Brazil-liant Hamilton reignites title race
Briton battles back from 10th on grid to triumph in F1 classic

The most challenging of weekends turned into one of the best for Lewis Hamilton on Sunday with a victory in Brazil that brought back memories of another epic win as a junior fighting for his future.
The seven-time world champion went from 20th and the back of the field in a Saturday sprint to 10th on the grid for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos and then to the top of the podium.
Hamilton said his father had reminded him of how in a Formula 3 weekend in Bahrain in 2004 he went from 22nd in qualifying to 11th in the sprint to decide the grid and then won the main race.
"After that showing McLaren re-signed me," he said. "I was fighting for my career at the time. Without them I wouldn't have been able to make it to Formula 1."
Hamilton is now fighting for a record eighth title, his victory at Interlagos leaving the 36-year-old 14 points adrift of Red Bull's Max Verstappen with three races remaining and all to play for.
He said he had gone in 'guns blazing' after the Saturday setback and was relentless in passing rivals and hunting down the Dutchman.
"This is what a world championship battle should look like," he said of Sunday's scrap, with the pair going wheel to wheel and Verstappen defending with determination until Hamilton finally made a move stick.
"It's hard battling and wouldn't expect anything less really. We didn't touch wheels, which is good," he said of the most controversial incident that saw both going off track as they battled on lap 48.
Damon Hill, Britain's 1996 world champion and former rival of Michael Schumacher, said on Twitter that Hamilton's performance was "one of the best drives I've ever seen in F1.By anyone. Utterly awesome."
Hamilton, now the winner of a record 101 races, thanked his compatriot for the compliment.
"I really do feel, from my own personal experience, it's been one of the most challenging, if not the most challenging with the things that we've faced during the weekend," he told reporters.
Hamilton said the weekend had been difficult for everyone at the team but he had been inspired by their focus and determination.
"I didn't know what was possible but I just gave it everything," he said.
"This has been probably one of the best weekends, if not THE best weekend, that I've experienced probably in my whole career."
Verstappen, the winner of the race's previous edition in 2019, finished second and saw his lead in the driver's championship shrink to 14 points, with three races left. The winner of a race gets 25 points.
"Let's keep pushing," Hamilton said on team radio after his sixth victory of the season. He took a Brazil flag to celebrate his win in the car and on the podium, just as his idol Ayrton Senna did.
Hamilton's teammate, Valtteri Bottas, finished third and Red Bull's Sergio Perez was fourth with the Mexican clocking the fastest lap of the race. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth respectively.
Verstappen led most of the race after the first turn, when he overtook pole-sitter Bottas. But Hamilton, who rose from 10th to third position in just six laps, went ahead of Verstappen on lap 59, sending a raucous crowd to their feet at Interlagos.
Hamilton finished the race with a 10-second advantage over Verstappen and said he felt like he had won his first race.
"I was pushing as hard as I could," an emotional Hamilton said after his 101st victory.
"From last on the grid (for Saturday's sprint race), and then another five-place penalty-I think that's the hardest weekend I've had. Things kept going against us, but it just shows, never give up, keep fighting. Never, ever stop fighting."
Mercedes is now 11 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors' standings.
Verstappen will leave Brazil 50,000 euros ($57,200) poorer. He was fined after being seen touching the rear wing of Hamilton's Mercedes on Friday.
"We were just missing a bit of pace, but we gave it our all and had fun," the Dutchman said. "We still have a good points lead, today was a bit of damage limitation. The coming races we will bounce back."
Red Bull head Christian Horner said Mercedes' pace "was just unstoppable".
It was definitely a weekend to remember for Hamilton, who was forced to start Saturday's sprint race from last place after being disqualified from Friday's qualifying session-where he was fastest-due to a technical infringement by Mercedes.
Despite Hamilton's fifth-place finish in the sprint race, a separate five-place penalty meant the defending champion started Sunday in 10th after Mercedes decided to change his car's engine in Sao Paulo.
Organizers at Interlagos celebrated the return of the series to the traditional track, which will host the race for nine more years. All 170,000 tickets were sold for the three days of action, with thousands of fans gathering in front of the podium-many of them unmasked despite health protocols.
Brazil was cut from the 2020 calendar because of restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix, renamed for this year, was allowed to open for full capacity only weeks ago when the state government eased restrictions for November.
Many fans saw the race as a return to a more normal life, and they liked the eventual winner. Antonio Siqueira, 45, had tears in his eyes when Hamilton drove by Interlagos' straight with the Brazilian flag.
"Ayrton's last title was 30 years ago, and to see the greatest driver ever have this performance here and still revere our hero was very emotional," Siqueira said. "Today makes it official; there is a Brazilian driver on the grid, and his name is Lewis."
Hamilton famously won his first F1 title at Interlagos in 2008 with a fifth-place finish that put him one point ahead of Brazil's Felipe Massa.
Qatar hosts the next race on Nov 21, followed by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Agencies
