Valtteri Bottas edged Max Verstappen as Lewis Hamilton rallied from last place (penalty levied) to finish fifth. A second penalty will have 2020’s defending champ start Sunday’s race in 10th.
SAO PAULO, Brazil—Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas took advantage of Saturday’s sprint race for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, winning from start to finish to take pole ahead of Max Verstappen. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. took third.
Bottas took the lead right from the start, and only Verstappen could get close to him. But Bottas began having trouble with his soft tires later in the sprint, and the Finn just finished ahead of his Dutch rival, winning the race and qualifying first for Sunday’s race. The victory margin was by just over a second.
Valtteri Bottas: The start was the key thing for me. We gambled a little bit with the soft tires. We knew it would be a benefit for a start, and it worked. And then it was all about surviving.
Sainz Jr., in addition, had a great start, and the only opposition came from the Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Perez will start Sunday’s race on the second row, alongside Sainz Jr.
But perhaps the biggest story of the day was the plight, then recovery, of Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton. He found out Saturday morning that his success in Friday’s qualifying (best time) was under investigation.
It was revealed that Hamilton’s DRS (Drag Reduction System) system was over the limit, and officials decided to start the Briton in last place for Saturday’s sprint race. But Hamilton, who already had fine speed on this circuit, made his way through the field and finished in fifth. But an engine penalty will have Hamilton start Sunday in 10th.
Lando Norris took sixth in his McLaren for the rest of the field, while Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari finished in seventh. Pierre Gasly ended in eighth after the Frenchman started fifth, with his countryman Esteban Ocon ninth in the Alpine. Sebastian Vettel took tenth in his Aston Martin.
Sunday’s Grand Prix will be run at Noon Eastern time with broadcast coverage provided by ESPN2.
