Lewis Hamilton won the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix after a sensational battle with his rival Max Verstappen in an absolutely enthralling return to Brazil for F1. Verstappen finished runner-up ahead of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas.
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Hamilton enjoyed a terrific start from P10 on the grid and was clearly on the charge, teammate Bottas – who lost the lead to Verstappen at the start – letting him for P5 by on Lap 5. Hamilton then took P2 off Perez in a duel that began on Lap 17 and culminated in a Lap 19 pass at Turn 4. The first stops took place around Lap 25 but the action built up to a terrific crescendo after Verstappen took a second stop on Lap 41, Hamilton on Lap 44.
The Mercedes driver bore down on Verstappen and despite being shoved wide at Turn 4 – the stewards noting but not investigating – on Lap 48, Hamilton didn’t give up, trying it again on Lap 58 only to meet a stubborn defence. A lap later came the winning pass with DRS on the run-up to Turn 4, this time Verstappen having no choice but to concede. Hamilton ended up 10.4 seconds up the road in first place at the flag, cutting Verstappen’s championship lead from 21 points to 14 points.
Bottas, who took an opportunistic stop during the Lap 30 Virtual Safety Car period and another on Lap 41, finished third ahead of Sergio Perez, who started fourth, was up to second, but lost places to the two Mercedes. The Mexican however took the fastest lap at the expense of Hamilton, on the final tour, having pitted for softs on Lap 70.
The Ferraris pulled off a two-stop strategy to see Charles Leclerc home in fifth and Carlos Sainz – who lost three places amid contact with Lando Norris (P10) at the start – in sixth. Pierre Gasly picked off the Alpines after pitting twice, his Lap 50 change to hard tyres helping him pass Esteban Ocon (P9) and Fernando Alonso (P8).
Norris picked up a puncture on Lap 1 after Sainz nicked his rear-left tyre, but recovered from there to take the final point, his pitstop during a Lap 7 VSC leaving him on hard compounds right until the finish.
Sebastian Vettel missed out on the final point by a second to Norris ahead, and finished 11th having started P9, his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll eventually retiring – as did McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.
But it was Hamilton who stole the show here in Brazil – recovering from his disqualification from qualifying on Friday and clawing his way back up to P5 from dead last in Saturday’s Sprint before he took another grid penalty for an engine change on race day. From P10 he put in the drive of his life – and pulled off an impressive move on his title rival Verstappen to seal the victory in front of an ecstatic crowd at Interlagos.
Mario Isola – Head of F1 and car racing at Pirelli commented:
The strategy was at the forefront of this finely-balanced 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, with similar performance between the frontrunners and a number of strategies that were on paper very closely matched. The track temperature was the biggest influence on the strategy today, with temperatures that were around 20 degrees higher than yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying, shifting the balance away from the softer compounds towards the harder compounds. The hard was the main race tyre, performing very well with some impressive lap times in these challenging conditions. With the first stint lasting a little longer due to safety cars, the drivers were able to gain more flexibility for the second stint. There was a clear tactical battle involving the ‘undercut’, especially among the frontrunners, and that’s the reason why the central stint on the hard tyre was so short for some of the top drivers. Lewis Hamilton did a very impressive job over the weekend: from the back of the grid in Sprint Qualifying all the way to the top step of the Grand Prix podium.
