F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix as it happened - Lewis Hamilton battles back from 10th to beat title rival Max Verstappen
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Updated 14/11/2021 at 19:03 GMT
A testing weekend for the seven-time world champion ended on a high as Hamilton fought back from 10th position on the grid to tear through the field and eventually pass his title rival in sensational fashion with 12 laps to go in Sao Paolo. Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in third place.
‘Never give up, keep pushing’ – Hamilton after qualifying drama
HAMILTON WINS
Lewis Hamilton triumphs in Sao Paolo to keep title hopes alive! He stormed from tenth to second in 14 laps, and then held the lead with 11 laps to go. Easy right? Brilliant from the greatest of all time. 'YEAH BOY', he says. 'That is how you do it!'
Perez pinched his fastest lap point at the end there, but Hamilton would have taken this!
71/71 - Almost there
Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas. It's not perfect for the Brit but he's going to cut the Dutchman's lead to 13 points.
67/71 - Hamilton wobbles on bend
Don't panic, but Hamilton takes a bend too wide and has to readjust. Luckily he has the youngest tyres in the top three and a 7 second lead over Verstappen.
63/71 - Verstappen three seconds behind
Hamilton has this in the bag. Verstappen is falling further behind and he has nowhere near the pace to take the lead again. Barring disaster the race belongs to the Brit.
61/71 - Warning for Verstappen
Verstappen receives a black and white flag for weaving on the straight when trying to protect his position. Just a warning then.
59/71 - Hamilton overtakes!
Beautiful driving!
Hamilton forces Verstappen inside on the turn to protect his position but overtakes on the outside. The crowd go absolutely mental.
58/71 - Hamilton attacks again
Hamilton just cannot get ahead of Verstappen who shrugs him off at every corner.
55/71 - As things stand
1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Perez
5. Sainz
6. Leclerc
7. Alonso
8. Ocon
52/71 - No investigation necessary
Verstappen avoids trouble for that wide turn on Hamilton. Time running out. 'Of course not,' Hamilton says sarcastically.
50/71 - Verstappen in trouble?
Verstappen is under investigation for that manoeuvre! And on the radio he says he's not sure he can hold out until the end with tyres three laps older!
It looks as though Verstappen stopped trying to turn the corner to stop Hamilton overtaking and he could be in trouble. Bottas on the radio is relishing a few time penalties.
47/71 - Hamilton attacks
Hamilton activates DRS and tries to overtake on the Sienna Straight but he backs out of it after getting within 0.4 of a second. Verstappen looks better on the corners.
He tries again! Hamilton overtakes for the briefest moment but Verstappen forces him off the road. 5-10m into the bend! That's gutsy and prevents a guaranteed pass. Gutsy, or dodgy?
45/71 - 'We've thrown away an easy 1-2'
Drama. Hamilton and Bottas are angry at their team. Hamilton wanted the medium tyres and he thinks they could've managed a few more laps in his old tyres too.
Bottas thinks they've thrown away the 1-2, which would hugely help Hamilton's title chances.
43/71 - Hamilton pits
Hamilton pits and now we're here to the end. Hamilton picks the hard tyres!
Remember, if Verstappen scores three points more than Hamilton today then he can finish second in the remaining three races and still win the title.
So Hamilton really needs the win.
41/71 - Verstappen pits and Hamilton leads
Verstappen pits again and Hamilton is considering doing the same. They are speaking in code (colour coding the tyres) so Red Bull have no idea what to expect.
36/71 - Hamilton struggling round the corners
Verstappen is three tenths quicker in the middle sector as Hamilton struggles round the dirty corners.
The Brit is moving closer to the DRS limit but some more help must be on its way?
Bottas now holds the fastest lap after pitting.
32/71 - Verstappen leads
As you were. Verstappen leads the pack with Hamilton just one second behind him.
Bottas is third now ahead of Perez, taking advantage of a virtual safety car to pit.
28/71 - Verstappen pits
Red Bull follow suit, Verstappen is back on the track in third with Hamilton fourth.
27/71 - Hamilton pits
Hamilton pits and 2.4 seconds later he's back racing. He returns to the field in sixth.
26/71 - Verstappen starting to slide, Hamilton's rears moving around
Verstappen tells his team he's starting to slide a bit but he's extended his lead over Hamilton to 4 seconds.
Hamilton radios in and says his rears are moving around a lot.
They're not so different after all.
23/71 - Hamilton 3.5 seconds off
Hamilton keeps clocking the fastest laps but he needs more as Verstappen is keeping the gap at 3.5 seconds.
Lap 19/71 - Hamilton takes second
Hamilton gets DRS and overtakes Perez on the outside but seconds later Perez activates DRS and is back in front. He's doing his best to keep Verstappen safe in first. The old switcheroo.
But Hamilton does it again!!!! He takes Perez on the Senna Straight.
