettel but Raikkonen definitely in his sights as he hits DRS zone.

Lap 64 of 71

Hamilton sets a new lap record of 1:932! Impressive.
Verstappen is having a full-blown conversation with his team about his preference to make a pit-stop with less than ten laps remaining. He does pit and will come back out without having lost a place.
Vettel only has a 2.5s lead over Bottas and the Ferrari man has been advised to nurse his tyres. Hamilton is less than 2s behind Raikkonen in third.

Lap 61 of 71

Hamilton gets P4 at the second attempt after some good defending from the Red Bull man, but with DRS and fresher tyres it wasn't too hard for the Mercedes man.
He's 5s behind Raikkonen with 11 laps to go.
Vettel leads Bottas, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Massa, Alonso, Perez, Hulkenberg.
P11 is Sainz, followed by Gasly, Wehrlein, Stroll, Ericsson and Grosjean.
Hartley, Ocon and Magnussen have retired.

Lap 58 of 71

Gasly is clearly buoyed by his previous overtake as he closes down on Wehrlein in P12.
Hamilton is only 1.5s behind Verstappen on P4 and the Red Bull man has been very vocal about his tyre issues.

Lap 55 of 71

Hamilton gets the gap to Verstappen down to 4s after a lap time of 1:12.456 and the youngster is unhappy with his tyres once again.
Raikkonen has been quietly going about his business in P3 and cut the gap between him and Bottas to 2s with the Mercedes man being told not to hold back on the radio.

Lap 52 of 71

Vettel has a 3.1s lead over Bottas with Raikkonen a further 2s behind. Hamilton has a 7s gap between him and Verstappen who is in P4.
Grosjean has gone in to serve his 10s penalty for that first lap collision. He returns to the track in P16, also known as last.

Could he?


Lap 48 of 71

Ricciardo is back behind Hamilton after going past Massa for P6, but there is a 24s gap between him and the world champion.
Gasly with a confident move on Stroll to take P13 and is congratulated over the radio.

Lap 44

Hamilton and then Ricciardo pit and the Mercedes man comes out in P5, ahead of Massa and Alonso. Ricciardo is now in P8.
Both men have had impressive drives so far today. Bono has just told Hamilton they are chasing a podium, as Ferrari told Raikkonen earlier.
Vettel leads Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Hamilton, Massa, Ricciardo, Alonso, Perez and Hulkenberg.

Movers at Lap 39

 He did say he was looking to have fun

Lap 41 of 71

Hulkenberg gets himself into the points as he makes a smart move on Gasly.
Vertsappen is having fun with these new tyres and is the fastest man out on track.
Further back Alonso is keen to take Massa's P7 as his engineer says 'let's go get him them'.
Stroll and Grosjean are fighting over P15 as the Canadian takes it in Turn 2, but the more experienced driver retakes it straight away.
Hartley is told to pit as the Toro Rosso team have to retire the car. This should lead to more interesting debates with Renault who supply their power units...

Lap 38 of 71

Perez pits and goes onto the soft tyres and comes out two places back in ninth.
Halfway through the race Hamilton leads Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Massa, Alonso, Perez and Gasly.
Hulkenberg is in P11, ahead of Sainz, Wehrlein, Ericsson, Grosjean, Stroll and Hartley.
Hamilton has a lead of 3.654 and he is yet to pit.

Lap 35 of 71

Ricciardo has been told that his teammate is behind him and on fresher tyres so he is not to hold him up.
Although Hamilton leads, but he still needs to pit and a Ferrari engineer has just told Raikkonen that the Mercedes driver will be a threat to him at the end of the race.
The Finn has just set a new lap record of 1:12.945.

Lap 32 of 71

Vettel manages to come out just, just ahead of Bottas to take P3 and you have to wonder if it was a mistake by Ferrari to wait. Verstappen also pitted and rejoined in P7.
Ricciardo has moved up to fifth place - for a big lad the Red Bull driver is very stealthy.
Hamilton leads Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Massa and Alonso.
The champion hasn't pitted yet.

Lap 29 of 71

Verstappen basically begging to come in and change his tyres. He has Hamilton behind him who has cut the gap from 16s to 6 in about five laps. Red Bull will want him to come back out in a reasonable position.
Ricciardo is honing in on Perez as Bottas pits. Mercedes are going for the undercut strategy, with Massa also pitting. The Finn comes out just behind his teammate who has just set the fastest first sector time.
Vettel is in the pits now.

A familiar face in the Mercedes garage


Times at Lap 22


Lap 23 of 71

Bottas sets a new lap record of 1:13.848 as he gets the gap to Vettel down to 1.601.
Verstappen is concerned about his rear tyres and you imagine he won't be the only one.
Lap 1 update: Grosjean has a ten-second penalty for causing a collision when he took out Ocon

Lap 20 of 71

Raikkonen and Massa both concerned with the tyres, with the latter being hunted down by Alonso who has been very fast this weekend.
The Briton is into 6th and there was little fight from Alonso who knows his car can't battle with a Mercedes.
Vettel leads Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Massa, Hamilton, Alonso, Perez, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.
Sainz is P11 and followed by Gasly, Stroll, Hartley, Ericsson, Wehrlein and Grosjean.
Hamilton takes Massa and is into the top five.

