2017 Brazilian Grand Prix
9th April 2017
A long-standing favourite, the MSWC returns to the Autódromo José Carlos Pace for the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix. First raced in 1974, the 4.3 kilometre circuit is one of the shortest on the calendar and is known for its elevation chances and its mix of fast, open corners and tighter, trickier turns as well as being one of the few tracks to run anti-clockwise. The passionate Brazilian fans always turn up in their masses and give the circuit a fantastic atmosphere and last year’s crowd were treated to their first home victory in seven years as Felipe Massa took his first win since 2013, but with Massa gone Team Brazil seem worse for wear and are currently languishing at the bottom of the standings with no points. Still, qualifying went well for both drivers and with a bit of luck, both could be scoring today. Also in qualifying, reigning champion Valtteri Bottas took his first pole of the year, but championship leader Sebastian Vettel joins him on the front row. An all-British second row follows them, while Nico Hülkenberg had to settle for fifth. Carlos Muñoz and Fernando Alonso had disappointing qualifyings and start from seventh and eighth, while the other Colombian car of Juan Pablo Montoya had a torrid time and lines up thirteenth.
But first is the Tier-2 race, where Paul di Resta’s attempt at a hat-trick of pole positions was rather lacklustre and only landed him sixth place. Marco Andretti filled the void to take pole with Stoffel Vandoorne joining him on the front row. Mitch Evans and Robin Frijns put in solid efforts to make up row two, while the championship leaders are directly behind them. Fabio Leimer and Stefano Coletti can be pleased with their Saturdays, having locked in their grid positions in the first session for the first time this year and beating out Max Verstappen and Robert Kubica, whose technical problems and lack of pace respectively left them in the second session and occupying row five of the grid.
Vandoorne had the best launch, but Andretti had the inside line and was able to secure the lead and Evans almost squeezed past as well. Rossi had a good start to pass Frijns into the first corner with d’Ambrosio jumping Stanaway further back. Max Verstappen had a good exit of Turn 3 which allowed him to pass Stefano Coletti down the following straight while at the end of the straight, Evans took second place from Vandoorne down the inside of Turn 4, a move replicated by Charles Leclerc on Simona de Silvestro for thirteenth. Frijns was glued to the back of Rossi for most of the infield section, but had a poor run out of Turn 11 and had to defend against di Resta going into Turn 12. Kubica had a good exit out of Turn 12 and was able to pull alongside Coletti through Turn 13 to take ninth place, but Coletti dived down his inside at Turn 1 to reclaim the position. Vandoorne was also retaking positions at the start of lap 2, claiming second place from Evans coming into Turn 3 while behind them Frijns was still futilely chasing Rossi. Kubica reclaimed ninth place from Coletti at Turn 4 and was able to hold it this time despite Coletti making attempts at Turns 8 and 10. D’Ambrosio ran wide at Turn 12, which allowed Stanaway through and also gave a run to Leclerc, who was soon down his inside and through. Lap 3 started with Frijns passing Rossi down the inside of Turn 1, with his teammate also making overtakes – passing Leimer from a long way back down the inside of Turn 4. Leimer almost lost another place coming out of Turn 12, but he blocked Kubica and forced him to back down. D’Ambrosio made up one of his lost places on lap 4, passing Leclerc down the back straight, while ahead of them Coletti recovered ninth place from Kubica on the run down to Turn 12. Kubica was under pressure again the following lap from Richie Stanaway, but Stanaway was unable to pass despite making multiple attempts. At the front, Frijns was on the tail of Evans and on lap 6, attempted to pass him down the inside of Turn 1, but Evans had the better run through Turn 2 and kept the position. Frijns stayed with him, but was too far back to make a move into Turn 4. However, a better run in the infield put him right on his tail coming out of Turn 12, allowing him to easily make the pass down the main straight. Leclerc and de Silvestro started battling for thirteenth place again on lap 8, with de Silvestro passing at Turn 4, only to be outbraked at Turn 8 and lose the position again. She made a move at Turn 12, but lost traction on the exit, allowing him to pull away. De Silvestro had caught back up by Turn 4 though and passed him down the inside of Turn 5 and Leclerc’s attempts to recover the position at Turn 8 resulted in minor contact and he was forced to back off. By lap 11, Marco Andretti was beginning to show signs of tyre wear, with his lead being chipped away to Vandoorne who was keeping a steady gap behind him to Frijns. Vandoorne was on Andretti’s tail by lap 13, but the American’s defensive skills allowed him to keep the lead for a couple more laps before Vandoorne got the better run out of Turn 3 on lap 15 and sailed through. Andretti attempted to fight back, but with his tyres suffering and Frijns catching up fairly quickly, he was forced to pit instead on lap 17 and most other cars followed suit within the following few laps.
