Because with the win at the Interlagos circuit, Hamilton takes seven points back and is now 14 points behind Verstappen, with three races to go.
The start was excellent from World Cup leader Verstappen. At the exit of the first corner he put his Red Bull right next to Bottas’ Mercedes and with some guts the Dutchman passed the Finn. A few corners later, Sergio Pérez also raced past Bottas. So Red Bull on P1 and P2.
Hamilton got off to a flying start from 10th position and moved up to third in 6 laps, behind the Red Bulls. Bottas had also passed the Briton. A safety car situation on lap 8 put Hamilton directly behind Verstappen and Perez.
’Under cut’ Hamilton
On the 18th lap it was time: Hamilton passed Pérez. But the Mexican did not just let himself be known and at the next corner he brutally overtook the seven-time world champion. But one lap later it was still a prize for Hamilton and he was able to chase Verstappen. After 24 laps he was just under 4 seconds behind the Limburger.
On lap 27 Hamilton went in for a pit stop and thus for a so-called under cut. He fell back to P6. A lap later, Verstappen also went, at Red Bull they did not want to take the risk. The under cut failed and Verstappen stayed ahead of his great rival. Bottas was leading at the time, but the Finn still had to go in and that happened quickly.
Blood-curdling
Bottas had stayed ahead of Pérez because of the pit stop. Verstappen had said over the board radio that he was afraid of a second under cut and went for a second stop on lap 41, for Hamilton. This put the British in the lead. Hamilton also came in three laps later and it came to a climax again, with the World Cup leader from the Netherlands again outperforming his competitor. And so there was the blood-curdling game again: Verstappen had to shake off a chasing Hamilton.
The heat was on: Hamilton opened DRS, got past it, but Verstappen closed the door. Both had to swerve slightly, but the Dutchman remained in the lead. “Yeah, that was crazy!” the world champion shouted over the board radio. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it!” said Verstappen. It was dismissed as a ‘racing incident’.
On lap 58 Hamilton tried again on lap 4, but again Verstappen kept the door closed. But in the 59th lap, the Limburger really had to believe it and wait patiently as Hamilton took the lead. And he no longer gave up the lightning-fast Mercedes driver and took his 101st victory in Formula 1.
