Hamilton lucky against a furious Verstappen: reactions from the Top 3 at Interlagos

Lewis Hamilton certainly did not expect to win this Grand Prix after a rather complicated start to the race. His Mercedes was not fast enough to counter Max Verstappen’s attacks, and the Briton was heading for a second-place finish before the Dutchman’s collision with Esteban Ocon’s Force India handed him an unexpected victory.

Focused on securing the Constructors’ title for his team, Hamilton almost forgets his fortunate victory: « Honestly, these guys have worked hard over the last six years and their journey has been incredible. This is what everyone works towards all year, you know. Everyone wakes up and goes to work together and they truly form a tight-knit team. I’ve always told you how much of an honor it is to drive for Mercedes, and it was the best result we could achieve because we were struggling. » he stated to Paul di Resta’s microphone right after the finish.

A mid-race engine problem could well have deprived Hamilton of a result in Brazil: « I didn’t expect the Red Bull cars to be so quick today. We had trouble with the tires in the first stint, and they managed them better than we did. In my second stint, I was on Medium tires but had an engine problem, so I just wanted to bring the car home. Max’s overtaking was hard to accept but when they had an issue and I got back in the lead, I called my team and said, “I don’t want to give up, tell me what I need to do.” And I pushed very hard until the end to make sure to bring home the victory. »

WORLD CHAMPIONS!! These guys have worked so hard over the past six years, it’s been an incredible journey to this. It’s such an honour to drive for you. Thank you for inspiring me, I’m so excited for our future @mercedesamgf1 🏆🔥 #HiFive #BrazilGP #drivenbyeachother #F1 pic.twitter.com/pwNfdq6IEW

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 11 novembre 2018

Verstappen furious at losing the victory

At the finish of the race, all eyes were of course on Max Verstappen. The Dutchman lost the victory in a collision with Esteban Ocon who was trying to unlap himself in the Senna S-curves.

The reaction of the Red Bull driver upon exiting his car was expected, and he immediately went to confront the Frenchman, not hesitating to push him several times to express his displeasure under the stoic gaze of Brendon Hartley and Valtteri Bottas.

During the press conference, Verstappen did not want to dwell on the incident, only regretting having lost the victory: « I don’t really have any comment to make on that, except that he behaved like a little girl. I think in the end, it doesn’t matter what penalty he receives. I already have the penalty of not winning the race, so even if you disqualify him, give him two drive-throughs or whatever, it won’t make any difference for our race. I don’t know what the right penalty would be, but, as I said, of course, they have the right to unlap themselves, but you have to be careful. I think that’s always been the case. »

A victory that seemed easy slips away for Verstappen and Red Bull, who probably had the fastest car this Sunday, even after his collision with Ocon: « I lost a lot of downforce. I had to press a lot of buttons on the steering wheel, but it still wasn’t enough. But the car was still fast. We could have been much faster, for sure », the Dutchman further specifies.

Happy to finish 2nd, but we should have won today. The car was brilliant and @redbullracing came with a great strategy. Our race pace was better than expected and we did everything well today. Thanks to all fans for voting me Driver of the Day again 🙌🏻 #KeepPushing #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/dXmUbf9yXf

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) 11 novembre 2018

Kimi Räikkönen saves Ferrari’s honor… but not the title!

Still as nonchalant when it comes to celebrating his third place with samba tunes on the podium, Kimi Räikkönen nonetheless confirms his third place in the drivers’ championship by once again dominating his teammate in the race. The Finn now has a 14-point lead over Valtteri Bottas, 4th in the standings: « It’s a good result. It wasn’t easy, rather fun because we had some battles, but not easy. We hoped for a better result… tires were good, but it wasn’t easy to overtake, it took me too long. » explained the laconic Finn.

Max didn’t hang around, did he?! #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/MZTJanwazT

— Formula 1 (@F1) 11 novembre 2018