Max Verstappen was able to switch his tyres on quite quickly and on lap 20 passed Paul di Resta going into Turn 1 and pulled away before he could respond. Robert Kubica lost tenth position to Richie Stanaway on lap 22, when Stanaway outbraked him going into Turn 4. At the front, Frijns was pushing his new set of tyres and passed Andretti out of Turn 12 on lap 23. Andretti quickly pushed back though and after a failed attempt on lap 24, retook second place on lap 25 through Turn 3. Leclerc passed de Silvestro for thirteenth again at Turn 4 on lap 26 and she promptly ran wide at Turn 9 trying to pursue him, allowing him to pull away. Stefano Coletti became the first driver to retire on lap 28, when his gearbox failed, costing him a potential points finish. Lap 30 saw Leimer attempt to pass di Resta at Turn 1 for seventh place, but was unable to complete the move and had to fall back and make the pass down the inside of Turn 12 instead. Kubica had been reinstated to tenth place after Coletti’s retirement, but found the position under threat again from d’Ambrosio on lap 33, with the Belgian outbraking him into Turn 4, but then locking up at Turn 8, allowing Kubica back through. D’Ambrosio attempted to pass at Turn 12, but Kubica blocked him and forced him to try again at Turn 1 with similar success, but d’Ambrosio was able to use the slipstream down the back straight to pass Kubica just before Turn 4 and take the position. Mitch Evans, who had spent most of the middle stint slowly eroding the gap to Robin Frijns, finally caught up to the Dutchman on lap 36 and passed him the following lap at Turn 4, but Frijns reclaimed the position on the exit of Turn 12. The pair traded places twice on lap 37, but Evans passed Frijns again down Turn 1 on lap 38 and was finally able to build a small gap. Unable to recover, Evans opted to pit, triggering the second round of pitstops. During Vandoorne’s pitstop, his front-right wheelman fumbled replacing the tyre, costing him precious seconds and allowing Andretti to pressure him for the lead and the American was back ahead on lap 44, while di Resta also gained from his pitstop to repass Leimer on lap 46. Ma Qinghua was battling for 21st place with Alisha Abdullah on lap 49, passing her coming out of Turn 1, but she fought back and tried to pass at Turn 10, but he turned in on her and was spun around and promptly stalled. With Qinghua stranded in the middle of the track and Abdullah parked on the exit of Turn 11, the safety car was scrambled, bunching up the pack again.
With the debris clear, the safety car pulled in on lap 54 and racing restarted. Andretti and Vandoorne had roughly equal restarts, while Verstappen was caught off-guard, but lunged down the inside of Rossi at Turn 1 anyway to take fifth position. Behind them, Leimer had a similar look down the inside of di Resta, but decided against it and instead made his move at Turn 4 to take back seventh. The following lap, Leclerc was able to pass Kubica for eleventh on the back straight and immediately set his eyes on the battling pair of Stanaway and d’Ambrosio ahead of him. D’Ambrosio was able to pass Stanaway through Turn 13 on lap 57, but Stanaway reclaimed the position the following lap on the exit of Turn 10. D’Ambrosio reclaimed the position at Turn 1 on lap 59 and Stanaway tried to fight back, but was surprised by Leclerc making a move at Turn 4 and the pair almost making contact, with the position going to Leclerc. At the front, Vandoorne had initially let Andretti get away off the restart, but had reeled him back in again by lap 60. The Belgian briefly took the lead on the exit of Turn 2, but Andretti was able to use the slipstream on the back straight to pass him back going into Turn 4. Vandoorne had a look up the inside of Turn 12, but decided against a move and instead opted to pass at Turn 1, however he lost the lead again following another overtake at Turn 4. After attempting a daring move at Turn 8, Vandoorne passed Andretti up the inside of Turn 12, then successfully fended off overtake attempts at Turns 1 and 4 on the following lap to secure his lead. Behind them, Verstappen