Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
The penultimate race – The Brazilian Grand Prix and what a race it was!
Starting the race behind the safety car, the weather was as predicted and perhaps – a little worse than originally thought…..
Heavy rainfall caused drivers to lose grip, have poor visibility, aquaplane and with a few near-misses at turns and barriers.
With the safety car making an appearance on a few occasions and with the race being red-flagged, there was a point in which we all thought it would turn into a half-point race or timed race but in the end, we got through all 71 laps which saw Lewis Hamilton bring the car home with his very first win in Brazil.
Here’s all the reaction from drivers and their teams after the race….
Mercedes – Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
Lewis Hamilton – 1st
“I’ve just won my first Brazilian Grand Prix! I remember watching Ayrton win back in 1991 and thinking “one day, that’s what I want to do too.”
“I shared his emotion that day and now, I can finally understand how he felt. It’s the 44th Grand Prix here as well, so this is a really special race for me.”
“To win on Senna’s turf, in front of that crowd – that’s a moment that I’ll never forget and I genuinely can’t believe it’s finally come. It’s crazy! All these years it’s been so hard to win this race and then today, it was one of the easiest wins I’ve had.”
“I love driving in the rain, it must come from years of racing around the UK as a kid. It’s all in the mind – keeping your cool, not making mistakes, having great reactions and knowing where to put the car.”
“It was one of those races where I was able to focus purely on driving. That one set of tyres just kept going and going – I didn’t have any problems and the car really was fantastic.”
“I’d also like to say a big thank you to everyone back at both factories who have worked so hard to give us such an incredible car. This result is all down to them – every week we’re making another piece of history and we’ve out proven that we’re by far the best team and the guys back at the factory are just the best.”
“Our food is the best, our guys in the garage are the best, the guys at the factory are the best, our cars are the best – it’s so rare to see every area so spot on and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
“I’m glad it’s come down to the final race – all I can do from my side is focus on being as strong as I have been in these past few races and if I can do that – I’ll know in my heart that I’ve achieved what I can this year.”
Nico Rosberg – 2nd
“The conditions were really tricky out there today. Up the hill there was heavy aquaplaning and a lot of drivers went off-track. I had a bit of a moment too when I spun at one point but luckily this wasn’t at high speed so I was able to catch the car again.”
“Lewis did a better job today and deserved the win so I must be happy with P2. Max also did a good job.”
“We knew that the RedBull would be very strong in the wet but he drove a great race.”
“Thank you very much to my team for choosing the right strategy and letting me stay out on the full wet tyres – Now I’m looking forward to Abu Dhabi where I have good memories from last year.”
“I will be going all out for the win there.”
Toto Wolff – Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“To come away with such a result in a race like this is really quite something. You simply can’t expect a 1-2 in such conditions and it’s a rare achievement and the whole team has to be congratulated for that.”
“I’m very happy with the result – it was a faultless drive from Lewis, with easily the best pace of the field, while Nico showed his strength out there to stand a firm P2.”
“A word for Max too, he was very impressive today – It was a Verstappen show out there today, really unbelievable driving and definitely great entertainment.”
“It’s difficult in these conditions, I probably wouldn’t have stopped the race the last time around because the conditions hadn’t changed but if you have to sit up there, put your neck on the line and take responsibility for the drivers’ safety, you might see a different perspective.”
“Now we have a showdown in Abu Dhabi – just as Bernie would have ordered it. Our job is simple – give both drivers the cars they need to fight to the flag on track.”
RedBull – Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
Max Verstappen – 3rd
“I think the word for today is “exciting” – I overtook Nico around the outside of turn 3 which was really fun to do. I just seemed to find a little bit more grip out there.”
“I then started chasing Lewis which resulted in me having a massive moment in the final sector and I was really lucky to keep it out of the guard rail.”
“The race was really good fun – I had plenty of overtakes around the outside because if you stay behind them, there’s too much spray and I just had to find another line. I kept my head down and managed to get past quite a few cars in the remaining laps.”
“I could hear that the crowd was going crazy when my engineer was on the radio so I’m very thankful to the fans for getting behind me.”
“At the end when I crossed the line, it felt like a victory – it was almost as beautiful as my race in Barcelona.”
Daniel Ricciardo – 8th
“It was a frustrating race, we never felt like we got lucky with the strategy that we were on. Every time we made a tyre change, there was a safety car or red flag. We lost positions and obviously couldn’t predict what was going to happen so we felt like we were on the back foot.”
“The real difficulty with today was my visibility – my visor kept fogging up. I kept opening my visor and trying to wipe it but it’s never happened before and that held me back.”
“It’s a shame as the car was a lot better then eighth – it was just really tricky out there. For example, with Kimi – I didn’t see him crash in front of me, it wasn’t until I got back to the pits and saw a replay that I knew he’d had a crash.”
“I’m glad we got to race and glad we could finish it – despite some of the crashes we had today, everyone is safe and that’s the main thing. Thank you to fans for putting up with the race and for staying with it today.”
Christian Horner – Team Principal
“An extraordinary motor racing day in testing conditions for the drivers and of course – the officials. “
“Having got ourselves into a good position at the start of the race, at the restart Max made an unbelievable pass on Rosberg round the outside of Turn 3 which set up his afternoon.