2021 Formula 1 Brazilian GP Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 1:32:22.851 | 25 | 318.5 |
| 2. | 33 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +10.496s | 18 | 332.5 |
| 3. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +13.576s | 15 | 203 |
| 4. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing Honda | +39.940s | 13 | 178 |
| 5. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | +49.517s | 10 | 148 |
| 6. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +51.820s | 8 | 139.5 |
| 7. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +1 lap | 6 | 92 |
| 8. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 4 | 50 |
| 9. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 2 | 62 |
| 10. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +1 lap | 1 | 151 |
| 11. | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Germany | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 42 |
| 12. | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Finland | Alfa Romeo F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 10 |
| 13. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Williams Racing | +1 lap | 0 | 16 |
| 14. | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Italy | Alfa Romeo F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 1 |
| 15. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +1 lap | 0 | 20 |
| 16. | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Canada | Williams Racing | +1 lap | 0 | 7 |
| 17. | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Russia | Haas F1 Team | +2 laps | 0 | 0 |
| 18. | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +2 laps | 0 | 0 |
| 12. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | McLaren Racing | DNF | 0 | 105 |
| 14. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | DNF | 0 | 26 |
2021 Constructor Standings
| Picture | Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. | Mercedes-AMG F1 Team | 613.5 |
 | 2. | Red Bull Racing | 585.5 |
 | 3. | Scuderia Ferrari | 323.5 |
 | 4. | McLaren Racing | 275 |
 | 5. | Alpine F1 Team | 155 |
 | 6. | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 142 |
 | 7. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 77 |
 | 8. | Williams Racing | 23 |
 | 9. | Alfa Romeo Racing | 13 |
 | 10. | Haas F1 Team | 0 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team scored an improbable and exhilarating double podium at the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]Lewis delivered a famous win from P10 on the grid, having overcome disqualification from Friday’s qualifying, to score his 101st career Formula One victory and his 80th for Mercedes. Valtteri started from pole and delivered a strong P3 podium finish, number 66 of his career, and was closing in quickly on Verstappen’s Red Bull in the final laps. Lewis overtook Verstappen on track on lap 59, having been forced off the track at Turn 4 on lap 48, although the manoeuvre remained mystifyingly without investigation by the Stewards.
Lewis Hamilton
I am so, so grateful for the incredible support I’ve had this weekend from the people of Brazil – I’ve not had this kind of support since Silverstone! To hear the crowd throughout the weekend has been really humbling. I’ve just been saying ‘Obrigado Brasil’ all weekend. What a race! The Team here and at the factory did an amazing job, and Valtteri did a great job today to get as many points as possible.
I was pushing as hard as I could from last on grid yesterday, and then with another 5-place penalty today. This was, I think, the hardest weekend I’ve had. But my dad said ‘you reminded me of 2004’ when I was in Formula 3 in Bahrain – I started last and I finished 10th and then I finished 1st so, this one is for my dad.
Coming into this weekend I never, ever thought we’d be able to close the gap like we have today. And then things just kept going against us, but I think it really shows, just never give up. Whatever you’re facing, you’ve just got to keep pushing, keep tumbling away, keep fighting. Never, ever stop fighting. That’s how I’ve approached this weekend. It feels like a first because I don’t feel like I’ve had a win for a long time.
Valtteri Bottas
The start today was quite tricky, it was a disappointing first lap but I tried my best. After that, the pace was good and from the cockpit, I thought we could have a chance of the one-stop, but we decided to do a two-stop. The team put me in a good place to take advantage of the VSC, and it fell my way for once, so I was happy with that. Overall, I’m glad we could score more points than Red Bull today – it was a positive result. Congratulations to Lewis, he had an amazing drive.
Toto Wolff
What a weekend from this team. We started the weekend on the backfoot with our self-inflicted engine penalty, we got disqualified yesterday which was harsh, and then today in the race, things went against us too. This team has always been together, but these decisions have brought us so close. It felt like everything was against us and I think that’s what Lewis has felt all his life and we now feel it together as a team and we’re going to fight – that is the emotion we’re feeling in the garage at the moment.
Yesterday Lewis produced one of the best drives we have ever seen. I don’t know how many overtakes there were across the weekend but Lewis was left, right, and over them. And today, his driving was immaculate. Max forced him off the road at Turn 4 and Lewis was very clever to avoid contact. It was great to see these amazing drivers but not giving a 5-second penalty? Come on!
Valtteri banked crucial points for the team today and his driving was top-class all weekend, a very strong podium for him today to follow his victory in the sprint yesterday. This season keeps delivering and you can see how quickly the tides change – last weekend we went away beaten up in Mexico, this week we had the faster package. Red Bull could be very strong in Qatar next week and that is to be expected. May the stronger one win. Last weekend it was them, this weekend it was us – we’ll fight to the end.
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Max Verstappen stood on the podium for the 15th time this season after finishing second at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]The Dutch driver had made the perfect start when he overtook pole-sitter Valterri Bottas in the early going. However, he was unable to prevent the Finn’s Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton from securing the win at Interlagos.