was duelling his teammate for fourth place and attempted to pass him through the final corners and then coming out of Turn 3 on lap 64, but to no avail. Verstappen sat behind him for the rest of the lap and initiated his assault again in the final few corners, but had to back down due to yellow flags, with Sean Gelael’s Team Indonesia car now parked on the runoff at Turn 1. Having passed the yellow flags, Verstappen got a run out of Turn 3 and was able to use the slipstream to pass his teammate on the straight and then outbrake him into Turn 4 to secure the position. The battle for tenth flared up again on lap 66, with Stanaway pulling alongside Leclerc through Turn 11, but being outbroken into Turn 12 and losing the position again. He was however able to pass him back through Turn 4 and keep the position this time, with Leclerc running slightly wide through Turn 6, preventing him from mounting a counterattack. In the dying laps of the race, Fabio Leimer was glued to the rear wing of Alexander Rossi and passed the American down the inside of Turn 1 on lap 69, only for Rossi to repass him on the back straight. It took another move from Leimer at Turn 12 for him to secure sixth place. At the front, Stoffel Vandoorne had remained unchallenged since his earlier skirmish and was able to come home to take his first victory of the season and sixth overall to propel himself into the championship battle and push Team Belgium into the promotion zone. Marco Andretti came home second, with Mitch Evans claiming third which are strong early results for both drivers. Max Verstappen had a strong Sunday to reach fourth, edging out teammate Robin Frijns who finished fifth, while Fabio Leimer had a good weekend all around and finished sixth. Paul di Resta and Alexander Rossi remain at the top of the championship despite finishing eighth and seventh respectively, while Jerome d’Ambrosio and Richie Stanaway take their first points of the season in ninth and tenth.
Results
1st: Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) +15
2nd: Marco Andretti (USA) +12
3rd: Mitch Evans (New Zealand) +10
4th: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) +8
5th: Robin Frijns (Netherlands) +7
6th: Fabio Leimer (Switzerland) +6
7th: Alexander Rossi (USA) +5
8th: Paul di Resta (Italy) +4
9th: Jerome d’Ambrosio (Belgium) +2
10th: Richie Stanaway (New Zealand) +1
11th: Charles Leclerc (Monaco)
12th: Robert Kubica (Poland)
13th: Simona de Silvestro (Switzerland)
14th: Andreas Zuber (Austria)
15th: Raffaele Marciello (Italy)
16th: Lucas Auer (Austria)
17th: Armaan Ebrahim (India)
18th: Jimmy Eriksson (Sweden)
19th: Marcus Ericsson (Sweden)
20th: Ho-Pin Tung (China)
21st: Rio Haryanto (Indonesia)
22nd: Kevin Mirocha (Poland)
23rd: Sean Gelael (Indonesia)
DNF: Alisha Abdullah (India)
DNF: Ma Qinghua (China)
DNF: Stefano Coletti (Monaco)
In the Tier-1 race, Valtteri Bottas was fastest off the line and thus kept his lead, with Sebastian Vettel slotting in behind him. James Calado jumped Lewis Hamilton off the line, but Hamilton had the better run out of Turn 2 and reclaimed the position. Carlos Muñoz took sixth place from James Hinchcliffe down the inside of Turn 1 and Bruno Senna was also able to jump Nico Rosberg. Montoya passed Pérez going into Turn 3, but Pérez outbraked him into Turn 4 and regained the position, while ahead of them Alonso attempted the same move on Hinchcliffe unsuccessfully. Kamui Kobayashi surprised Jules Bianchi by passing him down the inside of Turn 8, with Bianchi’s attempt to recover the position at Turn 10 proving fruitless. Muñoz attempted to take fifth from Nico Hülkenberg at Turn 12, but had a poor run out of the corner and this allowed Hinchcliffe to come back and pass him through Turn 15. Hamilton made a move for second place at Turn 1, which forced Vettel out wide and forced him on the defensive against Calado instead of attacking Hamilton. Rosberg lost out to another Brazilian at Turn 4, being passed by Felipe Nasr and behind them Montoya and Pérez continued to squabble, but Montoya was unable to make a move until Turn 12, where he was able to get past. Vettel had caught back