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As the title for the Drivers' Championship got decided in Austin, things turned south, both in terms of the map and on the track. The Brazil Grand Prix 2019 was a treat to watch, as the underdogs took their game to the next level. Elation, frustration and ‘wheel-to-wheel’ action, as the commentator put it, the Grand Prix at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace had absolutely everything.
Max Verstappen took the victory and propelled his tally to 260 points, with a meagre 11-point gap over Ferrari's young gun Charles Leclerc (249 points), to be fought out in Abu Dhabi. The Safety Car played a major factor with multiple restarts, owing to four DNFs in total. The race resulted in maiden podiums for both Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz, though the latter had to wait till after the Prize Distribution to have his result confirmed. Everything was not all glory, as Alex Albon was denied what would have been his first podium following an incident with Lewis Hamilton in the penultimate lap.
However, what made it special was the performance of the underdogs. As things spanned out, Alfa Romeo got their best result in 2019, with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finishing P4 and P5, respectively. Toro Rosso got their second podium of the season through Pierre Gasly after Daniil Kvyat in Germany, thereby closing the gap to Renault in the Constructor’s Championship. Toro Rosso are only eight points behind the French team, who haven't flourished this season.
Here are some of the reasons why the 2019 Brazil Grand Prix will live long in the memory of Formula 1 and motorsports fans.
#1 Redemption for Max Verstappen
Let’s be honest, Max Verstappen has been a podium contender in 2019, despite the pace shown by both Mercedes and Ferrari. While Spa, Monza, Suzuka and Mexico delivered poor results for the Red Bull driver this season, the Dutchman was raring to go all guns out in Interlagos, a circuit where he missed out on the top step of the podium in 2018 after an avoidable collision with Esteban Ocon that saw the handbags come out on the weighing scale.
After a flying qualifying session and with the Safety Car spicing things up, he dominated the race, well, mostly. That was because newly minted six-time World Champion, Hamilton got a head-start over Vettel off the line. Numerous overtakes between the two drivers meant Hamilton was constantly dogging Verstappen and waiting for one small gap. Overtaking Hamilton on the infamous Senna S curve, coming back from the pits to retake the lead, Verstappen had the most perfect race he could've imagined.
#2 Ecstasy for Pierre Gasly
If there is one driver on the grid who could do with a ray of sunshine, it has to be Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman has had a tumultuous 2019, to say the least. It started with him joining Red Bull to replace the departing honeybadger, Daniel Ricciardo. A string of sub-par performances saw him get demoted Red Bull's sister outfit, Toro Rosso, with Alex Albon moving the other way. Despite driving well, he was just not getting the best results.
After the summer break, Gasly kept his game simple and just did not give up. His performances improved as his confidence grew before culminating in a podium that even he couln't describe in words. It was also the team's best result since a young Sebastian Vettel mastered the rain in Monza 11 years ago in 2008.
It has to be mentioned that Gasly was certainly helped by Hamilton's collision with Alex Albon, who seemed destined to finish in P2. That being said, Gasly drove immaculately throughout the race weekend and kept calm during all the chaos and Safety Cars and his podium was thouroghly deserved and one even neutrals could get behind just for the amount of emotion involved.
#3 Maiden podium for 'Smooth Operator' Carlos Sainz
With the ‘Best of the Rest’ spot being closely fought for between McLaren and Renault, Carlos Sainz has been consistently hovering over the sixth and seventh spots in 2019. Starting from P20, the Spaniard pulled out an absolutely superlative drive to weave through the field and cross the line in P4.
While Sainz was ecstatic with the result at the chequered flag, his afternoon was about to get even better when the stewards handed Lewis Hamilton a five-second penalty for the collision with Albon. That propelled him upto third in the race classification.
Sainz has been going from strength to strength ever since he decided to leave Toro Rosso and in him McLaren seem to have got a calm and able replacement for Fernando Alonso. A hard-fought and slightly lucky first podium for the ‘Smooth Operator’ Sainz was completely deserved when one considers how consistent he has been in the McLaren this season. Sainz has been one of the main reasons McLaren are fourth in the standings and is surely one to watch for in the years to come.
#4 Ferrari Woes Continue
While there was joy on one hand for many, we have got to feel for Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Mattia Binotto and the entire Ferrari team, both in the garage and back at Maranello. An engine penalty meant that Leclerc started from 14th on the grid. Having fought his way through the traffic and battling for fourth place with Vettel, a small clip with each other ended up costing both drivers their race and the Scuderia plenty of points.
Much like Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in Baku last year, this was a crash that could have been avoided if both drivers found a way to keep their ego aside and be on the same page. Ferrari does have to sort the situation between Vettel and Leclerc, who have been at loggerheads with each other this season. From being miffed about strategy preferences to flagrantly ignoring team orders, Ferrari has seen more controversy than class this season and if it isn't nipped in the bud, they could have an explosive situation much like Alain Prost- Ayrton Senna did or the more recent Nico Rosberg-Lewis Hamilton issues Mercedes had to deal with.
While the factory has done well since the summer break to try and bridge the gap and in some cases even better the pace shown by runaway leaders Mercedes, the car can only be as good as the man put in it and right now, the Ferrari drivers have each other in their crosshairs ahead of others.
#5 The perfect result to remember Ayrton Senna
Sometimes, the universe has a nice way of bringing things together. After the final Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 69 in Interlagos, Red Bull, powered by Honda seemed dead-set to bag a 1-2 result till Hamiton and Albon came together. That allowed Gasly to go through and the Frenchman drove the wheels off his Toro Rosso, also powered by Honda, to fend off a charge from Lewis Hamiton and finish behind Verstappen.
That result ensure that Honda got their first-ever 1-2 result in Formula 1 since Ayrton Senna's era with McLaren. Hamilton's penalty then added the cherry on top of the cake, pushing Sainz onto the podium to give McLaren their first taste of champagne in 2074 days.
25 years after the world lost the gem that was Ayrton Senna, to see a podium made up of Honda powered cars and a McLaren could only be described as poetic and the perfect way to pay tribute to a true legend of the sport.