Hamilton was also set to secure an extra point for the fastest lap until Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing Honda teammate Sergio Pérez intervened. The Mexican driver produced a scintillating final lap to beat the Briton’s time as he finished in fourth.
Verstappen now has a 14 point lead over Hamilton in the championship standings with just three races remaining.
Max Verstappen
I knew today would be difficult, but I did everything I could, we were just lacking a little bit. At least it was a fun race, of course, I would have liked to have won but realistically I think this was a good result. Lewis and I were fighting for position on multiple occasions, I think it was hard racing but good racing and that’s how it should be. I was hoping for a little bit more performance but this result is definitely the maximum we could do. Top speed wise it was tough to defend, you can clearly see when they take a fresh engine that it gives them a bit more power, so hopefully, that will die down over the coming races. There are three races coming up that will be completely different again, so we’ll see how it goes.
Sergio Pérez
It was close today and it was fun, but I am not here to have fun, I am here to deliver. I had a great start but then it was very difficult to hold Lewis back, I tried my best to hold onto him but I couldn’t, he was flying! Then we were ahead of Bottas by two seconds, we had the position and we had the podium but two laps later the virtual safety car came in. That timing was extremely unlucky for us and it worked perfectly for him, he managed to do the undercut and then pull five seconds away from us. It is a bit of a shame we lost the podium but I was able to build a big enough gap to the Ferrari in fifth to pit and go for the fastest lap, which is an important point for the team. That straight-line speed of the Mercedes is just unbelievable, we were not able to match them and today they were on another planet. Ultimately it is a good result for us today, I don’t believe there is much we could have done differently, it’s just a shame because we should have finished ahead of Bottas had it not been for the VSC. Today the luck wasn’t with us but there are still three races to go and everything to play for so we will keep pushing. Now we look forward to Qatar and hopefully there we can be competitive.
Christian Horner – Team Principal
To come away with second and fourth today, plus the fastest lap was damage limitation this weekend. We scored 20 points for Max this weekend versus their 25 for Lewis in the Drivers’ Championship, so we’ll take that. We put up as good a defence as we could, Max did his best and raced hard, and Checo made Lewis have two goes to get past, and he came back with a great move to reclaim the place after Lewis’ first effort. But we saw Mercedes pace from Friday and then again yesterday, so today wasn’t too much of a surprise. They did a good job and Lewis drove a great race today, so well done to them. We’ve got some catching up to do this week. There’s a lot of racing still to go, so we’ll brush ourselves down and come back fighting in Doha.
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Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Team Principal Andreas Seidl after the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]Lando Norris
A disappointing day for all of us as a team, as well as for myself. I had a really good start and as I tried to come back onto the track there just wasn’t enough room and I ended up getting the puncture. We could’ve scored some good points. We’ll review it and try to do a better job next time. The fightback through was good, managing to score a point, which is better than nothing. I think that’s the best we could’ve done today after what happened. A tough few weeks but hopefully we can have a better one in Qatar.
Daniel Ricciardo
It was going OK! We went forwards at the start, which was definitely one objective after yesterday. I wasn’t happy with how the sprint panned out for myself, so I was determined to make it better. We had some good battles, Ocon made a good move on me early in the race and I was able to get him back with pretty much the same move, so that felt good.
After that, we were in the fight with Gasly, and with Ferrari as well. We knew they had to two-stop. I think they had a bit more pace but maybe through strategy, we could have disrupted them. But then we had a loss of power and had to retire the car. Definitely a shame, but it was a much more promising day than yesterday. We’ll take the positives from that, and we’ve got another chance next week.
Andreas Seidl
A challenging Sunday afternoon for us with again just one point for a lot of effort. Unfortunately, after a good initial launch, Lando came together with Carlos [Sainz] which cost him a puncture and put him at the back with significant damage to the floor area resulting in a loss of performance. We kept fighting, Lando made his way through the field and did well to score a point, but it’s obviously disappointing given where we started. On Daniel’s side, he made up ground at the start and his race was going well until he was forced to retire, having suffered a power loss.
“The triple-header has not gone well for us so far, but we’re hoping to have a better run in just seven days’ time. Irrespective of the result, everyone worked very hard this weekend, particularly given the intensity caused by the late arrival of our freight, and we had a competitive car. My thanks to everyone at the track, back at the factory and our colleagues at Mercedes HPP for their effort. We’ll continue to work hard and look forward to going again with some exciting new races, starting with Qatar next week.
