The Championship battle is still well and truly alive as Lewis Hamilton storms through the field and past his Championship rival to win in Brazil. To capture as much of that as possible here is our 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result Review Summary.
Our review covers what happened in the race so you don’t have to in the laps that matter. Plus we throw in our Race Ratings, the Best (Great) and Worst (Grape) drivers of the race weekend.
This week even throw in the Sprint Race for all of the “action” that it provided.
The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered.
The 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result Review + Great and Grape gives you just enough to catch up, and stand by for our Power Rankings which highlight our driver of the season so far.
2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result Sprint Race – THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the sprint race live? Well you normally wouldn’t have missed much based on the two previous Sprint Races. But what did happened in this edition is below in the best bits.
PRE RACE – Sensational news came out of Brazil in the hours before the Sprint Race as Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from Qualifying over a technical infringement with his rear wing. This meant his storming pole from Friday was useless as he is sent to the back of the grid for the Sprint Race. He already had a five place drop pending due to an engine change. For the record Max Verstappen was fined 50K Euro for touching and looking at Lewis Hamilton’s car in Parc Ferme. A fine he would probably cover with just his race bonus for Brazil. But what a Championship defining change this could all be.
Lap 1 – Bottas does Hamilton a solid and outdrags Verstappen to take the lead into turn one. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz also gets a good start and nails Verstappen into Turn four causing Verstappen to run wide at turn five. The Dutchman later complaining about gearbox synching. Still, he’s in third with a bonus Sprint Race point. His Championship rival Hamilton is up to 14th. Lando Norris make s a good start too and is up to 6th. Gasly’s poor record for first lap progress continues dropping from fourth to seventh.
ORDER – BOT SAI VER PER LEC NOR GAS OCO VET RIC – HAM 14th
Lap 2 – Antonio Giovinazzi clips team mate Kimi Raikkonen into a spin at turn one. The Finn is now last.
Lap 3 – After zooming to 14th on lap one, Lewis Hamilton is stuck behind 2021 arch nemesis’ Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso. He gets past the Alpha Tauri on lap four.
Lap 4 – Max Verstappen gets past Carlos Sainz into turn one.
Lap 6 – Lewis Hamilton up to 12th now but right on Alonso’s rear. The Alpine driver is proving difficult to get past and has been making progress through the midfield after dropping places from the start. He gets by into turn one on lap eight.
Lap 8 – Carlos Sainz radios in and says he’s struggling with tyres already. It’s only one-third of the way through a one-third race. He’s a full second a lap slower than the front two.
ORDER – BOT VER SAI PER LEC NOR GAS OCO VET RIC
Lap 9 – Lando Norris passes Charles Leclerc for fifth.
Lap 11 – Lewis Hamilton check, and he’s 11th on lap 11 and on the tail of Daniel Ricciardo who made a bad start and hadn’t improved since. Lap 13 proving unlucky for the Australian as Hamilton gets by into turn one.
Lap 14 – A check at the front and Bottas is doing a fine job. Maintaining a gap just over a second from Verstappen despite the Dutchman’s fastest laps. As we write this of course Verstappen closes within the second barrier and DRS will be on offer now.
Lap 15 – Hamilton takes Sebastian Vettel for 9th. A lap later he gets by Esteban Ocon for 8th. Then makes it three in three laps as he flies past Pierre Gasly for 7th. He could realistically get to third on current pace.
ORDER – BOT VER SAI PER NOR LEC HAM GAS OCO VET
Lap 19 – Despite struggling with tyres more than ten laps ago, Sainz is still in front of Sergio Perez in the battle for third.
Lap 20 – Lewis Hamilton sails past Charles Leclerc for 6th into turn four. Three laps to go he is five second behind Carlos Sainz in third and the final Sprint Race point.
