Brazil: Flashback 2018 and Winner Predictions
The legendary Interlagos circuit has often delivered memorable battles, whether due to the weather or the fact that it takes place at the end of the season, fans are rarely disappointed by this event on the calendar.
2018 in a nutshell: a victory for Lewis Hamilton to secure the constructors’ title for Mercedes
Already in possession of the drivers’ world title, Lewis Hamilton approaches this Grand Prix calmly even though the constructors’ title is still at stake. Mercedes, which holds a 55-point lead over Ferrari, must maintain a minimum gap of 43 points to win a fifth consecutive title.
The Briton takes pole in 1.07.281, breaking the circuit record and achieving his tenth pole position of the season, the eighty-second of his career. The new five-time world champion is ahead of Sebastian Vettel, his main rival of the season, by 93 thousandths of a second while Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen occupy the second row.
The main surprise of this race occurred on lap 43, when Max Verstappen, comfortably in the lead, was clipped by French driver Esteban Ocon, who was a lap down, collided with him and sent him into a spin.
The Frenchman arrives with more speed in the Senna esses and tries to overtake, but the collision is inevitable as the Dutch driver dives to the inside at turn 2. The Red Bull driver, whose floor has been damaged, then sees Lewis Hamilton pass him again.
What a **** idiot! he exclaimed on his radio about the Frenchman. Ocon, on the other hand, is penalized with a ten-second stop-and-go for causing the collision.
Once out of his single-seater, Verstappen almost came to blows with Ocon, whom he pushed repeatedly. “We should have won today,” the Dutchman lamented after the race.
The Briton secures a new victory and allows Mercedes to clinch another title in the F1 Constructors’ World Championship, achieving the double with the Drivers’ Championship for the fifth consecutive year.
The Editorial Team’s Prediction:
Most of us are putting a Mercedes in pole position with a slight advantage for Valtteri Bottas, recent winner of the US GP. For the race, let’s take the same and start again with a Mercedes one-two, no matter the order. Despite their results two weeks ago, some of us think that the Ferraris could well join the battle and make it to the podium.