Lap 15/71 - Tsunoda handed penalty
Tsunoda handed ten second time penalty for that clash with Stroll.
Lap 14/71 - Hamilton loses ground
Hamilton lost 0.5 of a second on the green flag there with Perez much quicker. Norris has used the safety car to get himself up to 15th.
Lap 11/71 - Leclerc goes for Bottas
Leclerc goes for Bottas but the Finn holds him off for now.
The virtual safety car is out now. No overtaking please chaps. Schumacher caught some debris under his car and he's pit to get that patched up.
The Stroll/Tsunoda bump is under investigation too.
Lap 10/71 - Racing resumes
Hamilton was five seconds behind before the safety car and now he's right up the back of Perez. That's done him a world of good.
Lap 8/71 - Safety car out
Some Tsunoda debris on the track means the safety car is out. Fighting talk from Hamilton who says: "Tell Valtteri to follow me, we're going to get these guys"
Lap 5/71 - Hamilton up to third
Hamilton making a mockery of his penalties this weekend and is already up to third. He clocks the fastest lap in the fourth. Tsunoda pits to for a tire change and the front of his car is swapped out after a clash with Stroll.
Lap 4/71 - Verstappen first
Verstappen is up to first already and Bottas has bottled it there. He had one job, to keep Verstappen in check early doors, but title challenger found another gear.
Lap 2/71 - Norris pits
Norris sorts his puncture in the pits. He tried to overtaken Sainz early and was knocked off the track. Rough start. Verstappen clocks the fastest first lap.
Lap 1/71 - Norris suffers puncture!
Norris is bumped off the track with an early puncture and he's at the back! He dropped 15 spaces within three seconds of the race with a puncture. Hamilton is up the sixth already, climbing through the field.
16:56 - Hot conditions
Could be tough out there for Hamilton as he tried to make up ground on the rest...he has the quickest car but the hotter conditions won't help him overtake the field.
16:52 - 'A Joke'
Hamilton fans, if you want to get a little angrier just before the start of the race you can share in the frustrations of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff who labelled Hamilton's disqualification Friday night's sprint qualifying session a 'joke'.
Read all about it HERE!
16:45 - Sao Paulo
16:36 - As Things Stand
Max Verstappen leads the driver standings by 21 points from Lewis Hamilton and starts second on the grid.
If he drives well today, it could be as good as curtains for Hamilton's title challenge. Or at least, it would take something monumental to beat him.
16:29 - They're out
16:25 - THE GRID
1. Bottas (Mercedes)
2. Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
4. Perez (Red Bull)
5. Norris (McLaren)
6. Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Gasly (AlphaTauri)
8. Ocon (Alpine)
9. Vettel (Aston Martin)
10. Hamilton (Mercedes)
12. Ricciardo (McLaren)
13. Alonso (Alpine)
14. Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
15. Stroll (Aston Martin)
16. Tsunoda (AlphaTuari)
17. Latifi (Williams)
18. Russell (Williams)
19. Schumacher (Haas)
18. Mazepin (Haas)
The main event!
Good afternoon and welcome to one of the most chaotic weekends in F1 memory.
So much drama and the Brazilian main event has not even started...
We've recapped all the carnage for you below, so read up and get yourselves ready for the Brazilian Grand Prix kicking off in 45 minutes
Can Hamilton recover?
Lewis Hamilton started at the back of the grid following his disqualification from qualifying on Friday, but made four places off the start line and charged through the field.
The defending world champion picked off car after car, before racing up to Daniel Ricciardo. The McLaren had the same power unit as Hamilton’s Mercedes, and it took him four laps to make the move - going round the outside on the start-finish straight.
Once past the Australian, he made short work of Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc.
On the final lap, Hamilton lunged down the inside of Lando Norris, much to the delight of the crowd who let out a huge roar, for fifth place - meaning he will start the main race on Sunday in 10th after his five-place grid penalty for an engine change. All is not lost for Hamilton who had serious pace.
“It was definitely tough and I think I was, whilst the team were working away, delegating with the stewards, I was just trying to focus on my work with my engineers and keeping the morale with my mechanics high, focusing on the job at hand and not thinking about it," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
“Of course, just before I heard about the result, and it was devastating, but you can’t let that hold you back.
"You’ve got to keep your head down and keep going so I quickly reset, got my mind focused on what I could do and giving it everything.”
Qualifying recap
Valtteri Bottas jumped Max Verstappen off the line and held the lead all the way to claim victory in the sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton charged through the field to take fifth.
Verstappen started on pole following Hamilton’s disqualification, but he got a poor start and was jumped at the first corner by the Mercedes man.
Carlos Sainz also got past the championship leader on the first lap, but he was not in front for long as the Red Bull’s superior power made short work of the Ferrari.
Bottas and Verstappen were on different tyres for the 24-lap race, but the Finn managed his superbly to keep Verstappen at bay in the final stages.
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