São Paulo Grand Prix: AUTOhebdo notes

10/10 Lewis Hamilton

Never as strong as when he finds himself against the wall, the seven-time world champion shines brightly in adversity. In the country of his idol Ayrton Senna, the Briton sets the best qualifying time with a comfortable lead of 4/10th over his rival Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Hamilton, however, received a new engine Mercedes which condemns him to a drop of 5 places on the Sunday grid. He also found himself excluded from qualifying for non-compliant DRS and therefore dropped to the back of the pack for the Sprint. Author of 14 overtakes in 24 laps, he finished 5th in the short heat, and therefore lined up in 10th position on the GP grid. In just 4 laps, he is already in the tailpipes of his teammate pole sitter Bottas, which logically opens the door for him. Pérez offered good resistance but gave in under the blows of the Englishman, who then launched an attack on Verstappen. The fight, on the track as in the pits, is intense, virile, thrilling, in a word grandiose like this 2021 season. His first attack on the 48th lap ends with a muscular defense from his opponent and the two men go wide at turn 4 Hamilton found the opening 11 laps later, not without having had to work hard, before heading towards a 101st career victory, certainly one of the most beautiful.

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