By Joe Murphy
As we enter the final phase of the season, every point matters. With both championships being as close as we have seen in many years, and with this year’s Brazilian Grand Prix playing host to the final sprint race of the year, there is much to discuss and predict. Leaving this article as late as possible has meant we have learnt of Hamilton’s penalty issues and this can inform our estimates.
Max to win again as #1 car awaits?
With Lewis Hamilton to suffer at least one penalty at the time of writing, Max Verstappen has to be the hot favourite to win this year’s Brazilian Grand Prix. The last two races at this venue, the Dutchman has been the quickest man on track and this looks set to continue. For the sprint race, he can settle for second behind the Brit in the Mercedes, and still end up on pole. It will then, most likely, be down to Valtteri Bottas or Sergio Perez to challenge Max into turn one, with the latter extremely unlikely to take any sort of risks. For Lewis Hamilton, finishing second would still be a good result all things considered, but time is running out for the seven time champion. He’ll need to start being the man ahead of Max otherwise they’ll be no title number eight. For Mercedes, it will be interesting to see if driver orders come into play, with their top priority being the one point lead they have in the constructor’s championship standings. Whether the outgoing Bottas or title chasing Hamilton would listen to these orders, is another question, and one with a pretty obvious answer.
Pierre Gasly: The Hero or Zero?
Pierre Gasly has the opportunity to do something very special this weekend. Has has shown his pace around this circuit, taking fifth in qualifying. With Lewis Hamilton’s incoming penalty, this is a net fourth place, meaning the Alpha Tauri would start Sunday on the second row, should he hold it together during Saturday’s sprint race. Should Bottas and Verstappen or even Perez tangle together, then Pierre is in the perfect position to capitalise and stand on the podium come the conclusion of Sunday’s events. However, because of the position he finds himself in, he has a huge target on his back. He could find that his race goes from hero to zero, in one corner. The Frenchman needs to avoid trouble and stay clear of entanglements, and he should be in for success this weekend, in Brazil.
What’s happening with Lance Stroll?
Lance Stroll is struggling at the moment. He was only faster than the Haas and Williams cars. In comparison, his teammate, is several spots ahead on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race. The Canadian has never been out of Q1 at this track, and this misery is set to continue. I cannot see how Lance Stroll even competes for a point this weekend. The only chance he has got, is to do a long first stint and then pit behind come form of safety car. Such an event isn’t too unlikely from this track, as we have seen before. It remains to be seen if that will be enough for the Aston Martin to compete.
The Sainz and Ricciardo battle is set to continue…
These two are almost destined to do this forever, at this point. Every week seems to be the Spaniard and Australian battling it out for fifth or sixth and there always seems to be less than a second separating them. So far, Ferrari have the pace advantage, but in the battle for third in the constructor’s championship, expect McLaren to fight back. Daniel Ricciardo has struggled in the past with races in Brazil whereas Sainz scored a belated podium in the last outing. Expect these two to continue tussling it out for a strong points haul, with wheel to wheel racing and maybe even contact, occurring.
Sprint race could see major grid changes for Sunday…
The last two sprint races have been an interesting spectacle. Yes, there has been a grid shake up throughout the midfield, but nothing major has happened. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time until this changes. Max and Lewis could very easily tussle here. If one of them is to be retired, the other driver has to make sure both of them are taken out. As alluded to previously in this article, Max doesn’t need to do this. Lewis Hamilton can to afford to drop anymore positions due to his incoming penalty. Moreover, maybe this contact could be between Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez? Or perhaps Gasly gets involved in the scrap from fifth. Brazil holds a very quick and tight first sector, so it seems inevitable there will be contact somewhere. Wheel2Wheel predicts that this will be between at least two of the front six cars.
* Source for pictures F1.com
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