Vettel the calm in the chaos at Interlagos

Mark Scott
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Sebastian Vettel secured his first victory since the Hungarian Grand Prix after getting the jump on Valtteri Bottas at the start; World Champion Lewis Hamilton came from last to P4 on an entertaining afternoon in Interlagos.

Here’s how the Brazilian Grand Prix unfolded…

Fernando Alonso was feeling pretty romantic ahead of the race, planting a smacker on Stoffel Vandoorne at the McLaren-Honda team photo.

And Lewis Hamilton was all smiles as he prepared to start the race from the pit lane following his Q1 crash on Saturday.

Felipe Massa took centre stage on the drivers’ parade ahead of his final home race before he retires (we think).

It wouldn’t be an official starting grid without a few asterisks to sift through.

And a problem with a Ferrari on the grid…

It was a very eventful start in Brazil, with three retirements and Sebastian Vettel getting the better of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas at T1.

Esteban Ocon’s record run of consecutive race finishes from the start of his F1 career (27) is now over at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Once the Safety Car came in, Vettel managed the pace from the front as Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo carved through the field from the back. Hamilton was up to P5 by lap 22.

Vettel’s lead came under threat when Mercedes tried the under-cut with Bottas, but the German just about held track position.

All eyes then turned to Renault v Toro Rosso as Brendon Hartley had to retire for a second race in a row because of an engine problem.

Once Hamilton pitted and re-emerged in P5, launching a charge for the podium with 30 laps to go…

Hamilton made light work of Verstappen for P4 and set about hunting down Raikkonen…

But Raikkonen held on to the final podium spot under big pressure in the dying stages.

The penultimate race of the season is now in the books…

Ferrari Sebastian Vettel

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