Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix - Sao Paulo 2024
STARTING GRID:
1) NORRIS 2) RUSSELL 3) TSUNODA 4) OCON 5) LAWSON 6) LECLERC 7) ALBON 8) PIASTRI 9) ALONSO 10) STROLL 11) BOTTAS 12) PEREZ 13) GASLY 14) HAMILTON 15) BEARMAN 16) COLAPINTO 17) VERSTAPPEN 18) HULKENBERG 19) GUANYU 20) SAINZ
FORMATION LAP: The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll collides with the barriers at turn 4. With replays showing that he lost the rear of the car, leading to him spinning round and connecting with the wall to his front wing.
It seems as though he will be able to continue with possibly just a new front wing if needed. However Stroll then beaches the car by going into the gravel and getting stuck midway through. HIs race is over before completing a lap.
ABORTED START - With the aborted start due to the incident with Lance Stroll most cars move off to go round again for another formation lap. Although starting behind the safety car does seem like the best option, the mechanics come back onto the grid to their respective cars.
With many drivers including Lando Norris, now under investigation for a starting procedure infringement.
LAP 1: Five lights on, off they go! Both British drivers on the front make a good start. George Russell takes the lead on the inside into turn 1. The two RB’s then come close to making contact as Lawson backs out into turn 2. Tsunoda maintains 4th despite pressure from Esteban Ocon.
Liam Lawson stays in 5th with some great driving as he fends off the McLaren of Piastri and Aston Martin of Alonso. Sergio Perez now goes spinning round but only just over the track as he spins it back round to carry on now in 18th.
LAP 2: Within the last few corners of the first lap, Verstappen looked close to Hamilton as he now made the move on the inside of turn 1 to move into the points positions. A great start for the Dutch driver who makes up seven spaces within just over a lap.
LAP 3: A lead out front of just over 1.8 seconds for George Russell as he gets as much distance as possible between himself and Lando Norris.
Ollie Bearman looking in his rear view mirrors for his team mate who is just over 3 ½ tenths from him. However, with only the slip stream in place due to no DRS in conditions like this, Hulkenberg stays behind his teammate.
LAP 4: Ollie Bearman drops down to 17th due to an incident in sector 2, with double waved yellow flags briefly coming out.
LAP 5: Another move down the inside of turn 1 from the reigning World Champion, who looked to be on a mission today. He gets past Pierre Gasly into 9th as he gradually makes his way through the field.
LAP 7: Lando Norris now making progress to catch his fellow compatriot at the front, now under a second from Russell as he continued to close in on the Mercedes.
LAP 9: The day goes from bad to worse for Bearman as he gets a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto. The drivers who are yet to experience a full season in F1, showing their inexperience with a collision in the early laps.
Max Vertsappen gained on the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in recent laps. Then making the move once again into turn 1 as he moves past Piastri with ease. Not ideal for McLaren in the sense of both world championships which they are battling to win against Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
LAP 11: A more straightforward move for Verstappen as the RB of Liam Lawson seems to leave the door open for the Dutchman to go through into 6th. Lawson possibly learned that battling with a car in the sister team to yours is not the best idea when trying to enter F1 yourself full time.
LAP 12: Double waved yellow flags at the end of lap 11 as Hamilton leaves the track. Franco Colapinto takes advantage into turn 1, as he goes down in the inside of the 7 time World Champion and takes 12th position to the delight of the home crowd for the South American driver.
LAP 13: An update on the penalties for Norris, Lawson, Tsunoda and Russell. As it will be investigated after the race, which many teams are probably not happy with as it means the potential penalty can’t be served till after the race.
LAP 19: The day for Lewis Hamilton now gets worse as he goes wide into the final corner. A mistake which costs him 2 places as he goes down to 15th place. Hamilton complains on the radio that “the car is undriveable”.
LAP 22: A straight drag race between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen on the pit straight into turn 1. Good defending by Leclerc, with Max unhappy and on his team radio to say that “He (Leclerc) was squeezing me onto the white line, not leaving a car’s width”.
LAP 25: Charles Leclerc makes the first move with pit stops as he box’s for another set of intermediate tires. Slightly surprising given a forecast of more rain but bold from Ferrari.
The top 2 are separated by only 6 tenths as Lando comes onto the radio to ask “box to overtake, no?” Which McLaren say they will look into as Norris battles on to move past Russell.
LAP 26: Liam Lawson now goes off track as he loses places to 9th place. A good race until this point for Lawson undone cruelly.