Lap 24 – Lewis Hamilton makes a big dive into turn one on Lando Norris and takes fifth, really reducing the damage from his DQ penalty. He still has another five
Lap 24 – The Sprint Race ends and it is the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas who wins the final Sprint Race of the season. Not a bad up yours to everyone who gave me sh!t at the last race. Max Verstappen grabs tow more bonus World Championship points for second and Carlos Sainz holds on for third. Hamilton was the star of the race moving from last to fifth in 24 laps. Fans of the Sprint Races will point to the action in this race to encourage more next season, but if they’re honest with themselves it was more about Hamilton being moved to the back of the grid than the Sprint Race format.
FINAL ORDER – BOT VER SAI PER HAM NOR LEC GAS OCO VET
2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result Race – THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. Normally it is five or ten, so you know it was a good race if there’s more than ten.
We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Lap 1 – Max Verstappen outdrags Valtteri Bottas from the line and the inside line helps to take the lead through the first corners. Bottas slides a little wide opening himself up to an attack from the second Red Bull of Perez. Further back Lando Norris goes wide already with a puncture. Further around the first lap Bottas runs wide at turn five which allows Perez in second and will surely piss of Hamilton and his team as much as last weekend in Mexico, as blame will be harder to shift this weekend.
ORDER – VER PER BOT LEC SAI HAM VET GAS OCO RIC
Lap 2 – Lewis Hamilton overtakes Carlos Sainz for 5th. Hamilton is up five places already in two laps. After Nottas’ fine work in front, he’ll have to do it all himself now. If he can catch the Red Bulls. It doesn’t take him long to make it two Ferraris down.
Lap 5 – Hamilton is now in front of his team mate with his Championship fate ahead of him. Let’s be honest, given the Championship and Nottas’ efforts in this race so far, he deserved that call from Mercedes. Further back Yuki Tsunoda ran into someone and lost his front wing. That someone was Lance Stroll into the first corner for the record. Tsunoda eventually gets a 10 second penalty and rightly so, it was ordinary.
Lap 7 – SAFETY CAR – The field is slowed down due to debris from Tsunoda’s clash with Lance Stroll. George Russell pits from somewhere towards the back.
ORDER – VER PER HAM BOT LEC SAI VET GAS OCO RIC
Lap 8 – Radio comms from Lewis Hamilton giving his team a pep message for his team mate. Pretty sure his team mate doesn’t give a flying.
Lap 10 – RACE RESTARTS – no change in position from the restart, although Leclerc is pushing Nottas hard for fourth.
Lap 11 – Max Verstappen is 1.2 seconds ahead after the first racing lap completes. With his compliant team mate behind him keeping Lewis Hamilton at bay, it’s looking awfully Red Bull today in Brazil.
Lap 12 – VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR – Deployed due to Mick Schumacher running into an Alfa Romero into the first corner and depositing bit of his car on the track and most of his front wing is stuck under his car.
Lap 14 – RACING RESUMES – No changes so far as the racing resumes. For now.
Lap 17/18 – DRS is available for Lewis Hamilton on Sergio Perez and he is really closing in on the Red Bull. He gets a good run down the pit straight and takes Perez on the outside of turn one. But it’s not done yet as Sergio Perez comes back down the next straight and takes back second place. This could
Lap 18/19 – In a carbon copy move, Lewis Hamilton takes Sergio Perez around the outside of turn one. This time Perez doesn’t fight back. Now it’s just his main title rival ahead. And there’s 3.9 second to steal.
Lap 20 – Entertaining battle between Ricciardo and Vettel eventually ends in the Australian’s favour. For 8th that is.
ORDER VER (3.5 sec) HAM PER BOT LEC SAI GAS RIC VET OCO
Lap 24 – Both Verstappen and Hamilton complaining about their tyres going off. Gap is maintaining and slightly increasing for the Red Bull. Further back less important cars have started to pit, so the stops for the big teams can’t be too far away.
Lap 27 – Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes blink first as he pits for new tyres. Carlos Sainz pits too, but that’s not quite as important. But an earlier stopping Gasly is ahead of Sainz, so the undercut is on.