up to Hamilton by the start of lap 3 and sold him a carbon copy of the move used at Turn 1 the lap before, but Hamilton recovered better and was straight back on the German’s tail, attempting to pass him at Turn 4 before making the move stick at Turn 8. Muñoz made an ambitious move on Hinchcliffe through Turn 12 which ultimately failed and allowed Alonso to close right up and pass at Turn 1 on the following lap, while Hülkenberg was catching Calado and passed him down the inside of Turn 4. On lap 5, Vettel was able to slipstream Hamilton down the back straight and passed him, completing the move before Turn 4 and while Hamilton attempted to return the favour at Turn 12, he had to back off to avoid contact. Pérez and Montoya swapped places again on lap 6, courtesy of an overtaking coming out of Turn 3, while ahead of them Rosberg was back on Nasr’s tail and passed the home driver down the inside of Turn 1 the following lap. Lap 8 saw Calado start harrying Hülkenberg to take back fourth place, which he did in the final corners, only to lose it again coming out of Turn 2 the following lap. Not beaten, Calado got the better run out of Turn 4 to make the move down the inside of Turn 5. Ahead of them, Hamilton and Vettel were fighting again, with Hamilton passing Vettel at Turn 1 on lap 10, only for Vettel to recover the position at Turn 4 on the following lap, but Hamilton had the better run out of Turn 12 and was able to secure the position just before the start/finish line. On lap 13, Muñoz was fighting Alonso again and attempted a pass at Turn 4, only to run too deep into the corner and Alonso came straight back through. Muñoz tried again at Turn 12, but was too far back and it wasn’t until Turn 1 on the following lap that he was able to make the move work. Juan Pablo Montoya ran wide at Turn 10 on lap 15 and this allowed Romain Grosjean to catch up to him. Grosjean attempted to pass at Turn 1 on the following lap, but bailed out and instead passed him down the back straight, completing the move before Turn 4.
James Hinchcliffe became the first car to pit on lap 18 and was quickly followed by a stream of other cars. On his fresh tyres, Hamilton quickly set after Bottas and initially took several tenths per lap out of his lead, but Bottas quickly responded to try and maintain his lead. Felipe Nasr had a strong pitstop and this allowed him to continue his battle with Rosberg, passing him on lap 23, only to be repassed the following lap. Lap 26 saw Hinchcliffe close back up to Hülkenberg, but it wouldn’t be until the next lap that he could pass the German, making his move on the exit of Turn 10. Montoya recovered thirteenth position from Grosjean on lap 28 by passing him down the back straight and immediately started to pull away, while ahead of them Pérez was catching up to Nasr with the pair trading places at Turn 3 on lap 29 and again at Turn 1 on lap 30. At the front, the lead was falling at quite some speed and Hamilton was on the tail of Bottas by lap 31. His first move for the lead came at the end of the lap, coming out of Turn 12 but it would take a second move through Turn 3 for him to take the position. Bottas responded on lap 33 with a daring move up the inside of Turn 10, but Hamilton kept with him and outbraked him going into Turn 1 to claim the lead. Lap 35 saw Jules Bianchi attempt to pass Kobayashi going into Turn 4, but Kobayashi’s defending forced him to back off and instead make another move at Turn 12, which proved more successful. Behind them, Will Power and Carlos Sainz Jr. were battling for eighteenth position, with Sainz attempting to pass the Australian down the back straight, but was unable to get through and tried again through Turn 7 with similar results. Sainz made a third move on the exit of Turn 12 and pulled alongside him, running through Turn 13 together but Power tried to push him out and Sainz went onto the grass and spun and collected Power, who spun into the barriers and bounced back onto the track, collecting Hiroaki Ishiura. With three cars out of the race and debris scattered over the track, the safety car was deployed and most cars pitted.