LAP 27: Nico Hulkenberg goes off in the first sector and appears to be beached. With Lando Norris and George Russell in a battle for the lead, a virtual safety car is launched. With drivers now taking their opportunity to pit for new tires with less time taken away under the VSC.
LAP 29: Confusion amongst the teams out front as Mercedes and McLaren tell their drivers to box, thinking they will still be under the VSC. However, as they come into the pits the VSC ends.
LAP 30: George Russell is overtaken at last by Lando Norris as the conditions continued to get worse. Then a couple of corners later a safety car is deployed, which could be bad news for those that pitted whilst the VSC was ending.
LAP 32: RED FLAG! Colapinto comes out of turn 13 and collides with the wall as he was on his out lap. He loses the rear as he goes to accelerate out of the corner and slams the side of his car into the barrier.
A red flag that plays beautifully into the hands of Ocon, Verstappen & Gasly who were still yet to pit before this incident. A free pit stop for them and track position gained compared to before the VSC earlier in the race.
RED FLAG - As the race is stopped. Nico Hulkenberg is shown a black flag and disqualified from the race due to race marshals helping him move back onto the race track when beached, which is against the rules.
LAP 33-34: As the race heads to a restart, Ollie Bearman and Zhou Guanyu go off the track into the final corner. The race now restarts with Ocon immediately under pressure from Verstappen, with overtaking limited due to the spray and weather conditions.
Lando Norris now goes wide into the turn 4, now side by side with Russell before Norris is overtaken. With the battle continuing as Leclerc goes wide behind the battle for 4th. Piastri now looking to take advantage to get into 5th ahead of the Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton now is the one overtaking into turn 1 as he takes 9th from another former World Champion in Fernando Alsonso. The track conditions now make it hard to see more than a couple of cars at a time from different camera angles.
LAP 36: The Haas of Ollie Bearman looks to overtake Carlos Sainz but pushes too hard into turn 5 as he spins and into the barriers. Not the biggest of shunts as his front wing seems to be the only possible damage.
LAP 39: Carlos Sainz looks to close in on Sergio Perez and makes an almost identical mistake to Bearman as he loses the rear and goes spinning into the barriers with a more forceful shunt as Sainz goes out of the race. A Safety Car is deployed almost immediately. Not a good day at the office for the Spanish driver.
LAP 43: The race resumes with car after car looking for an overtake. Max Verstappen takes the lead going into turn 1, as he has done all race. Lando Norris goes wide of turn 1 when trying to make another move on the cars ahead, as he goes down to 7th. A nightmare restart for the title challenger.
Both RB drivers along with Alonso and Hamilton all battled for 8th place. Hamilton loses more places and down to 12th as he goes from attack to defence within a matter of corners. With Alonso going wide into the last corner as he drops down to 15th and last.
LAP 46: The McLaren drivers swap positions as team orders come into play. Lando now up to 6th to chase down Russell as he has been for most of the race. This time only for 5th place.
LAP 55: A follow on from Mexico as Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson battle once again in the closing stages of the race. Lawson not giving Perez an inch as they both touch wheels in the Senna S’s. The Aussie possibly not being as passive on a driver he could possibly take the seat of in 2025.
The Red Bull now backed into Lewis Hamilton but then went wide and handed the place to the Mercedes driver, now into the points.
LAP 58: The battle for 10th continues with great racing from Perez and Hamilton. The Mexican tried around the outside and inside to get past, but to no ovale. Even when Hamilton makes a mistake, Perez is still unable to pass into the last points position.
LAP 69: Max Verstappen wins at Interlagos! A terrific drive with a bit of luck with Safety Cars and red flags. A lead of over 19 seconds shows the dominance at the end of the race from the reigning World Champion. This may be a pivotal drive in this season with Red Bull not having the fastest car in this part of the season.
An unlikely double podium for Alpine as Esteban Ocon comes home to take 2nd with Pierre Gasly in 3rd. Fantastic efforts from the two French drivers, especially when being chased down by the likes of George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. A result that moves Alpine into 6th in the Constructors Standings, which could be crucial for the end of season results.
RESULT:
1) VERSTAPPEN 2) OCON 3) GASLY 4) RUSSELL 5) LECLERC 6) NORRIS 7) TSUNODA 8) PIASTRI 9) LAWSON 10) HAMILTON 11) PEREZ 12) BEARMAN 13) BOTTAS 14) ALONSO 15) ZHOU 16) SAINZ (DNF) 17) COLAPINTO (DNF) 18) ALBON (DNF) 19) STROLL (DNF) 20) HULKENBERG (DNF)
