Published 11:48 IST, November 18th 2019
Max Verstappen wins Brazil Grand Prix as both Ferraris crash out; primed for 3rd
Max Verstappen won the Brazil Grand Prix on Sunday for his 3rd victory of the season, in a dramatic race that saw both Ferrari cars collide & Hamilton penalised
Max Verstappen won the Brazil Grand Prix on Sunday for his third victory of the season, in a dramatic race that saw both Ferrari cars collide and also Lewis Hamilton been given a five-second penalty for an incident near the end of the race.
First victory from podium start
Verstappen started the race on pole position after a fantastic qualifying session on Saturday, when his car was 'flying'. Verstappen's former teammate Pierre Gasly finished second and although Lewis Hamilton finished third, a penalty for an incident with RedBull's second driver, Alexander Albon, the third place was awarded to Mclaren's Carlos Sainz.
After the race, Verstappen said, "It’s an incredible feeling right now and to win today was a huge team effort. It was a crazy race with a lot of action and fighting but luckily we always had the pace to counter back and overtake Mercedes in every scenario. It wasn’t easy out there but the team made all the right calls, especially at the end to pit for the soft tyres during the Safety Car which gave us the win today." The race was a sweet recovery in Brazil after Verstappen clashed with Esteban Ocon last year.
The 22-year-old also spoke about his teammate Albion missing out even though he was set to have a podium finish. He said, " It is, of course, a massive shame that Alex could not be on the podium with me as it would have been an even better result for the Team but it’s great for Pierre to be up here and for Toro Rosso and Honda.”
In a shocking manner, both Ferraris were not able to finish the race after colliding whilst trying to overtake each other towards the end of the race. After the race, both Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel said that they were disappointed with the way the race ended and that the team is looking for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi on December 1.
Mercedes has already won the constructor's championships, while it's primary driver Lewis Hamilton won the driver's championship. His teammate Valtteri Bottas is set to finish second with the battle for the third position is between the two youngsters - Verstappen and Leclerc.
Updated 18:04 IST, November 18th 2019