Lap 28 – Max Verstappen pits for his new tyres. The gap is now under two seconds between himself and his title rivals, so Mercedes got that call right for a change. And the gap continues to decrease…..
Lap 29 – Lewis Hamilton sets fastest lap and is within 1.3 seconds of Verstappen. Bottas is kept out in front we presume as punishment for his start to the race. He pits at the end of lap 30. He comes out in front of Sergio Perez though in third.
Lap 31 – A small Virtual Safety Car comes out to clean up more debris. This is from Aston Martin this time.
Lap 32 – Lewis Hamilton within a second and in DRS territory now. What price a another crash?
Lap 36 – Max Verstappen is wisely keeping the gap to Lewis Hamilton to just over a second, He’ll need to, as a visual from the TV Coverage shows he’s the slowest in a straight line so far this race.
ORDER VER HAM BOT PER LEC SAI GAS RIC NOR OCO
Lap 41 – Max Verstappen surprise Mercedes and a lot of those people trying to watch this race at something AM by pitting for new tyres. Let’s see how that works out against Lewis Hamilton.
Lap 42 – Mercedes pit Valtteri Bottas on the next lap. Which doesn’t make much sense based on half a Grand Prix of pit stops where the earlier car benefits. Sergio Perez making it two from two for the number two on the same lap.
Lap 44 – Lewis Hamilton pits for tyres and the gap grows to over two seconds. He’s also unhappy with the strategy. As was Bottas who offered over the radio that Mercedes have thrown away a 1-2. Pot Kettle coming from the Finn. Lewis Hamilton does have a point. He sets fastest lap in anger (we presume) on lap 46.
Lap 47 – Lewis Hamilton is flying and the gap is within half a second which gives him DRS. So with Verstappen being so slow in a straight line in comparison it will be interesting to see how much Verstappen fights him.
Lap 48 – It’s Hamilton v Verstappen down the back straight, side by side going into turn four. Going into turn five you could argue that Verstappen runs Hamilton off the road essentially and both drivers end up well wide at turn five. This will be debated by both sets of fans, and no doubt the FIA will have a look. Depends on your side of the fence to what you think.
Lap 51 – The Hamilton-Verstappen battle continues with Lewis staying within a second but only just and is unable to do anything down the main straight. For the record Stroll and Ricciardo have become the first retirements of the race.
ORDER – VER HAM BOT PER SAI LEC ALO OCO GAS VET
Lap 54 – Hamilton remains close but not close enough to Verstappen. Meanwhile the teams exchange radio messages with the FIA over the turn five running wide incident.
Lap 58 – Lewis is closer than ever and Max weaves down the back straight like a drunk driver to break the tow. It works, and the Red Bull is still ahead.
Lap 59 – Lewis is even closer this time and he flies past the Red Bull down the back straight and crosses in front of Verstappen to stop the chance of him coming back in turns four and five. He takes the lead of the race and importantly reduces Verstappen’s Championship lead to 13.5 points. The Brazilian crowd love it too. For added salt, Verstappen gets a warning from the FIA for weaving.
Lap 63 – A quick check on Lewis Hamilton’s lead, and he is already three seconds in front of Verstappen. Now we guess the attention turns to whether Bottas can steal second and some more points of the Red Bull for his current team mate’s benefit.
Lap 64 – Just for the record, Sergio Perez is still in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Bottas is gaining on Verstappen but not enough for mischief.
Lap 69 – Not much happening now, but Lewis Hamilton is over eight seconds in front. There’s no gap between drivers of less than three seconds so there’s probably no more action forthcoming.
Lap 70 – Red Bull pit Sergio Perez so he can steal the fastest lap point from Lewis Hamilton.
Lap 71 – Lewis Hamilton wins the Brazilian Grand Prix after a super drive. Max Verstappen is over ten seconds behind at the end. Bottas is third, which is the most okayest of results. Sergio Perez does set fastest lap.