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Another solid weekend for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, scoring 18 points at the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix this afternoon courtesy of a fifth-place for Charles Leclerc and a sixth for Carlos Sainz. It means the team makes a significant step forward in terms of the Constructors’ classification, as its lead over McLaren has extended to 31.5 points.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]All according to plan. The race had been planned out to the smallest detail with the aim of getting both cars behind the two teams fighting for the titles. The strategy and pit stops were well executed and the drivers did an intelligent job of tyre management, pushing when they had to, without making any mistakes. The SF21 worked well on both the Medium and Hard compounds, running at a reasonable pace, capable of maintaining the positions gained in the opening laps.
Ready for the final rush. The trio of races in the Americas saw a positive trend for the Scuderia which will allow it to tackle the final three Grands Prix in the Middle East knowing it can fight right to the end for third place, which is the realistic goal for this final part of the season. Two of the remaining three races take place on tracks that Formula 1 has never raced on before, so preparing well for the weekends will be even more important, as will be reliability, always a crucial factor.
Charles Leclerc
That was a really nice race. We weren’t satisfied after the Sprint Qualifying yesterday, so we worked hard last night to analyse where we could make some improvements. And that’s what we applied today, so I am very happy with the performance.
I had a very good start, which was my first target. After that, the race was all about managing the tyres well and maintaining the gap to those behind me.
It’s also looking good in terms of the gap we are building to our direct competitors in the championship, so overall, a very positive finish to the weekend.
Carlos Sainz
I cannot be happy with today’s result as I think if I had made a clean getaway from the line it would probably have ended with P5. We need to keep digging into that to understand what was the cause, as we are lacking consistency off the line. I then had contact with Lando (Norris) and that ended up costing me positions to Checo (Perez) and Charles. From there, the pace was strong the entire race, but that was it.
There are a lot of positives to take away from this weekend. First of all the points that we were able to collect as a team to extend the lead over McLaren and secondly the good feeling with the car, the tyre management and the strong pace since Friday. It’s just frustrating that I haven’t made the most of the last two races after eventful starts, but we’ll keep pushing! On to the final race of this triple-header.
Mattia Binotto, Team Principal
A good result in terms of the championship, given that we have doubled our lead over our closest rivals in the Constructors’ classification. Having said that, a 31.5 point lead doesn’t mean that it’s done and dusted, far from it. We know the situation can change in an instant and that our opponents are very strong.
During what proved to be a busy weekend, the team, both at the track and back in Maranello, worked very hard and with great precision, tackling every situation with the right approach. Today, every aspect of the race was managed well – strategy, tyre management and pit stops – and the drivers produced a clean and effective performance.
There are now just three races to go and we must continue in this fashion to reach what has become our goal for the end of the season.
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Alpine F1 Team leaves part two of the three-race triple header with six 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship points after Esteban Ocon finished eighth and Fernando Alonso took ninth in a thrilling 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix. The result leaves Alpine in the fifth position in the Constructors’ standings on 112 points heading into the final three races.
Esteban and Fernando were immediately involved in some thrilling on-track battles with the pair scrapping with Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo in the opening exchanges of the 71-lap race. Once the dust settled, Esteban had dropped one place to ninth despite a nice overtake on the McLaren, while Fernando climbed into eleventh.
After a short Safety Car interlude for loose debris, Ricciardo managed to peg Esteban back for ninth with Fernando also caught out by Lance Stroll after the restart. The Spaniard salvaged the position after some impressive pace got him back ahead of the Aston Martin.
Esteban was the first to box for fresh Hards after capitalising on a brief Virtual Safety period. Fernando stayed out after missing out on the advantage to pit and eventually switched to Hards on lap 34.
On fresh tyres, Fernando showed electric pace and was determined to make up some of the lost ground after the pit stop. His scorching pace allowed him to climb three places in a matter of laps before both he and Esteban found themselves in the final points-scoring positions. Problems ahead for Ricciardo further promoted Esteban to eighth and Fernando nicely into ninth.
