Five talking points from a sizzling Sao Paulo GP

Hamilton’s race – asked for the third time

He had stolen the spotlight in Saturday’s sprint and stormed off a controversial descent into the last field on the grid after it turned out that the gap in the drag reduction system in his rear wing was meticulously too big. Fifth from behind in just 24 laps, thanks to pass for pass, the best of which was a breathtaking move by Lando Norris in Turn 1. This was pure Hamilton in top form, as team-mate Valtteri Bottas the soft Pirelli. used tires to knock Verstappen off the line and secure pole position for the Grand Prix himself.

But Lewis knew he would face more adversity on Sunday, thanks to the five places deficit he would pocket for another change in his internal combustion engine. So he started in 10th place. Martin Brundle said he could still win from there after the sprint performance – and he was spot on. The start was a peach and on lap five Hamilton was already in third place, chasing the Red Bulls. He made Sergio Pérez quick, and now we were preparing for another tense Hamilton versus Verstappen classic.

After the second stop, Lewis was 2.6 seconds behind Max and the black Mercedes scraped close to the DRS range. It was the 48th lap when Hamilton made his first attempt at the lead and pulled alongside at Turn 4 – only to be run over at the exit of Verstappen. The stewards decided no punishment, to the natural dismay of Mercedes and to the general surprise of most of the spectators. Max was lucky to get away with it.

Ten laps later, Hamilton had worked his way up in position for yet another crack – and this time, Verstappen snaked from side to side on the run to Turn 4, which was Hamilton’s best hope for a move rather than Juncao’s long drag to start / finish . This time Max received a black and white warning flag – but Hamilton was already through, in the lead and disappeared up the street. On the following lap he had another run and this time, as he darted around the sidelines, the Red Bull had no answer. It had taken three tries, and for a moment we wondered if this would end in tears like it did at Silverstone and Monza. But in the end, the phenomenal straight-line stability of Mercedes, a fine balance on the brakes and Hamilton in top form made the difference.

A post-race horror ensued when the Stewards summoned Mercedes team manager Ron Meadows to have Hamilton loosen his seat belts during his joyous celebrations after the flag in front of a Brazilian crowd that Lewis seemed to have taken as his own. A fine of 5,000 euros, a further 20,000 euros blocked until the end of 2022, was the right decision – and a little less than the 50,000 euros expensive Verstappen for handling the rear wing of Merc in the Parc Ferme after the “sprint”. Red Bull continues to assume that the straight-ahead drive of the Mercedes is questionable, but has so far held back with protests. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before this increasingly ill-tempered feud really explodes.

Mercedes leads Red Bull with 11 points in the constructors’ championship, and the gap between the two drivers has fallen to 14 points when Sergio Peréz drove a crucial fastest lap to snatch one from Hamilton. All bets are on how everything will go.