FINAL ORDER – HAM VER BOT PER LEC SAI GAS OCO ALO NOR
2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result – RACE RATING
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 9/10
Forget the second drivers or penalties or something else, this came down to a straight fight between the two title contenders at the front of the field. This time it ended in Hamilton’s favour and he reduces the deficit in the World Championship.
ON TRACK ACTION – 9 /10
Valtteri Bottas’ opening lap provided a bit of action and early race suspense. The Hamilton v Perez battle was a good one, as was some of the racing in the midfield. Ricciardo-Ocon. Gasly-Ocon-Alonso. And some ordinary attempts to pass which ended in safety cars.
Lewis Hamilton in general carving through the field then chasing Max Verstappen was good stuff. The nature of the Interlagos circuit making racing and overtaking easier than usual. It’s an old classic non-Tilke track, so maybe there’s a hint at how to bring racing back.
Then you get a genuine pass for the lead between two Championship rivals without an incident.
ENDING 3 / 10
Depends where you class the overtaking move for first. We say if it’s not in the final 10% then it’s not part of the ending. This makes the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix a little dull. But plenty of action before it, so nice to calm down a little. Especially if you’re watching this in the part of the world where the race start was a 3am.
OVERALL RATING 21 / 30
The Brazilian Grand Prix does it again with another great race. A clean battle for the lead between the two title contenders and Lewis Hamilton wins from 10th on the grid.
2021 SEASON RACE RANKINGS
Bahrain GP – 25/30
Emilia-Romagna GP – 17/30
Portuguese GP – 11/30
Spanish GP – 18/30
Monaco GP – 12/30
Azerbaijan GP – 23/30
French GP – 22/30
Styrian GP – 12/30
Austrian GP – 20/30
British GP – 22/30
Hungarian GP – 26/30
Belgian GP – 0/30
Dutch GP – 12/30
Italian GP – 25/30
Russian GP – 26/30
Turkish GP – 13/30
US GP – 21/30
Mexican GP – 22/30
2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result – Great & Grape
Here we go through the field and highlight the three drivers we think deserve a little extra love, and one driver whose had the grapest weekend of all.
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 / -2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now. And who doesn’t like grapes.
THE GREAT-EST – LEWIS HAMILTON
From last to fifth in the sprint race. From 10th to 1st in the main event. Overtook his title rival Max Verstappen cleanly during the race. An awesome effort really. Could have been much worse with disqualifications and grid penalties but the end result was a comfortable win.
THE GREAT – MAX VERSTAPPEN
OK, so he didn’t win the Brazilian Grand Prix, but he did get a lot of points for his second in the sprint race and main events, and remains ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Championship. This track didn’t quite suit, but he still has the upper hand.
THE GREAT – FERRARI
Their drivers finished fifth and sixth, while their rivals for third place in the Constructor’s Title McLaren had a bit of a stinker. Lando Norris gets a puncture at the first corner on the first lap and heads to the back of the field. Daniel Ricciardo drives well during the race and would got points but it would have been behind Ferrari, and he retired anyway. Norris finished 10th.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
NICHOLAS LATIFI – For outqualifying his team mate Mercedes-bound George Russell.
PIERRE GASLY – Just another weekend of under appreciated achievement for Alpha Tauri.
FERNANDO ALONSO – For continuing to prove his comeback has been no waste. He leads the season tally for overtakes no less. Double points for Alpine is good news too.
THE GRAPE-EST – YUKI TSUNODA
Another wasted weekend. A clash after a poor overtaking attempt caused a Safety Car that no one wanted. Meanwhile his team mate continues to impress. The Japanese driver is lucky to keep the seat for 2023.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
MICK SCHUMACHER – Broke his wing in a similarly bad move. Hasn’t been able to impress too much this season, and certainly didn’t do anything here.
VALTTERI BOTTAS – His first few laps were a little bit ordinary. Not that he would have been able to win the race given Hamilton’s pace, but still should have been second.
2021 Brazilian Grand Prix Result – Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix and the overall 2021 F1 Season Power Rankings leader/s.
Read our last edition from after the Mexican Grand Prix here.
