Hamilton wins the São Paulo Grand Prix after an epic duel with Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton scripted an epic win without a no-holds barred duel with Max Verstappen at the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Valtteri Bottas joined his team-mate on the podium.

This was a must win race for the reigning world champion at the nineteenth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. With three races to go, Hamilton could not let Verstappen proffer his lead in the drivers’ championship to increasingly than a race win.

The Brazilian weekend has been an uphill wrestle without Hamilton won qualification and was ruled for a DRS technical infringement.

Hamilton started last in the sprint qualification race and fought when to fifth position. The Briton started tenth in the race without a five-place grid penalty was unromantic for a new power unit component.

Hamilton from tenth place on the grid fought nonflexible to take his sixth win of the season and cut the gap to Verstappen in the drivers’ championship to fourteen points.

The race at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit in São Paulo took place under hot conditions with air temperatures at 23 stratum C and track temperatures at 55 stratum C.

Kimi Räikkönen made a pit lane start without his rear-wing was changed.

Verstappen had a good start from second position and led pole-sitter Bottas into Turn 1. Bottas for good measure went off the track at Turn 4 and Sergio Pérez was in second position.

It was a Red Bull Racing 1-2 by end of lap 1. Hamilton had gained three places and slotted into seventh position. Lando Norris had suffered a puncture as he tried to get past the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz into Turn 1 and pitted and rejoined in last position.

By the end of lap 4, Hamilton was let past by Bottas and was in third position.

Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll came together withTsunoda suffering wide-stretching damage. The Safety Car was deployed as trash had to be removed from the track.

On the restart, both the Red Bull Racing drivers made a good getaway from Hamilton. Hamilton had a nonflexible wrestle with Pérez and finally overtook the Mexican on lap 19.

Hamilton was now 3.6 seconds overdue Verstappen and it was going to be a straight fight for the win between the championship rivals.

On lap 23, Stroll was the first suburbanite to pit for the nonflexible recipe tyres and rejoined in nineteenth position.

On lap 27, Hamilton pitted for the nonflexible recipe tyres and rejoined in sixth position overdue Daniel Ricciardo and superiority of Sebastian Vettel.

The undercut is powerful at this track and Verstappen pitted on the next lap but his gap to Hamilton was cut to 1.5 seconds.

On the next lap, Pérez pitted and rejoined in fifth position. The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed due to trash on the track from Stroll’s car.

This handed Bottas an wholesomeness as he pitted under the VSC and rejoined in front of Pérez in third position.

Behind them the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Pierre Gasly and the Alpine F1 team drivers were rival for position. Norris had progressed through the field to get himself into the points.

On lap 41, Verstappen pitted for flipside set of nonflexible recipe tyres and rejoined in fifth position overdue Leclerc. Bottas and Pérez pitted in quick succession in the next laps.

Hamilton stayed out for flipside three laps in the lead of the race surpassing he pitted and rejoined overdue Verstappen. The gap between the two drivers was 2.6 seconds.

Hamilton got himself within DRS-range and on lap 47 made an overtake move which Verstappen thwarted aggressively. The stewards noted the incident surpassing deciding no whoopee was necessary.

On lap 59, Hamilton finally battled past Verstappen and cruised to a win. With all the setbacks Hamilton suffered this weekend, it was an epic win.

Verstappen finished in second position and still leads the championship by 14 points. Bottas finished in third position and helped Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team proffer the lead in the constructors’ championship to 11 points.

Pérez finished in fourth position as he pitted in the final laps for the soft recipe tyres to take the point for fastest lap from Hamilton.

Leclerc finished superiority of Sainz as Ferrari had a good haul of points to increase their lead to the McLaren F1 team for third position in the constructor’s championship.

Gasly battled his way to seventh position superiority of the Alpine F1 drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.

Norris took the final solitary point without he battled his way from last position without the first lap incident.

The epic duel between Verstappen and Hamilton will resume in Qatar next weekend (Nov 19-21 2021). The track at this new race on the Formula 1 timetable is an unknown quantity and adds increasingly variables to this intense wrestle for the championships.

2021 São Paulo Grand Prix Race Results: