Finnish, third in the general classification, will start for the twentieth time first in the world event.
Finnish Valtteri Bottas He won the sprint race this Saturday and on Sunday he will start first in the Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix, marked by sanctions on his Mercedes teammate and current champion, the Briton Lewis Hamilton, that complicate your desire to revalidate the title.
Bottas led the mini-race at the Interlagos circuit, in São Paulo, from the first lap, when he overtook the world drivers’ championship leader, the Dutchman, at the start Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
“It was a good start, Max was struggling, but he was close to me,” Bottas said. The Finn, third in the general classification (188 points), got his twentieth pole and the second in a row after Mexico last weekend.
Verstappen started first in the sprint race after Hamilton’s fastest times in qualifying on Friday were disqualified due to a spoiler irregularity Moving rear (DRS) of his car, forcing him to start in last position.
The Dutchman (314.5 points) finished second and obtained two points, which allow him to extend his advantage over Hamilton (293.5) to 21 points with four remaining Great prizes, including Sunday.
“The start was not the best. I think our pace was good, but sometimes you just can’t get through here. Tomorrow we will try, ”said Verstappen, 24, who is seeking his first world title in the Big Top.
The Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari), seventh in the general classification with 131.5 integers, will start in third position and the Mexican Sergio Czech Pérez (Red Bull) in the fourth. The Latin American is fourth in the table with 165 units.
The top-10 of the starting grid is completed by the British Lando Norris (McLaren), followed by Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), the French Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri-Honda) and Estéban Ocon (Alpine-Renault) and the German Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).
Hamilton swings
Seven times world champion, Hamilton started from box twenty after the sanction imposed this Saturday and came back fifteen spaces, although will start from tenth place on account of a five-seat penalty imposed for having exceeded the engine change quota for the season.
In a exciting speed display and control of the wheel, Hamilton showed the good level of the Mercedes on the Saopaulian track, but on Sunday he will have to push himself to the maximum to prevent his main contender from beginning to sentence the championship.
“Excellent work,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told him.
“Copied,” he replied the British, 36, who has not won a competition from Russia, has been valid for three. “This is not over yet.”
To increase the tension of the weekend, Verstappen was fined 50,000 euros before the mini-race for touching with his hands, in the ‘pits’, after qualifying on Friday, the rear wing of his main rival’s car.
“It is a fine a bit heftySo I hope they have a good meal and a lot of wine, ”he ironically.
Getaway for the title
Winner of the last two events, in the United States and Mexico, the Red Bull number one can extend his advantage over Hamilton to the symbolic distance of 25 points, the same number of units that the winner of a Grand Prix gets.
The gap could be insurmountable in the final stretch of the season, when there are hardly any remaining stages on Sunday and Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The Brazilian Grand Prix, canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, was the third and last of the 2021 season with the new qualifying sprint race format.
The 100 kilometers in 30 minutes (24 laps) competition not only determines the starting grid for the Grand Prix, the main event, but also awards one to three points to the top three.
The show debuted in Britain in July and was followed by Italy in September. Six sprints are planned for 2022 in the 23 stages of the calendar.
The race in Interlagos, of 71 laps of 4,309 km, will be held this Sunday between 10:00 and 14:00, in Ecuador. (D)
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