“Max had to make his way through the field and he did that, fighting to achieve a remarkable podium, with Daniel finishing in eighth that secures our second place in the Constructors’ Championship which is quite a feat.”
“We’d like to dedicate this race to the memory of a very valued member of our team – Mark Simpson, who we unfortunately lost after a difficult illness earlier this week. “Simo” as he was known to us – was an important part of our team and I’m sure he would have enjoyed what we saw from RedBull Racing today.”
Force India – Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
Sergio Perez – 4th
“What a fun but tense race it was today. It’s a shame to lose a podium place in the last two laps but Max just had different pace. He was the fastest on track and there was nothing I could do.”
“It’s a big result, not only for me but for the team as it brings us up into the important points for the battle of fourth place. A lot can still happen in Abu Dhabi and we can be happy with this result.”
Nico Hulkenberg – 7th
“That was an intense race today. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry because I think a possible podium slipped away today. I had great confidence in the car, I felt comfortable and I had the pace to push and overtake.”
“There were some scary moments out there today, especially when Kimi crashed in front of me and some of his debris hit my car and caused a bit of damage.
“We did a great job today, we just missed out on a little bit of luck.”
Robert Fernley – Deputy Team Principal
“What an exciting race that was. To come away with 18 points from such a challenging race is absolutely fantastic and a great reward for an excellent job by the entire team.”
“Both drivers didn’t put a wheel wrong and the decisions from the pit wall were spot on. Sergio came within a whisker of another podium and thoroughly deserved fourth place.”
“Nico recovered from a puncture to finish seventh, this showed his class once again and made us all wonder what might have been as he was running in fourth when the puncture struck.”
“We are now in a good step closer in achieving fourth place in the constructors’ championship.”
Sauber – Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
Marcus Ericsson – DNF
“It was a very disappointing end to this wet race for me. The conditions on the track were difficult and I lost the car going up the hill because of standing water on the track.”
“Felipe (Nasr) did a very impressive job today and scored us two points – this is great for everyone back at the team and I will fight back at the final race in Abu Dhabi.”
Felipe Nasr – 9th
“I have no words to say how happy I am right now. When I saw the weather forecast for today, I knew there could be an opportunity.”
“When it came, I was ready to go for it and we all did an exceptional job today. The team were great in informing me about the track conditions whilst I was giving them feedback.”
“It was a tricky race and in the end, it’s just an incredible feeling – when I saw the fans cheering for me after the flag.”
“I could not have hoped for a better race weekend.”
Monisha Kaltenborn – Team Principal
“First of all, I want to thank the whole team at the track as well as at the headquarters in Hinwill.”
“Despite the difficult circumstances, the team has always worked very hard and believed in it’s skills with a strong belief – therefore these points, they’re well deserved.”
“Now we are going to focus on the season finale in Abu Dhabi – we will fight again for tenth position in the constructors’ championship.”
Williams – Brazilian Grand Prix Race Report
Valtteri Bottas – 11th
“It was a very difficult day in very difficult conditions. We managed to keep the car in one piece but it wasn’t easy.”
“We had quite a lot of potential with the strategy, but in the end the intermediate tyres starting working a bit too late for us.”
“It’s a shame that Force India got a lot more points than us, so it’s going to be tricky in Abu Dhabi and we were just really unlucky today with the timing of our strategy.”
“It’s been amazing to see the support here for Felipe and I’m sure he really appreciated it – we’re looking forward to enjoying Abu Dhabi.”
Felipe Massa – DNF
“It’s impossible to explain my feelings from today, for everything that has happened. So much love!”
“We couldn’t finish the race – I wanted to finish in the right way, with the flag on the top and unfortunately I couldn’t, but I think God knows what to do.”
“I was just walking, in front of my people, with this amazing reaction – not just from the fans but from all the people in Formula One coming out to clap their hands for me.”
“It’s impossible to explain these emotions – I never expected this in my life, I don’t think I deserved as much as this.”
“The minimum I can say is thank you very much to everyone, all the people I’ve worked with, all of the fans.”
“I will never forget this day.”
Rob Smedley- Head of Performance Engineering
“We knew we needed to do something different to get in the points and we hoped the rain would ease off enough to cause the extreme wet tyre to wear, so that our early decision to switch to the intermediates would give us the advantage.”
“Unfortunately, with all the safety cars and red flag periods, it allowed everyone to keep changing their wet tyres for fresh ones, so we never saw the benefit.”
“We did our best in difficult conditions but the safety cars and stoppages didn’t help us.”
“It was a shame that Felipe had to end his race the way he did, as it would have been great for him to get a good result.”
“You could see that he was absolutely filled with emotion, as he has been all weekend, and this final home race for him, in front of his fans and surrounded by friends and family must be something very special for him. It’s been an emotional roller coaster.”
“Credit must also go to Max Verstappen, who was in a class of his own today and was incredible to watch!”
“He may have even won the race had it gone on a few laps longer – Thank you as well to all the fans who stayed to watch despite all the delays.”
The Formula 1 Girl 🙂
xxx
This race was amazing verstappen was the man
Author
Haha tell me about it – the overtaking he did! Great driver and a future World Champion I’d say!