The race restarted on lap 42 and Hamilton and Bottas both had good getaways, but Vettel immediately had to defend from Calado, while Senna had a good restart and was able to pass Alonso going into Turn 4. Hülkenberg passed Hinchcliffe down the inside of Turn 1 the following lap, but Hinchcliffe returned the favour by passing him on the exit of Turn 12, while Montoya passed Pérez again through Turn 3. Calado was finally able to get past Vettel on lap 44, passing the German at Turn 8, but Vettel was back ahead the following lap after passing him on the exit of Turn 3. Hamilton enjoyed a steady gap to Bottas after the restart, but his race came undone on lap 47 when his suspension broke going into Turn 10, throwing him onto the grass and out of the race, costing him his first win of the season. Bottas therefore inherited the lead with Vettel just clinging onto second. Alonso was briefly past Senna again on lap 48, having passed him down the inside of Turn 1, but Senna took the position back through Turn 4. Lap 50 saw Hülkenberg take fourth place back from Hinchcliffe, with the Canadian complaining of a lack of power, but the problem seemed to vanish within a few laps and he quickly got back on the German’s tail. Meanwhile, the other Canadian car was chasing Daniel Ricciardo for sixteenth position, passing the Aussie at Turn 4 on lap 52, but being repassed at Turn 12. However, a third move at Turn 1 proved sufficient. At the front, Calado was still chasing Vettel and made another overtake attempt through Turn 1 on lap 54, but had to bail out, before making another attempt at Turn 4 with similar results. The following lap however, he was able to slipstream Vettel down the back straight and make the move stick. Sergio Pérez continued his duel with Montoya by passing him through Turn 3 on lap 56, but was unable to defend when the Colombian came back at him through Turn 8. The following lap, Pérez passed again at Turn 1, but Montoya responded by passing him coming out of Turn 3 but Pérez ultimately came out on top by passing him down the inside of Turn 12. The other Colombian car was also under attack, with Senna passing Muñoz at Turn 4 on lap 60 and then defending against the counterattack at Turn 12 to take sixth place. Ahead of them, Hinchcliffe was still battling with Hülkenberg and on lap 62 passed him into Turn 1 only for Hülkenberg to slipstream him down the back straight to take the position back. Hinchcliffe waited until the next lap to try again, again making his move down the inside of Turn 1 and successfully defending against a move at Turn 4, but Hülkenberg took the position back at Turn 8. Hinchcliffe tried to throw a move up the inside of Turn 12 before making yet another overtake at Turn 1 – and this time the move stuck and Hinchcliffe claimed fourth position. The same lap, Robert Wickens also made up another position, passing Kobayashi on the exit of Turn 2 for fifteenth position. Montoya made a lunge at Pérez on lap 65 at Turn 10 and the pair made minor contact with Pérez retaining eleventh position, but Montoya continued his assault to pass Pérez down the back straight the following lap. By lap 68, Alonso’s tyres had become rather worn and this allowed Rosberg to gain a lot of time and ultimately pass the Spaniard going into Turn 4 for eighth place.
At the front, Valtteri Bottas too was struggling with tyre wear, but was still able to finish the race with his lead intact to take his first win of the season and properly start his title defence. James Calado was able to hold on for second to propel him up to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship while third place is enough for Sebastian Vettel to retain his championship lead, which is now down to eight points. An impressive result for James Hinchcliffe sees the Canadian finish fourth ahead of Nico Hülkenberg who came home in a respectable sixth. Home drivers Bruno Senna and Felipe Nasr can celebrate their sixth and tenth place results, which is both drivers’ first points of the season and are enough to pull Team Brazil out of the relegation zone at the expense of Team Japan.
Results:
1st: Valtteri Bottas (Finland) +15
2nd: James Calado (UK) +12
3rd: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) +10
4th: James Hinchcliffe (Canada) +8
5th: Nico Hülkenberg (Germany) +7
6th: Bruno Senna (Brazil) +6
7th: Carlos Muñoz (Colombia) +5
8th: Fernando Alonso (Spain) +4
9th: Nico Rosberg (Finland) +2
10th: Felipe Nasr (Brazil) +1
11th: Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia)
12th: Sergio Pérez (Mexico)
13th: Romain Grosjean (France)
14th: Jules Bianchi (France)
15th: Robert Wickens (Canada)
16th: Kamui Kobayashi (Japan)
17th: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
18th: Vitaly Petrov (Russia)
19th: Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)
20th: Daniil Kvyat (Russia)
21st: Marco Sørensen (Denmark)
22nd: Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico)
DNF: Lewis Hamilton (UK)
DNF: Will Power (Australia)
DNF: Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain)
DNF: Hiroaki Ishiura (Japan)