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Toto Wolff Team Principal of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team was full of fighting spirit, after Lewis Hamilton fought to victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix despite a weekend full of setbacks.

Mercedes extended their Constructors’ championship lead over Red Bull Racing, after a 1-3 for Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace Circuit. Hamilton who started tenth after taking his five-place grid penalty for taking a new engine part, showed the same skill he demonstrated in the sprint race on Saturday, after recovering from twentieth to fifth after being disqualified from qualifying.

Red Bull had no answer to Hamilton’s speed, although Max Verstappen gave it his best go, forcing Hamilton off the circuit at the British drivers first attempt of taking the lead. The world champion eventually made his way past the Dutchman on his way to victory, meaning that he closed the gap to Verstappen to just fourteen points with three races remaining.

Bottas had a somewhat lonely race, the Finnish driver made the most of a VSC to move ahead of Sergio Pérez, the Mexican pitted just before the VSC was released, to clear debris off the circuit.

Toto Wolff was unbelievably proud of his team after they took the fight to Red Bull, some may say that the momentum is now in the Silver Arrows corner.

Lewis Hamilton produced one of his greatest drives of not only this season but of his illustrious career, as he stormed through the field to clinch victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, closing the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen.

When Hamilton’s disqualification from qualifying was announced, many wrote him off for not only the win but for the championship, his haters were well and truly silenced by the seven-time World Champion’s greatness. After blitzing his way from twentieth to fifth in the sprint race, meaning a tenth place start for Sunday’s race, Hamilton climbed to second in rapid fashion.

The British driver found himself in second place four seconds behind Verstappen even before the first round of stops, in what was a two-stop race. The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team then produced a masterclass and pitted Hamilton before Verstappen, closing the gap to just over a second. Red Bull Racing reacted to Hamilton’s speed and made Verstappen’s second stop much sooner than predicted.

Hamilton again found himself a few seconds behind Verstappen but the world champion’s superior pace saw him within DRS range only a handful of laps later. Then the battle really began, and yet again took a controversial turn. Hamilton had an excellent run down the back straight to Turn four and dived around the outside of Verstappen. Hamilton was left with no room despite being ahead going into the corner, with the overhead camera appearing to show Verstappen straightening his wheel mid-corner.

Both drivers ran off the track with the incident being declared a racing incident by the FIA, who later stated they didn’t have footage of Verstappen’s cockpit. In the end it didn’t matter however as only a couple laps later Hamilton finally got past Verstappen again down to turn four. The British driver then drove into the distance to victory.

Lewis Hamilton scripted an epic win after a no-holds barred duel with Max Verstappen at the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Valtteri Bottas joined his team-mate on the podium.

This was a must win race for the reigning world champion at the nineteenth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. With three races to go, Hamilton could not let Verstappen extend his lead in the drivers’ championship to more than a race win.

The Brazilian weekend has been an uphill battle after Hamilton won qualification and was disqualified for a DRS technical infringement.

Hamilton started last in the sprint qualification race and fought back to fifth position. The Briton started tenth in the race after a five-place grid penalty was applied for a new power unit component.

Hamilton from tenth place on the grid fought hard to take his sixth win of the season and cut the gap to Verstappen in the drivers’ championship to fourteen points.

Valtteri Bottas denied Max Verstappen victory in the Sprint Qualifying race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace on Saturday as Lewis Hamilton drove from twentieth on the grid to finish an amazing fifth.

Bottas got the jump on Verstappen at the start and was able to get ahead of the Red Bull Racing driver heading into turn one, whilst behind him Carlos Sainz Jr. moved from fifth on the grid to run third, getting ahead of both Pierre Gasly and Sergio Pérez.

Sainz then moved ahead of Verstappen at turn four, with the Dutchman running wide as a result, although the positions switched back a few laps later at turn one once he was able to use the drag reduction system down the main straight.

Hamilton, who had started at the back after being disqualified from Qualifying for a DRS infringement, made up four places on the opening lap and then made light work of the midfield runners to enter the top ten, although once there he was made to work harder, particularly against the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.

Bottas, running on the soft tyres, was able to keep enough life in them until the chequered flag to deny Verstappen the win, even when the Red Bull driver got close enough to open his drag reduction system on his rear wing.  Bottas took the chequered flag at the end of the twenty-four laps 1.170 seconds clear to take the three points.

Lewis Hamilton has been relegated to the back of the grid for Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race in Brazil after being disqualified from Friday’s Qualifying session due to a technical infringement.

