Brazilian GP race day
shares
comments
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Summary
Status: Stopped
Here's the report after a mad Brazilian Grand Prix - just one left on the calendar now, in two weeks at Abu Dhabi. See ya then! 
Toro Rosso also leapfrogs Racing Point in the teams' standings, and now looks set to have sixth place locked in.
The net result of that is that Gasly actually returns to sixth place in the championship, leapfrogging Sainz and Albon. Hands up if you saw that coming...nobody?
Gasly: "For sure, I'll never forget it. It's such a special moment, it's so emotional and to get it with Toro Rosso, these guys have given me a great car since I came back."
Hamilton: "I massively apologise to Albon, the gap was there but it closed pretty quickly. Completely my fault. I gave everything, raced my heart out and took some risks as you saw. We could keep up with the Red Bulls in the corners but not in the straights."
Verstappen: "A lot of fun out there and great to win the race. I was pushing flat-out in my out lap and it was my only shot. We knew we had great top speed all weekend, so I was happy to get past."
The tension in the Ferrari debrief will be one you can cut with a breadknife. We'd love to be a fly on the wall there...
Hulkenberg, meanwhile, gets a five-second penalty for overtaking Magnussen too early at the restart.
Should that have been Albon's P2? Probably. But Gasly was in the place to capitalise - and he did so expertly.
Wow. Who on earth expected that one? That was IndyCar stuff between Gasly and Hamilton at the end of the race, but it's the Frenchman who grabs second place against all the odds.
Final order: 1 Verstappen, 2 Gasly, 3 Hamilton, 4 Sainz, 5 Raikkonen, 6 Giovinazzi, 7 Ricciardo, 8 Norris, 9 Perez, 10 Kvyat, 11 Magnussen, 12 Hulkenberg, 13 Russell, 14 Grosjean, 15 Albon, 16 Kubica.
Verstappen wins the Brazilian Grand Prix, and Gasly holds off Hamilton by just 0.062s to take second!
Verstappen leaves it as late as he can to hit the throttle, nearly reaching the starting grid before going for it. Hamilton immediately takes third from Gasly, and has a look at Albon as the Red Bull locks up.
Right, the race looks like it'll go green for a two-lap dash with a Red Bull sort of 1-2-3 and Hamilton on fresh tyres right behind.
"Carlos, keep letting us know about debris," Sainz is told. He says they haven't been cleared. "For the moment we cannot race, it is quite dangerous". Hint hint, wink wink.
Three laps to go, and the safety car is still out while debris is cleared. Will this race actually go green?
Stroll has pulled up with a broken suspension! It just gave out on him as he cruised around under SC.
Back to the Ferrari incident, Leclerc had passed Vettel into the Senna S and was ahead but Vettel got a run on the next straight and moved ahead. Then Vettel moved slightly left and they touched, instantly breaking Leclerc's front suspension. Vettel's rear tyre then burst and he also parked up.
Order under SC: 1 Verstappen, 2 Albon, 3 Gasly, 4 Hamilton, 5 Sainz, 6 Raikkonen, 7 Giovinazzi, 8 Ricciardo, 9 Norris, 10 Perez, 11 Hulkenberg, 12 Magnussen, 13 Kvyat, 14 Russell, 15 Grosjean, 16 Kubica.
So it's now Verstappen leading Albon and Gasly, with Hamilton on very new tyres in fourth but surely there won't be many laps of racing left when this safety car comes in.
"What the hell is he doing?" Vettel rants about Leclerc, but the replay suggests that was down to Vettel moving across on his team-mate on the back straight.
Sainz has dropped to five seconds behind Gasly in eighth, but he is still keeping the Alfas at bay on his super-worn mediums. So, maybe good strategy after all - and really good driving.
Having to focus on keeping the Ferraris at bay is stopping Albon being able to attack Hamilton for second, though.
Vettel edges ahead of Albon down the outside towards the Senna S but Albon brakes late and holds on to third.
Hulkenberg is under investigation for overtaking Magnussen "at the control line" during the restart. He's up to 13th, while Magnussen is 16th.
Trending
Latest news
Alpine confident for 'good news' in Habsburg injury recovery
Imola
Alpine confident for 'good news' in Habsburg injury recovery
Ferrari "made too many mistakes" for podium fight at F1 Chinese GP
Chinese GP
Ferrari "made too many mistakes" for podium fight at F1 Chinese GP
What is a wildcard in MotoGP and why is it used?
What is a wildcard in MotoGP and why is it used?
Top Comments