Lap 17 of 71

Vettel has a lead over Bottas to 2.047, with Raikkonen a further 3s behind.
Ricciardo, Vandoorne and Magnussen will visit the stewards after the race to discuss their incident but the Australian won's mind as he makes his way into the points with a simple pass on Sainz.
Verstappen feels he can go faster but Raikkonen is holding him up - there is 1.3s between them.

Lap 13 of 71

Ricciardo reminding us why Christian Horner refers to him as 'one of the best overtakers in the game' as he takes 12th. Hamilton is up to 8th and only 12 seconds behind leader Vettel. Could we have a plot twist on our hands?

Lap 10 of 71

Hamilton is like a man possessed as he's just outside the points after Ericsson was he latest victim.
Vettel has a 1.755 lead on Bottas who is followed by Raikkonen, Verstappen, Massa, Alonso, Perez, Hulkenberg, Sainz and Hamilton. The champion dove past Gasly to get himself into the points.
Gasly is 11th and followed by Ericsson, Stroll, Ricciardo, Hartley, Wehrlein and Grosjean.
Ricciardo forgets his friendship with Hartley to get into 14th.

Lap 8 of 71

The safety car is in and Vettel gets the race back underway.
Massa gets ahead of Alonso into P5 - is it 2008 again?
Hamilton gets past Grosjean and the champion is now in P13 with Stroll ahead of him. He does so easily despite the Williams having a Mercedes engine.
Ricciardo is making moves as well as he's now in P15.

A dramatic three-way

Ricciardo, Vandoorne and Magnussen say hello on Lap 1.

Lap 5 of 71

The safety car is still out  and the stewards have noted all the first lap incidents.
Vettel leads Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Alonso, Massa, Perez, Hulkenberg, Sainz and Gasly.
P11 is Ericsson and followed by Hartley, Stroll, Hamilton, Wehrlein, Grosjean and Ricciardo.
Vandoorne, Magnussen and Ocon are all out of the race.

Lap 3 of 71

What a start to the race.
So, to catch up; it appears that Magnussen clipped Vandoorne who then hit Ricciardo. While Ocon was knocked by Grosjean. The Force India is currently chilling on a grass verge with two punctures - this is his first retirement.

SAFETY CAR

The safety car leads everyone through the pitlane and a Sauber stops to change tyres. Hamilton is up to P14.
Vandoorne, Magnussen and Ocon are all out of the race.
Gasly and Hartley are in P10 and P12, respectively.

LIGHTS OUT

Vettel starts well and he takes the lead by staying inside on the first corner. Ricciardo spins off but gets himself back on the track. Was he hit by Vandoorne?
Ocon and Grosjean crash off and it looks like the Force India is out of the race and we will have a safety car. It looks like the Haas man oversteered.

Tyre update

Ricciardo, Ericsson, Gasly and Hamilton all start on the softs.

Formation lap

The cars are off and the teams start running back to the pits.
We are moments away from lights out.

Kimi update

It appears his car is fine, they were just checking for information purposes.
Although Perez' engineer has just made him aware of the situation.

Felipe's despedida

Massa was joined by his father for the national anthem, which is a lovely touch.

Five minutes until lights out

We've done the anthems, the driver's are ready.
It's time to get comfortable, start munching those snacks and hopefully enjoy a cracking race at Interlagos.

How they will start the race

Here is how everyone will line up today:
1 Bottas
2 Vettel
3 Raikkonen
4 Verstappen
5 Perez
6 Alonso
7 Hulkenberg
8 Sainz
9 Massa
10 Ocon
11 Grosjean
12 Vandoorne
13 Magnussen
14 Ricciardo
15 Wehrlein
16 Ericsson
17 Stroll
18 Hartley
19 Gasly
20 Hamilton
NOTES:
  • Hamilton failed to set a time and changed gearbox and power units so will start from the pit lane.
  • Riccardo and Hartley have grid penalties of ten places after using additional power units, while Gasly has one of 25 places
  • Stroll and Ericsson have grid penalties of five places for use of an additional gearbox

We have drama

There is an issue with Raikkonen's car as the team are working on it.
Could they have another miserable weekend? He's in the car, but we shall see...

Felipe's despedida

Just a reminder that 'despidida' means farewell so I may use it a few times today in reference to Massa's final home race in F1.
Apparently he's already been crying and I think everyone would love to see him have a good result today. Points would be good, but a podium would be fabulous. He has won his home race twice - in 2006 and 2008, and he has won 11 races in total from 267 Grand Prix.
The 36-year-old have raced for Sauber, Ferrari and Williams in a career spanning 15 years.
Some have called him the greatest driver not to win a title after he came second to a young Hamilton in 2008.

