In an extremely entertaining return to Brazil for F1, Lewis Hamilton won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix following a thrilling duel with his rival Max Verstappen. Verstappen came in second behind pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton had a fantastic start from P10 on the grid and was obviously on the move, with teammate Bottas, who had lost the lead to Verstappen at the start, allowing him to pass him for P5 on Lap 5. In a duel that started on Lap 17 and ended on Lap 19, Hamilton claimed P2 from Perez in a battle that began on Lap 17 and ended with a Lap 19 pass at Turn 4. The initial pit stops occurred around lap 25, but the action reached a fever pitch when Verstappen pitted for the second time on lap 41, and Hamilton pitted on lap 44.
Despite being shoved wide at Turn 4 on Lap 48 – which the stewards noted but did not investigate – Hamilton didn’t give up and tried it again on Lap 58, only to be met by a resolute defense. Verstappen had no choice but to relinquish the race after the winning move with DRS on the run-up to Turn 4. At the checkered line, Hamilton was 10.4 seconds ahead of Verstappen, reducing his championship advantage from 21 to 14 points.