- Valtteri Bottas won the third and final sprint race of the season in Brazil.
- World Championship leader Max Verstappen finished second, rival Lewis Hamilton showed a strong comeback and remained without points.
- Alfa Romeo drivers hold each other back and disappoint.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was forced to abandon pole position at the start of the sprint race in Sao Paulo. Valtteri Bottas walked away faster than the world championship leader and didn’t let him get there.
Bottas had first place and three points, while Verstappen got two. This means he is already 21 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the championship standings ahead of his fourth Grand Prix of the season.
The Briton, who was relegated to the bottom of the field due to an illegal back wing from Friday’s qualifiers, showed a strong chase. In the end it was enough for the Briton to take fifth place.
However, there is also a penalty of five starting places for the engine change. So the world champion can only start from 10th on Sunday and it should be more difficult than usual against Verstappen.
In third, despite trailing by about 20 seconds, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz also earned a championship point.
Giovinazzi driving in Raikkonen
Alfa Romeo did not get off to a good start in the race. Antonio Giovinazzi drove his teammate Kimi Raikkonen’s car early. The Finn turned around and fell to the end of the field and finally ranked himself 18th. The Italian, who has to apologise to Raikkonen, will start from 13th on Sunday.
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