With a strong pace, Fernando was graciously let through by his team-mate to try to pressure the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly, who had just boxed for a second time. On fresher rubber, he soon caught up to the Alpine pair and despite some valiant teamwork, he eventually made his way past both thanks to the tyre advantage.
Fernando and Esteban ran the remainder of the race in eighth and ninth before kindly switching positions back in a moment of comradery on the last lap to bring six solid points home for the team.
Fernando Alonso
I am happy with our result today after a difficult day yesterday. The start and the restart didn’t play to our hands but then we had a really good pace once it all settled down. We were a little unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car that happened, as we weren’t able to box and, in the end, we did lose some time with that. Once we were back out our pace was strong. We only chose to stop once and despite some teamwork to try and stop Pierre (Gasly) from the overtake, we weren’t able to hold him off. It’s good to see both cars in the points again and we are still level with Alpha Tauri for fifth heading into Qatar next weekend, so we’ll aim to continue this form.
Esteban Ocon
I’m happy to be back in the points today after a very busy race. Today was all about the strong teamwork between all of us. We tried to maximise everything the best we could, and we pushed everything to the limit both from a performance and tactical point of view. When Gasly pitted for the second time, I gave the place to Fernando to see if we could hold him behind by giving me a tow. It worked for a couple of laps, but it was not enough in the end and Fernando returned the place. Still, eighth and ninth position at the flag gives us six points and that’s a great team result, which is important for the Constructors’ Championship. It’s still tight, we head to two unknown tracks next and we’ll keep pushing as much as we can to hold onto this position.
Lauren Rossi, Chief Executive Officer, Alpine Cars:
We’re very pleased to have both cars inside the points for the first time since the Italian Grand Prix. Not only does it mean we remain fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, but it also confirms a return to a good competitiveness level after a run of races, which has left us searching for answers. Today’s race was entertaining, and it was good we could put on a show for an electric Brazilian crowd. As a team, we can be proud of our teamwork today as demonstrated by Esteban and Fernando on track. After Gasly’s second pit-stop, we opted to stick to a one-stop strategy and defend as best as we could from him. First, Esteban allowed Fernando to pass in order to create a tow with the aim of keeping Gasly behind. While this worked for a handful of laps, ultimately, with the tyre advantage he had, we weren’t able to hold out. Fernando returned the position on the last lap to Esteban underlining both drivers’ impressive team spirit to help each other and, in parallel, drive the team forwards. Our focus switches straight to Qatar for the final round of the triple header. We’re heading into the relatively unknown, but that’s an exciting challenge, which we’re looking forward to taking on.
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Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver Pierre Gasly produced yet another solid drive at the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix as he finished in seventh, while Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished in 15th position.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]Pierre Gasly
I’m really happy, it’s been a very intense race, but I think we can be pleased with today. There were some really nice battles, with Daniel and Seb, then at the end of the race with the Alpines. It was so fun to be racing with them, as we don’t often get to do that in F1. It was of course hard, but today we finished in the best position we could, behind the top three teams, and that’s the most important thing, as we continue our fight for fifth.
Yuki Tsunoda
I’m pretty frustrated after today. I think we made a good choice with the tyres but unfortunately, the collision with Stroll completely ruined my race. It was a risky move, but he just wasn’t looking in his mirrors and we came together. It’s a real shame I received the penalty, as I also struggled with damage for the rest of the race, but these things happen and we’ll work to come back stronger next time out.
Guillaume Dezoteux – Head of Vehicle Performance
We can be happy with the result today. We started Pierre on the Mediums and after the safety car periods, he was able to gain position on Vettel, then follow the train ahead. The tyre degradation was significant on this hot track, so the two-stop race was the fastest option for us at the time. After his first pitstop, Pierre drove a solid second stint, opening the gap to Ricciardo and Ocon, but we could also see that Alonso was quite fast too, trying to make the one-stop work. After our second pitstop, the target was clear, we had to pass both Alpines on track with our fresher tyres.
The battle was really intense and, with Alonso giving the DRS to Ocon, we couldn’t get close enough for overtaking both before T1 and T4, which are the only places where it is possible. The fight lasted six laps, but Pierre made superb moves on both and secured 7th place. Regarding Yuki’s race, it was compromised very early on, as he had an incident with Stroll. He sustained significant damage and this affected a lot of his race pace, which is unfortunate. After 19 races, we are still on the same points as Alpine, which makes this end of the season extremely exciting for all of us and our fans. The fight is on, we will make it!.