25 mins until light out

Some pre-race questions:
  • Who will be the first driver to have their tyres overheat?
  • Can Hamilton get into the points from the pitlane?
  • Will Massa and Alonso finish in the top ten?
  • Now the Force Indias can race again, will they crash?
  • Will Bottas become the fifth consecutive driver to win from pole?

The pit lane is open

There is still time to vote for your race winner

40 minutes until lights out

Some pre-race stats
  • The first Brazilian GP was in 1973
  • They will do 71 laps
  • The circuit is 4.309km long and they'll drive 305.909km in total
  • The last four winners have all started on pole
  • Alain Prost has the most wins in Brazil (6), with Michael Schumacher next with four

Bottas' third carreer pole


That crash from our new world champion


How they will start the race

1 Bottas
2 Vettel
3 Raikkonen
4 Verstappen
5 Perez
6 Alonso
7 Hulkenberg
8 Sainz
9 Massa
10 Ocon
11 Grosjean
12 Vandoorne
13 Magnussen
14 Ricciardo
15 Wehrlein
16 Ericsson
17 Stroll
18 Hartley
19 Gasly
20 Hamilton
NOTES:
  • Hamilton failed to set a time and changed gearbox and power units so will start from the pit lane.
  • Riccardo and Hartley have grid penalties of ten places after using additional power units, while Gasly has one of 25 places
  • Stroll and Ericsson have grid penalties of five places for use of an additional gearbox

Where they stand

Bottas' pole position could be crucial today as he can still claim 2nd place in the championship, with Vettel only 15 points ahead.
The Force India driver's appear to have secured 7th and 8th, but results in the next two race could see them change places.
On the constructors side, the battle is further down the field with Williams' 5th place far from guaranteed with Toro Rosso just 23 points behind them. While Toro Rosso also have Renault and Haas breathing down their neck with just one race left after today.

Beautiful Brazil

It is the 45th Grand Prix held in the country, with 35 of those having been held at the legendary Interlagos.
It hasn't been the most successful of tracks for any of our current drivers with Sebastian Vettel the current driver with the most wins (2), while Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton have a solitary victory each.

An interesting Saturday

As you may have heard, the world champion crashed during his first qualifying lap.
In case you missed the three sessions, you can catch up here.

Hello

Good afternoon race fans.
We're in sunny Sao Paulo for the penultimate race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Brazilian Grand Prix 2017: What time is it, what TV channel is it on and what chance does Lewis Hamilton stand from back of grid?

What is it?
It's the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, the penultimate race of the season.
When is it?
Race day is today, so Sunday November 12.
What time does it start?
The race will begin at 4pm GMT.
What TV channel is it on?
Sky Sports F1 will have exclusive coverage of the race weekend, while Channel 4 will be broadcasting highlights of the race at 10.30pm on Sunday night. Alternatively, you can join Natasha Henry here for updates with our lap-by-lap blog.
What happened last time out?
Lewis Hamilton was crowned Formula One world champion for a fourth time following a dramatic Mexican Grand Prix in which he collided with rival Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap.
Hamilton finished only ninth - the lowest position of his championship-winning season - following an explosive turn-three incident, after which the British driver asked if Vettel had deliberately crashed into him.
The title protagonists both sustained damage in the collision as Hamilton limped back to the pit lane with a right-rear puncture while Vettel stopped for repairs to his Ferrari's broken front wing.






And although a determined Vettel fought back through the field to cross the line in fourth, he fell well short of the victory required to stop Hamilton from driving his way into history with two races to spare.
Hamilton, 32, has now surpassed Sir Jackie Stewart by becoming the first British driver to win more than three championships, and joined Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Vettel as just the fifth to have won four or more.
What are the standings?
What are they saying?
Lewis Hamilton:
"I have just come back from an eight-day holiday with close family and friends, and had the best time ever," Hamilton added. "It was just amazing to be able to share this great experience of winning the world championship with these people who have been a part of my life.
"So, I come here with this greatest feeling, amazing energy, and want to absorb that positive energy and try to shine my light as bright as I can here in Brazil.
"I have had this huge wave of positive energy and nothing can really dent that. I carry that here, and I am solely focused on trying to win the race this weekend."
What happened in qualifying?
Hamilton marked his first competitive appearance since winning a fourth Formula One world title by crashing within the first two minutes of qualifying.
In an uncharacteristic misjudgment, Hamilton appeared to carry too much speed into Turn Six, a sweeping right-hander, as his car lost grip at 160mph and slewed into the barriers. After a campaign distinguished by remorseless consistency, with nine victories and 11 pole positions, the quadruple champion made the rarest of lapses to relegate himself to the back of the grid for today’s race.
Hamilton was unharmed in the crash, which came just hours after a group of Mercedes staff were ambushed in a minibus on their way out of the Autodromo Juan Carlos Pace, at 10pm on Friday night. Items “very valuable” to the team were stolen, they confirmed, while Hamilton claimed that shots were fired and one victim had a gun held to his head.
There was some solace for Mercedes as Valtteri Bottas secured the third pole of his career with a stunning final lap to squeeze out Sebastian Vettel on the front row. “I told them I was going to put it on pole and cheer everybody up,” the Finn said.




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