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Max Verstappen has won his third race of the 2019 season, coming out on top in a Sao Paulo thriller that saw both Ferraris retire following contact with each other.
Pierre Gasly picked up his maiden podium finish in Formula 1 after Lewis Hamilton collided with Alexander Albon on the penultimate lap of the race.
Following a stewards investigation post-race, Hamilton was found guilty of causing a collision and was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty - promoting Carlos Sainz onto the podium.
Valtteri Bottas was the first of the front runners to retire from the race as his engine gave up as he chased Albon for position.
His retirement caused the first safety car of the race on lap 54, which saw Verstappen and Charles Leclerc pit for fresh soft tyres.
Verstappen gave up the lead of the race to Hamilton who had already pitted twice, however at the safety car restart, the Dutchman sailed around the outside of Hamilton at Turn 1.
It marked the second time in the race that Hamilton found himself losing the lead to Verstappen at that corner, as Verstappen had lost the lead after being undercut by the Mercedes driver at the first round of pit stops.
Verstappen's rude through the pit lane was hampered by Robert Kubica, as the Williams driver was released from his box into the path of Verstappen, who was forced to take avoiding action.
When the safety car came into the pits, Verstappen regained the lead while Albon held off the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Albon had pitted just a handful of laps prior to the safety car and found himself in a fight for the podium.
Leclerc attached fresh softs to his car when the safety car was deployed and attacked teammate Vettel - however on the run down into Turn 4, the two made contact which both them both out of the race.
The crash forced race control to deploy another safety car, which left Red Bull running in first and second, with Gasly sitting in third.
Mercedes opted to bring Hamilton into the pit lane under the second safety car, and the Briton made quick work of Gasly before setting his sights on Albon.
However, as they made their way into Turn 8, the two collided which sent Albon to the back of the grid, denying the Thai-British driver his first podium finish in F1.
Gasly managed to make his way back around Hamilton due to the contact, and the pair ran side-by-side on the run-up to the line, with the Toro Rosso just staying in front of the six-time world champion.
Carlos Sainz crossed the line in fourth place, capping off a mighty race that saw him start from the very back of the field with an engine penalty.
Alfa Romeo had a strong result, as Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi crossed the line in fifth and sixth respectively.
Two of the midfield contenders were involved in a collision early on in the race, as Daniel Ricciardo spun Kevin Magnussen at Turn 4, taking on a five-second time penalty as a result.
Ricciardo recovered to finish in seventh place, ahead of Lando Norris and Sergio Perez, while Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten in the second Toro Rosso.
Interlagos - 17 November 2019
Wow, this was a good race. I've noticed since the beginning of the hybrid era that the later races tend to taper off in terms of quality, glad that isn't the case this year. Red Bull did everything right, and Max raced flawlessly today. Abysmal for Ferrari and Albon, especially since Albon had been doing so well. Soured what could've been a Honda 1-2-3 in a race where that PU was surprisingly racy. But Gasly was absolutely deserving of a podium. P2 in a TRH! Again this year!
Interlagos, need I say more!
I mean what a belter of a race! Phenomenal racing. The photo finish just added to an already unpredictable race. Really good for Honda. A shame for Ferrari but they didn't really have the pace on Red Bull. Albon deserved the podium and this is the only sad outcome of the race but ironically it paved the way for Gasly's podium. A good haul by Alfa Romeo too. Grosjean was a bit unfortunate today.
This just might become the turning point for Ferrari drivers. I daresay it was on cards. Didn't look that much of a stupid move from either of them but the barest of touch led to biggest of disaster.
This season it seems peaked whenever the break from it was approaching.
I guess if you are an RB or Honda fan it was a good race. I found it rather mediocre myself. RedBull clearly had the fastest car under those race conditions. I like the track for the history, but it's right down there with RB ring as my least favorite tracks on the calendar. For the most part it was a parade and not very interesting until the last 20 laps or so. A few good overtakes and some of the mid-field teams got a break, but 1 car/driver pairing clearly had the quickest car and pace and easily overtook the rest. Not much fighting really. Interesting to see both HAM and VET crash into youngsters. Clearly a signal to the young drivers that they aren't afraid to crash or run you off the track if you want to play that way. It was the perfect race to flex some muscle in the sense the title is over and they had nothing to lose to prove they aren't going to just sit by and let others past without a serious fight.
Yes I'm a fan of Max but even a greater fan of the sport. Great race action and thought Hamilton was faster on the medium tyres than Verstappen. Could have been a great end of the race. Again the difference between the teammates of both Hamilton and Verstappen was high, meaning the Red Bull Honda wasn't dominating otherwise Albon and Bottas could have done a better job. Bottas not able to overtake Leclerc with fresh medium tyres and perhaps even heated up the engine after driving longer in the dirty air of Leclerc.
One of the best races lately on top. Middle field was less attention to but should also had his fights and close racing.
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Wow, this was a good race. I've noticed since the beginning of the hybrid era that the later races tend to taper off in terms of quality, glad that isn't the case this year. Red Bull did everything right, and Max raced flawlessly today. Abysmal for Ferrari and Albon, especially since Albon had be... [Read more]