Dalla decima alla prima posizione, dopo essere stato squalificato dalle qualifiche di venerdì: Lewis Hamilton non dimenticherà facilmente il Brasile, dove ha conquistato la vittoria numero 101 in F1 e l’80° con la Mercedes. Per Valtteri Bottas terzo gradino del podio, il 66° in carriera, molto vicino a Verstappen nei giri finali. Lewis ha passato Max nel giro 59, dopo essere stato “accompagnato” fuori pista alla curva 4 nel giro 48, manovra non investigata dai commissari. Max Verstappen (332.5 punti) è sempre al comando della classifica Piloti, con un vantaggio di 14 punti su Lewis (318.5) e Valtteri in P3 (203 punti). Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (521.5 punti) allunga nel Costruttori con 11 punti sulla Red Bull (510.5 punti).
Lewis Hamilton: “I am so, so grateful for the incredible support I’ve had this weekend from the people of Brazil – I’ve not had this kind of support since Silverstone! To hear the crowd throughout the weekend has been really humbling. I’ve just been saying ‘Obrigado Brasil‘ all weekend. What a race! The Team here and at the factory did an amazing job, and Valtteri did a great job today to get as many points as possible. I was pushing as hard as I could from last on grid yesterday, and then with another 5-place penalty today. This was, I think, the hardest weekend I’ve had. But my dad said ‘you reminded me of 2004’ when I was in Formula 3 in Bahrain – I started last and I finished 10th and then I finished 1st so, this one is for my dad. Coming into this weekend I never, ever thought we’d be able to close the gap like we have today. And then things just kept going against us, but I think it really shows, just never give up. Whatever you’re facing, you’ve just got to keep pushing, keep tumbling away, keep fighting. Never, ever stop fighting. That’s how I’ve approached this weekend. It feels like a first because I don’t feel like I’ve had a win for a long time“.
Toto Wolff: “What a weekend from this team. We started the weekend on the backfoot with our self-inflicted engine penalty, we got disqualified yesterday which was harsh, and then today in the race, things went against us too. This team has always been together, but these decisions have brought us so close. It felt like everything was against us and I think that’s what Lewis has felt all his life and we now feel it together as a team and we’re going to fight – that is the emotion we’re feeling in the garage at the moment. Yesterday Lewis produced one of the best drives we have ever seen. I don’t know how many overtakes there were across the weekend but Lewis was left, right, and over them. And today, his driving was immaculate. Max forced him off the road at Turn 4 and Lewis was very clever to avoid contact. It was great to see these amazing drivers but not giving a 5 second penalty? Come on! Valtteri banked crucial points for the team today and his driving was top-class all weekend, a very strong podium for him today to follow his victory in the Sprint yesterday. This season keeps delivering and you can see how quickly the tides change – last weekend we went away beaten up in Mexico, this week we had the faster package. Red Bull could be very strong in Qatar next week and that is to be expected. May the stronger one win. Last weekend it was them, this weekend it was us – we’ll fight to the end”.
Redazione MotoriNoLimits
