F1: Lewis Hamilton’s astonishing victory in Brazil 

Lewis Hamilton has done

Lewis Hamilton has done many extraordinary things in his long
career, said Rebecca Clancy in The Times^[1]. But his thrilling
victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday is surely up there
with the finest. For this was a race the seven-time F1 champion
really had no right to win. As if beating Max Verstappen weren’t
challenging enough, he faced the additional disadvantage of being
handed two separate penalties over the weekend, said Nate Saunders
on ESPN^[2]. On Friday, a fault with
his car’s drag reduction system caused him to be “disqualified from
qualifying” – which meant he started Saturday’s sprint qualifying
race at the back of the field, in 20th position. And though he
drove heroically in that 24-lap contest, passing 15 drivers, it
still only earned Hamilton tenth place on Sunday’s starting grid
thanks to the second sanction imposed on him: a five-place grid
penalty Mercedes had incurred for changing Hamilton’s
engine. 

Such circumstances “might have left a lesser man bowed”, said
Giles Richards in The Guardian^[3]. Not Hamilton. Drawing
on every ounce of his fighting spirit, he again “launched himself
through the field”, overtaking seven drivers in the first five
laps. When he passed Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Pérez,
on the 19th lap, the race became a riveting two-car spectacle, as
“Hamilton hunted Verstappen”. Passing the Dutchman was never going
to be straightforward, and one attempt briefly led to “both drivers
going off the track”. Finally, on lap 59, Hamilton^[4] made his “decisive move”
– after which he “stretched his legs” and finished a remarkable ten
seconds in front.

For a man hoping to regain his title, this victory could hardly
have been more opportune, said Tom Cary in The Daily
Telegraph^[5]. Hamilton arrived in São
Paulo trailing Verstappen by 19 points – and with only another
three races to go, he couldn’t have afforded to let that lead
stretch any further. As it is, he is still 14 points behind the
Dutchman, but should he win the remaining three races, he is
guaranteed to take the title. His fans will also take heart from
the “quantum leap” that Mercedes have apparently made, said Oliver
Brown in The Daily
Telegraph^[6]. Throughout the season,
Verstappen’s car has clearly been faster. But in Brazil, it was
Hamilton’s Mercedes that held the advantage in straight-line speed:
“on the lap where he passed the Dutchman, he was moving almost
19mph quicker”. The cause of this improvement is something of a
mystery – and Red Bull’s technicians wasted no time in questioning
whether it was strictly legal. But assuming nothing untoward comes
to light, it sets the season up for a riveting finale – one where
Verstappen holds the points advantage, but where the momentum lies
with Hamilton.