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Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team’s Sebastian Vettel fell shy of a top 10 performance at the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix.
After running as high as sixth, Sebastian Vettel fell just short of the top 10 after an ill-timed Virtual Safety Car period hampered his race strategy at the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix. Early contact for Lance Stroll impacted the Canadian’s car performance, with the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team driver failing to see the chequered flag.
Lance Stroll
After making up some ground yesterday, I think we had a good chance to score points today. After a strong start, [Yuki] Tsunoda made contact with me in Turn One. He was on the Softs whereas I was on the Mediums, so at that stage, he was faster. I think his move was desperate and he was way too optimistic. That contact damaged my car and from there, more pieces were falling off, which meant that the pace got worse and we were just going backwards. It is disappointing to retire, but this weekend has made me even more determined to finish well in Qatar next weekend.
Sebastian Vettel
I thought we had a good opportunity to score points today, but the Virtual Safety Cars did not help us and cost me a position to Esteban [Ocon]. Without that, it would have been a different race. We still tried everything we could and chose the two-stop strategy, rather than the one-stop. We were close to scoring a point in the end against Lando [Norris] and we were catching him in the final laps, but it was not quite enough.
Otmar Szafnauer
Sebastian and Lance both made excellent starts to be sixth and 12th on lap one. The flying [Lewis] Hamilton passed Sebastian on lap two, then, one lap later, [Yuki] Tsunoda recklessly hurled his car down the inside of Lance’s at Turn One, causing a collision, for which clumsiness he was rightly given a 10-second penalty. Thereafter, Lance did his very best, but his car had been so badly damaged by Tsunoda, and its performance so seriously compromised, that, through no fault of his own, we finally had to retire it. Sebastian ran as high as sixth at about one-third distance, but, unfortunately, also through no fault of his own, his pit stop occurred just before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed and that bad luck dropped him out of the points. In the end, he finished 11th. Roll on Qatar.
Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team best pictures:
George Russell finished 13th and Nicholas Latifi 16th in the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix. Nicholas started 16th and George 17th, both on the medium Pirelli tyres. George stopped twice, initially pitting under the safety car on lap seven and subsequently under racing conditions on lap 41, taking new hard tyres at each stop. Nicholas also ran a two-stop race, taking a fresh set of the hard compound tyres on laps 13 and 39.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]George Russell
Today was better than we expected. The first two stints were quite tough, we couldn’t make any progress on the opening few laps and struggled on the restart, but the final stint was good, and we managed to stay ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi. Being able to keep an Alfa Romeo behind is a pretty big deal for us as we just didn’t have the pace this weekend. P13 is not what we are aiming for as a team but, given the circumstances, I think it was a good result. I’m more optimistic about heading to Qatar as I think the Losail International Circuit will suit the characteristics of our car more than the last two races, so hopefully, we can go there and can be faster next weekend.
Nicholas Latifi
The race was easier to manage than I anticipated as we had a decent pace, but it was a very lonely Grand Prix as I was by myself for most of it, which is quite frustrating. We will have to look back and see what we could’ve done differently. However, we race again in seven days and on these upcoming tracks, we should be more competitive than we’ve been in Mexico and Brazil, so I’m looking forward to these next few Grands Prix in the Middle East.
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
Today was enjoyable, and although we ultimately lacked the pace to score a point, we put together a strong race in tricky circumstances. With multiple pitstops required, and several interventions from the Safety Car and the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), there was an opportunity to win and lose time and it was important to manage the car through the interventions. We had a poor opening lap and so took an early opportunity to pit George and get him onto the more robust Hard tyre, on which he showed good pace, including a particularly strong final stint. Nicholas was less fortunate as the VSC cleared whilst he was in the pit lane, which put him a little further down the road than he would otherwise have been. However, in the free air, he was able to manage the car well and apply pressure to Tsunoda.
Overall, today was a good workout for the whole team as we rarely get to do genuine multiple stop races these days. The addition of the (virtual) safety cars and the high track temperature made for a busy but interesting race. We didn’t get everything right, we could’ve done a little better with Nicholas’s first pitstop – however, we did a lot of things very well and learnt a lot in the process, which will help further our development as a strong race team.