Max Verstappen, who was also under investigation for a pace ferme offence, will inherit first place on the grid for Saturday’s race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace after only being fined for touching Hamilton’s rear wing after Friday’s Qualifying session.

Hamilton’s Drag Reduction System (DRS) was the reason for his disqualification, with the gap when the rear wing was open exceeding the maximum 85mm allowed.  The rear wing was legal when the DRS was not in operation, but after the tests were carried out on Friday evening, the rear wing of Hamilton’s W12 hybrid was taken by the stewards for further investigations.

“The Technical Delegate reported that Car 44 failed the test designed to check the requirements of the last paragraph of Art. 3.6.3 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations,” read the FIA statement.  “The check is described in Technical Directive 011-19. In lay terms, there is a gap between the upper and lower parts of the rear wing. When the DRS is not activated this gap must be between 10mm and 15mm. The car passed this part of the test.

“When DRS is activated, which raises the upper element of the wing to a flatter position, the gap must be between 10mm and 85mm. The maximum gap is measured, in accordance with TD/011-19, by pushing an 85mm gauge against the gap with a maximum load of 10N (ten newtons.)

Fernando Alonso finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil in the second free practice session. Max Verstappen was in second position and Valtteri Bottas was in third position at the end of the second free practice session.

The session started with the two championship rivals under investigation by the stewards and no decision made in either case.

Lewis Hamilton’s DRS failed to comply with the regulations in post-qualifying scrutineering and the rear-wing has been impounded and the breach in regulations referred to the stewards.

This puts Hamilton’s start position in the sprint race at risk with the penalty being a possible pit lane start.

Verstappen is being investigated by the stewards for touching Hamilton’s rear-wing in parc ferme which is the breach of the FIA’s sporting regulations.

Fernando Alonso felt the Alpine F1 Team found their limit of performance during Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix, although the Spaniard was able to get into Q3 for the first time since the Turkish Grand Prix.

Alonso felt comfortable in getting through to Q2, but after then it was difficult for him to improve on his lap times, and this made it more difficult to progress into Q3.

The two-time World Champion will start tenth on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race, and he is looking to be aggressive and look to make positions up from his starting position so he can start Sunday’s main race from higher up the grid.

“It was super close today,” said Alonso.  “I feel we had a productive morning and the car felt quite good and was behaving well.

“Qualifying also started reasonably, and we progressed into Q2 quite comfortably. But then I think from Q2 I was doing very similar lap times and I think we found the limit. We wanted to be a little higher and start on the clean side of the grid because the start could be crucial tomorrow.

Lando Norris admits the McLaren F1 Team will be happy with their performance during Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday, particularly on the back of their poor showing in free practice earlier in the day.

The British racer was down in fifteenth position in free practice, well off the pace and well behind the expectations McLaren has in 2021.  However, they improved the car ahead of Qualifying, and he was able to break into the top ten, eventually qualifying eighth fastest.

Norris says that although both he and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo are behind both Scuderia Ferrari drivers, they are right behind both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc and will be looking to get ahead of them across the rest of the weekend.

“I think we have to be happy with qualifying, because we were struggling quite a bit this morning in FP1,” said Norris.  “After making some good improvements coming into quali, I felt a lot more confident with the car.

“We would’ve loved to have been ahead of the Ferraris, but we have to take P8 and P9 today because they were quicker. We’re in a good position to fight them tomorrow.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. felt it was a positive Qualifying session for Scuderia Ferrari on Friday, with the Spaniard set to start Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race from sixth on the grid.

Sainz thanked his team for the hard work after staying up late following the delays in getting their equipment after freight delays between Mexico and Brazil, but he was able to get through to Q3 and set a time good enough for the third row.

The only downside was losing out to Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Pierre Gasly for fifth on the grid, and he will be looking to get ahead of the Frenchman in the Sprint Qualifying race so he can start Sunday’s main race from higher up the field.

“It was a positive qualifying today as I keep improving my driving style and the feeling with this car at all types of tracks and in all conditions,” said Sainz.  “I am performing more consistently in qualifying and today was a good day.

“The only downside is that the AlphaTauri seems to have a bit more pace, so the aim for tomorrow is to try and beat Pierre Gasly and lead the chase to the teams ahead. A clean race tomorrow is key to have good chances on Sunday, so we’ll make sure we are in the best possible position to maximise the weekend.

Pierre Gasly was again one of the stars of Qualifying on Friday in São Paulo, with the Frenchman ending the best of the rest behind the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Red Bull Racing drivers for a second consecutive weekend.

The Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver did not have a great free practice session at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, but he continued to improve his AT-02 throughout Qualifying, and ended up fifth on the grid, 0.843 seconds behind pacesetter Lewis Hamilton.

Gasly says it is important for AlphaTauri to maintain their strong form as they continue to fight the Alpine F1 Team for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with the two teams equal on points with four races of the season remaining.

“Today I’m really, really happy,” said Gasly.  “FP1 was quite difficult for me and I struggled a little bit in Quali too, but every time I went out I managed to find a little bit more, playing with everything inside of the car and making small improvements each time we ran.

“I managed to put it all together when it counted and I think it was a really incredible lap in Q3 today, so I’m really pleased with that. It’s really amazing for us to be Qualifying right behind Mercedes and Red Bull, it’s a critical moment in the Championship and the team did a fantastic job today.

Max Verstappen said it was unrealistic to expect to take top spot in Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday after title rival Lewis Hamilton took a new internal combustion engine for the weekend.

The Red Bull Racing driver ended second fastest on Friday afternoon, more than four-tenths of a second behind the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer and will start Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race from the front row of the grid.

Verstappen says he was happy to be on the front row in Brazil, but he knows the important work is still to come in both Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race and Sunday’s feature race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace as he bids to extend his advantage over Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship.

“I’m happy to be second, that’s a good position to start from in tomorrow’s sprint race,” said Verstappen.  “I always want to be closer but sometimes you have to be realistic.

“Mercedes have taken a new engine so naturally they have more power this weekend, so for me it’s not a big shock that they are ahead. There are not many points to gain tomorrow in the sprint race, so I hope we have a good start and we’ll see what happens from there.

Lewis Hamilton took top spot in Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday afternoon, but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver is under investigation for a possible technical infringement.

The seven-time World Champion was in dominant form during the Qualifying session and was looking as though he was set to start the Sprint Qualifying race on Saturday at the front of the field. 

However, post-session it was identified that Hamilton’s Drag Reduction System infringed on the regulations, and he was referred to the stewards for further investigation.

“The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car number 44 for compliance with Article 3.6.3 of the 2021 Formula One Technical Regulations,” said the statement from the stewards in Brazil.

“The requirement for the minimum distance was fulfilled. But the requirement for the maximum of 85mm, when the DRS system is deployed and tested in accordance with TD/011-19, [was] not fulfilled.

Lewis Hamilton finished in first position in qualification at the São Paulo Grand Prix at the nineteenth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Hamilton will start in pole position in the Sprint race on Saturday.

Max Verstappen was in second position, 0.438 seconds slower than Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas was in third position behind the Dutchman.

This is the third and final race with the Sprint Qualifying race. The qualifying session took place on Friday instead of the traditional session on Saturday. The qualification results set the grid for the Sprint race which will take place on Saturday.

The qualifying session started under overcast conditions with air temperatures at 15 degrees C and track temperatures at 25 degrees C at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4).

As rumoured, the JD Motorsport squad will leave the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine series after the end of the 2021 season and will be replaced by Trident Motorsport.

JD Motorsport competed in the inaugural FRECA campaign in 2021 with Eduardo Barrichello and Tommy Smith running full time, while Ido Cohen raced for four events in a third car.  None of the trio were able to break into the points, with JD one of two teams, alongside DR Formula, not to score in any of the ten events.

Michael Belov did run a one-off race for the team at Circuit Paul Ricard and finished second in both races, but the Russian was a wildcard entry and was not eligible for points.  It did give the team something to celebrate in a year where they generally struggled for performance.

Trident join the series and will add FRECA to their FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 teams.  They will go into 2022 as the reigning Teams’ Champions in Formula 3.  They will join the other eleven teams on the grid that have been retained from the 2021 FRECA season.

The twelve pre-selected teams for 2022 are:

Lewis Hamilton finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil in the first free practice session. Max Verstappen was in second position and Sergio Pérez was in third position at the end of the first free practice session

Formula 1 returned to the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit in São Paulo after two years as the 2020 race was cancelled because of the Covid19 pandemic.

The sixty-minute long first free practice session started under cold conditions with air temperatures at 18 degrees C and track temperatures at 37 degrees C.

There was occasional drops of rain as the session unfolded. This is the third race with the Sprint Qualifying race deciding the grid positions for the race.

This session was very important as the teams had to get ready for qualification on Friday evening and do not have three free practice sessions and plenty of time to find the right setup for the cars.