With the 2016 Formula One season rapidly coming to an end, the teams arrived in Brazil for the penultimate round of the season and possibly the World Drivers’ Championship title decider, as Nico Rosberg leads his teammate, with the chance to take the title. Lewis Hamilton needed to perform well in the race in order to keep his chances of winning the title alive.
Hamilton was the fastest on Friday, leading both of the sessions in dry conditions. Max Verstappen split the two Mercedes drivers at the front in the first free practice session, proving that he could be a threat to the Mercedes team during the race. A few young faces were in the cars for the first session, with Charles Leclerc piloting Esteban Gutiérrez’s car and Sergey Sirotkin taking over Kevin Magnussen’s Renault. Rosberg was narrowly behind his teammate, as they took the top two positions on the time sheets. Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari followed, all of which were within one second of the pace set by the top Mercedes. Nico Hülkenberg and Jenson Button concluded the top ten. Marcus Ericsson spun early on in the session, Romain Grosjean complained of a power loss and Fernando Alonso was forced to park his car with an ERS problem. Kimi Räikkönen and Carlos Sainz were under investigation after the session of a tussle during the session, but no further action was required.
Rosberg was able to beat his teammate in the final free practice session by less than a tenth of a second. Ferrari and Red Bull followed closely behind, with Valtteri Bottas also within a second of the leader. Both Sauber cars found themselves at the bottom of the time sheets, with Ericsson requiring an engine change before the start of the qualifying session. In qualifying, Hamilton was able to secure a crucial pole position, with his teammate starting alongside him on the front row of the grid. The session started with a little rain at the start of the session. Sebastian Vettel had some issues with his brakes at the start of the session. Esteban Ocon was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Jolyon Palmer in Q1.
Sunday started in very wet conditions. These conditions ended Romain Grosjean’s race before it even started, as he hydroplaned into the wall during his warmup laps. With the track still wet, the race start was delayed slightly and the race director decided to start the race behind the safety car. After eight laps behind the safety car, the race was underway. Rosberg left Hamilton a massive gap as they came to the line. Verstappen made a bold move on Kimi Räikkönen in the first corner, as Kevin Magnussen became the first driver to change to the intermediate tyres, with Jenson Button also doing so on the following lap. On only lap 10 of the race, a large group of the drivers from the rear of the field flooded into the pits for the intermediate tyres. Sebastian Vettel spun in the final corners on lap 11, having lost a lot of time while waiting for a chance to return to the racing surface. He cruised into the pits for intermediate tyres, but the pit stop was very slow due to some issues with the left-rear tyre. The safety car was deployed when Marcus Ericsson hit the wall and came down to block the pit entry. Max Verstappen narrowly avoided a collision with the Sauber, as he made his way into the pits. As a result of the incident, the pit entry was closed, but not before both Red Bull drivers were able to dodge their way into the pit line and change onto the intermediate tyres. On lap 20, the safety car came in, but it was only in for a few seconds, as Kimi Räikkönen hydroplaned on the main straight, hitting the outside wall before sliding across to the inside wall, nearly collecting the Red Bull. The race was red flagged to allow the debris and car to be collected by the safety crews. The red flag gave the stewards an opportunity to investigate some incidents, as they gave Felipe Massa a five second time penalty for overtaking before the safety car line on the original start and the same punishment for Daniel Ricciardo because he went into the pit lane while it was closed for Ericsson’s crash. The cars did some laps behind the safety car again, but the race was red flagged again after less than ten laps behind the safety car. Just over two hours after the scheduled start time of the Grand Prix, the cars returned to the circuit, guided by the safety car. After a few laps, the race finally resumed, as the safety car returned to the pit lane, at which point it became evident that the race would end due to the time limit and it could be only worth half points. Verstappen was able to overtake Rosberg around the outside of turn three, as Rosberg lit up the rear tyres slightly on the exit of turn two. Daniel Ricciardo also made a magnificent overtake on Carlos Sainz in the first corners of the following lap. Nico Hülkenberg was able to get a lot of grip, as he overtook Kevin Magnussen and then Pascal Wehrlein at the half way point of the race. Verstappen nearly lost his position to Rosberg, as he got the car sideways, although a massive save from the Dutchman prevented him from colliding with the inside barrier at the final corner. Vettel was able to get his twitchy Ferrari around Fernando Alonso’s McLaren on lap 42 and the pair narrowly collided later in the lap, as the McLaren driver was force wide in the final sector. While many other teams were crossing over onto the intermediate tyres, Jenson Button, who had switched onto the tyres just a few laps earlier, had the wet weather tyres put back onto his car because the weather conditions were just not drivable for the McLaren car. Hamilton switched into cautious mode, as Rosberg lost a lot of time in the final corners due to a huge slide and save. The safety car returned to the circuit once again, as Felipe Massa crashed out of his final Brazilian Grand Prix. With the Williams blocking the entrance of the pit lane, the pit entry was closed once again. Verstappen pitted during the safety car to get wet weather tyres. The race resumed on lap 55. Alonso spun in the last corner of the restart, although he was able to rejoin the race behind his teammate. Verstappen was flying through the field, overtaking drivers using racing lines that none of the other drivers were able to use. Verstappen and Vettel had a good battle in the closing laps of the race which resulted in Verstappen getting by after forcing Vettel into the grass. He then went on to overtake Sainz. Hamilton was able to keep his championship hopes alive with a race victory in Brazil, with his teammate crossing the finish line behind him. Verstappen completed the podium against all odds, as a sensational drive allowed him to make many overtakes, including a thrilling battle with Sergio Pérez in the closing laps.
The 2016 season will come to an end after the next round of the season in Abu Dhabi on the weekend of November 27. The results of the Brazilian Grand Prix means that the World Drivers’ Championship title will be decided at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
