Sprint race week, the third and last this year. We had one of the most chaotic, controversial and interesting weekend of the season. Since before the weekend began there were already complications, it was Thursday and some cars didn’t arrive, some teams had their garages empty, some drivers still didn't arrive in Brazil and it was announced that Hamilton would have a 5 grid penalty for taking another ICE. In the end everything was sorted out and the qualy arrived on Friday. Good and intense where the madness began. Hamilton got pole (not pole) with an unbelievable speed, followed by Verstappen , Bottas and Gasly again being the best of the rest. Some time after the qualy was over, news of Lewis' possible disqualification came out for noticing something strange with the DRS. Awaiting the verdict, a video of Max checking out the rear wing of the Mercedes was released. More drama. After so much uncertainty, moments before the Sprint they announced the financial sanction for Verstappen and the disqualification of Hamilton (something I didn’t think would happen) so he would come out last.
The sprint began with Bottas fighting perfectly for the first place, followed by Max who never stopped pushing and the surprise of all: Carlos Sainz getting into third place holding Perez in a great way. In the back we had a Mercedes passing easily to finish 5th in just 24 laps. That meant Hamilton would be tenth in the race because of the 5 grid penalty.
Sunday came and after seeing Hamilton’s sprint qualy we knew he would easily make it to the podium but the weekend looked more like a victory for Max because of the pace he had been having. At the start, Verstappen moved on to Bottas, Checo moved on to Sainz who dropped down to 5th because of a touch with Norris which cost him to go into the grass and drop to last place. In the back Hamilton came out well and quiet, passing without taking risks and the less we thought about it, he was already behind Verstappen, thanks to several safety cars that were caused by Tsunoda and Stroll.
Pit stops and strategies were key to the leaders' races but despite doing well, Hamilton’s pace was much better than Red Bull’s and he was slowly preparing for the overtake. The first time he tried, Max didn’t make it easy and he forced Hamilton out of the corner but it wasn’t enough, because after continuing to push, the Mercedes managed to do a great overtake and ended with a big advantage over Verstappen.
In the other battles of the championship we have Ferrari who already got more advantage over Mclaren consolidating that third place. Both Sainz and Leclerc have been very consistent the last races adding important points unlike Ricciardo and Norris who have not managed to score good points and have suffered, as in this circuit with Ricciardo having to abandon for power problems and Norris who from a very good 5th place went down to the last and the most he reached was the 10th place. If the next three races they don´t react, the third place will be red. We continue with Alpine and Alpha Tauri who are fighting for 5th place and after the great weekend of Alpine they reached them with 112 points. Remember that Gasly’s consistency is what has helped Alpha and if they want to have that 5th place Tsunoda will have to help.
The championship fight is again tight with only a 14-point difference between Verstappen and Hamilton and only 11 points between Red Bull and Mercedes. This weekend was one of the best and we lived one of the best comebacks of the season and also historical, with a Lewis Hamilton doing 25 overtakes in a weekend driving in a wonderful way and demonstrating why he is one of the best drivers. And whoever doesn’t agree, or has some "but," then I don’t think they really enjoy and appreciate Formula 1. Because what we experienced that day was something else.
Just three more races to say goodbye to this beautiful season that every weekend gives us great moments. Next week the triple header closes with the Qatar GP, the first time they'll race there so we don´t know who will dominate or who could have advantages in this circuit.
See you in a week.
Σχόλια