Williams F1 Team best pictures:
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN produced a battling display in the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Kimi Räikkönen finishing 12th after starting from the pit lane and Antonio Giovinazzi following him home in 14th. The result brings the team no points, but the pace and the fighting have shown on the track, with numerous battles against our rivals, demonstrates the team continues to be in the tussle for top ten finishes on Sunday.
Kimi Räikkönen (car number 7):
The car felt quite nice today, a lot better than at any other time in the weekend: we changed a few things, so we started from the pitlane, but we were able to produce a good recovery drive. We made up eight places, which was probably the most we could do today, but we need points for the championship and we didn’t get them. So, all in all, it was the right decision, but we fell a bit short. The positive is that we had the same good feeling with the car we had in the last few races, so hopefully, we can keep this form in the final three rounds and have some good results.
Antonio Giovinazzi (car number 99):
The first part of the race wasn’t bad, I had a good pace and could be in the battle just outside the top ten. We stopped for the first time and then got stuck behind Stroll and Russell, then we pitted again but ended up behind Russell again. We all know how difficult it is to pass here and once we were in that position, there wasn’t much I could do. Not the Sunday I expected, but hopefully, we can have a better one next week.
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN:
Independently from our own result, the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix was an absolute thriller and great advertising for our sport. Starting in P13 with Antonio and from the pit lane with Kimi, after we had chosen to swap some components of his car after yesterday’s sprint, we knew we would have our work cut out to be in the points. Still, we put up a good fight, with a decent number of battles and we ran as good a race as we could, with good stops and good pace. In the end, crossing the line in P12 and P14 was as much as we could do in the circumstances. Even if we didn’t get points, we have shown to be in the fight for the top ten and we can hope to continue aiming for points in the final three races of the year, starting next Sunday in Qatar.
Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Team best pictures:
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher classified 17th and 18th respectively at the 2021 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=49]Mazepin took the start on Pirelli P Zero Yellow mediums from 19th place and avoided trouble to surge up to 14th – the Russian retaining that position through a safety car period caused by debris on the track. Mazepin remained in the midfield group shortly and settled into a rhythm, pitting on lap 35 of 71 to move onto White hard tires, which he preserved through to the checkered flag.
Schumacher started from 18th on mediums and gained on the opening lap to hold 15th position. Unfortunately, Schumacher and Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Räikkönen made light contact on lap 11, leaving Schumacher with front wing damage, and necessitating an unscheduled pit stop for the German. Schumacher came in for repairs, took on hard compound tires, before coming in again on laps 31 and 63, adopting medium tires on both occasions.
At the front, Lewis Hamilton recorded the 101st victory of his Formula 1 career, ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.
Uralkali Haas F1 Team’s 2021 Formula 1 season will continue with the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix, at the Losail International Circuit, from November 19 to 21 – the final leg of the current triple-header.
Nikita Mazepin, Driver No. 9
I had a good day. My start wasn’t the best, I had a good getaway and then had a bit of wheel spin, so the first few corners were difficult to overtake people. I had a good Turn 4 and after that, I think I looked after the tires nicely in the first few opening laps. The team did a great job of giving me the car that worked very well in the beginning, I had a bit of a difficult middle and then I was able to recover towards the end. I made a move when I needed to make it, and obviously, with a few VSCs we tried to maximize it and there wasn’t a whole lot on the table to extract more from today.
Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47
We were battling Kimi and we were joking about it in the press conference. It’s unfortunate that we got a bit too close but those things happen, especially at that kind of corner where it’s tight. I went limping into the pits but after that, I think overall, it was a good race. We learn from these things and any battle that I get is really useful. A lot of positives that we can carry away from here and I have to say, I really enjoyed that one.
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Uralkali Haas F1 Team
Our race today was pretty good – the starts were good. Mick made a lot of progress and Nikita as well. Mick ran into Kimi and that compromised his race, but Nikita’s first stint was very good. I think this was one of our best weekends this year and that shows we are getting there with the drivers. All in all, the result is not fantastic, but the progress is.
Uralkali Haas F1 Team best pictures:
