2021 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Winners And Losers

The 2021 Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos, Brazil, was essentially a race weekend full of chaos, drama, and of course quality wheel-to-wheel racing up and down the field. It also saw Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton pull off a shock win despite what was essentially a topsy-turvy weekend.  

In this report, we take you through all who shined (and those who didn’t) in the 19th round of the 2021 Formula One season:

Winners

Lewis Hamilton 

Qualifying on pole, which was disqualified through a technical infringement, recovering from 20th to fifth in sprint qualifying, and then coming back from 10th on the grid in the main race due to an engine penalty to take a thrilling 101st career win. Yep, that pretty much summed up a rollercoaster of a weekend for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who managed to beat all the odds including a tense battle with title rival Max Verstappen throughout the race. 

This win couldn’t have come at a better time for Hamilton and Mercedes in order to halt Verstappen and Red Bull Racing Honda’s momentum in the title race. Hamilton has closed the gap in the drivers’ standings with Verstappen to just 14 points, though Mercedes are 11 points ahead of Red Bull Racing Honda in the constructors’ standings.

Ferrari 

The strong momentum from the folks in Maranello since the Russian Grand Prix continues to grow stronger, as the pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished best of the rest with fifth and sixth position. Crucially, with McLaren’s struggles, Ferrari has taken an even stronger hold on third in the constructor standings, with a 31.5-point advantage over McLaren.

Alpine 

After a tough last couple of races, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was a welcome bounceback for the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. Both cars started in the top ten, and managed to hold on to the eighth and ninth place at the chequered flag. Sure, they couldn’t hold off the AlphaTuri of Pierre Gasly, but the result was enough for the team to hold on to fifth place in the constructors’ standings and still equal on points with AlphaTauri.

Losers

Max Verstappen

 

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix could be considered as a damage limitation weekend for the championship leader, as the Red Bull Racing Honda driver did everything he could to keep hold of the race lead. There were some very close moments with title rival Hamilton, including  a questionable defense where both drivers ran wide at Turn 4. Eventually, Verstappen wasn’t quick enough and had to settle for the second place at the chequered flag. 

McLaren

 

When it rained, it really did pour for McLaren at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Lando Norris’ flying start to the year was eliminated immediately after contact with former teammate Carlos Sainz caused a puncture and dropped him to the back of the field. The McLaren driver did eventually recover to 10th place in the end. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo was on for a strong points haul, before a technical failure caused him to retire from the race. This result left McLaren losing a lot of ground to Ferrari in the fight for third in the constructors' standings.

Formula One’s triple header of races will end when it heads to Qatar next week  for the Qatar Grand Prix, scheduled from November 19-21.