Today was a good example of why Brazil should be the final race of the season. A roller coaster race, tons of overtakes, and thrilling to watch.
Mercedes grab their first win of the season, and a 1-2 finish at that. It is remarkable, almost unbelievable how they have came from a 1.5 second a lap deficit to being the clear fastest car in a budget cap era. However they did it, anyone would want a team management that does what it takes to get results. George Russell, first win in Formula 1. Pretty much everyone felt it was only a matter of time. Looking back through his career, there was a question if he would somehow throw it away with silly mistake, or the team hosing him again. But, he drove a fabulous race and got the W. Lewis Hamilton, another strong drive and still holds onto the golden egg that has the best luck ever. How his car wasn't seriously damaged is beyond me. As for the incident. Seemed pretty clear that Max got alongside Lewis and earned the right to space in the corner. But as it has been said before many times, Lewis doesn't give space and caused the collision. If anyone deserved a penalty, it was Hamilton. Racing incident at best. LH, Driver of the day? Please. That was a popularity vote.
Ferrari should be pretty damn happy to walk away with 3rd and 4th. Their laughable decision making in the Sprint Race which screwed Charles, and a late season engine change for Sainz put them on the back foot from the start. Sainz looked pretty good pace wise. Unfortunately had a tear off go into his brake duct, which is something we have seen a couple times this season. A deserving podium for sure. Leclerc getting punted by Lando killed his race. Though the team didn't do much to help. Forced to pit, they threw on fresh Medium tires, and rather than going long, they short stint (lap 8 to lap 22) and put him back on the Softs with nearly 50 laps remaining. As for Leclerc pleading for the team to swap positions with Sainz. No way. Alonso was too close, and Sainz deserved the podium.
Alpine had a marvelous day. They ate a self imploding grenade in the Sprint Race, but both drivers really came through on Sunday. Alonso is still a beast when he has a car he likes. Sure he got very fortunate with the Safety Car timing, but he wanted that final set of new soft tires no matter what. Ocon was 100% correct in wanting to battle Vettel before letting Alonso through. He did his job perfectly. Huge day considering McLaren double DNF'd.
Red Bull strangely did not have the pace this weekend. Is it Red Bull that missed the mark, or is Mercedes just that much better now? We get one last race to find out. Verstappen got the middle finger from the Stewards by getting a 5 second penalty, after already having race destroying damage that forced a pitstop. Seemed to stall out until the SC came out. Huge respect lost to Verstappen for not letting Perez back through. He may have legitimate reasons for doing what he did, but what does he gain? Nothing. Instead he disobeyed team orders, hurt his relationship with the team, his teammate, his fans, and anyone else that watches F1, just to prove a point. Perez shows that he is far from the level of the elite drivers. Despite RBR not being in top form, the car is still very competitive, but he got mopped and really didn't move forward at all.
Alfa Romeo was dreadful on Saturday, even in Friday qualifying, but the car came alive in the race. Both cars were fighting forwards, and Bottas eventually got a couple of points. Perhaps could have been more without the SC.
Aston Martin also looked quite competitive in Brazil, especially with Vettel. His race was going beautifully. The Safety Car killed his strategy and he got swallowed up on the restart. Shame as he deserved points for sure. Who beat him for the final point? Stroll. That's a tad bitter for the Vettel side, but the team deserved points.
Haas went from the ultra high to a big low. Magunesson taken out on lap one was a sad end to that feel good story. Schumacher was amazing in the Sprint race, and at times looked very strong today, but someone never seems to really get the results. There was a shot for points today, he just didn't deliver.
AlphaTauri have had a miserable season and they just didn't have a car to fight for points today. Gasly is probably all but checked out, but what on earth happened to Tsunoda? It looked like the FIA completely forget he was a lapped car. The message given was cars 23, and 6 could unlap themselves. If the FIA did miss this, it is hilarious that the people running F1 are dumber than the strategists at Ferrari. It's not like they didn't have time. That was the longest SC period ever for a car that just parked on the grass.
Williams. Well, they sucked. Albon finished ahead of Latifi, no surprise there.
McLaren had the worst day they could considering they are in a tight battle with Alpine. Lando made a mistake with no malicious intent. Looked like he touched the curb which sent him into Leclerc. Ricciardo was just a silly mistake, but a very costly one.
Driver of the Day: Fernando Alonso. Mid field car, started near the back, ends up fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull.
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Originally Posted by da_one
What a guy!!
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