Hamilton wins from tenth on the grid, Ocon scores in Brazil for the first time and Ricciardo’s finishing streak comes to an end. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix.
HAMILTON WINS IN BRAZIL
Lewis Hamilton took the 101st victory of his Formula 1 career at the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix and became only the third driver to win three races at Interlagos.
Hamilton won from tenth on the grid, which is the furthest back grid position from which a race at Interlagos has been won. The previous record was eighth for Giancarlo Fisichella in 2003. This was also the first time since 2007 that the Brazilian Grand Prix was not won from the front row of the grid.
Hamilton’s victory is the eleventh to be taken from tenth on the grid in F1 history. Pierre Gasly was the last driver to win from this grid position, doing so at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton recorded his sixth podium finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen are the only other drivers with as many podiums at Interlagos.
This was the tenth win for a Mercedes-powered car at Interlagos, which is a new outright record for most wins for an engine manufacturer at the track.
Hamilton needs to outscore Max Verstappen by 14 points at the Qatar Grand Prix to ensure that the title cannot be decided until the final race of the season. 2021 is the first time F1 has left Brazil without either title being decided since 2003, when the Brazilian Grand Prix was near the start of the season’s calendar.
ON THE PODIUM
Joining Hamilton on the podium were Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. While Verstappen became the tenth driver to record four or more podiums at Interlagos, Bottas became the 25th driver to have taken multiple podiums at the circuit.
With both Mercedes drivers finishing on the podium and one Red Bull in the top three, the two teams now have the same total number of podiums at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Each team have eleven top three finishes at Interlagos.
Max Verstappen finished as runner-up, recording his 57th podium finish. He equals the podium tally of Nico Rosberg, putting him thirteenth in the all-time list of most F1 podiums.
This was the third consecutive Brazilian Grand Prix in which Verstappen has finished in the top two – as well as the fifth consecutive race this year that he has recorded a top two result.
Valtteri Bottas returned to the podium for the first time since his victory at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Bottas is the first Mercedes driver to finish in third place at the Brazilian Grand Prix. It’s the fourth time that both Mercedes have finished on the podium at Interlagos. It last happened in 2016.
Bottas led three laps of the race. It’s the first time he has led the Brazilian Grand Prix
THE POINTS SCORERS
Sergio Perez’s three-race podium streak came to an end with him finishing in fourth place. Perez set the Fastest Lap of the race for the second time this year. 2021 is the first season in which Perez has recorded more than one Fastest Lap in a single year. Perez has scored at all of the last five races in Brazil.
Charles Leclerc came home in fifth place, recording his fourth consecutive top five result. It’s the first time that Leclerc has finished in the top five at four or more consecutive races since between the 2019 Hungarian and Russian Grands Prix – a streak which included his two career victories to date.
Carlos Sainz made this the 40th occasion on which a driver has scored at twelve consecutive Grands Prix. Sainz now also has the longest active finishing streak in F1, having finished all of the last 26 races.
With eighth place, Esteban Ocon scored at the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time in his career.
Both Fernando Alonso and team-mate Ocon finished in the points, making this the first Brazilian Grand Prix at which both of the Enstone team’s drivers have scored since 2015.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Sebastian Vettel finished eleventh at the Brazilian Grand Prix. This was the second consecutive Interlagos race at which Vettel has failed to score.
While Vettel finished eleventh, Lance Stroll retired. That made this the first race in Brazil at which the Silverstone-based team has failed to score since 2013.
With twelfth place, Kimi Raikkonen failed to score at the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time since 2016, when he retired from the race. This was the first time that Raikkonen has finished a race at Interlagos but failed to score.
Finishing in fourteenth, Antonio Giovinazzi finished in a position other than eleventh for the first time since the Russian Grand Prix.
The former Sauber team failed to score at the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time since 2017.
Nicholas Latifi finished in the same position as he started for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He hasn’t gained a position from where he has started since the Italian Grand Prix.
THE RETIREES
Lance Stroll was the first driver to retire from the Brazilian Grand Prix. This was his second consecutive retirement at Interlagos. He’s still yet to score at the circuit. This was Stroll’s first retirement since the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo was the second driver to retire. This was his first retirement since the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, bringing to an end at 34-race streak of finishes. It stands as the second longest streak of finishes in Formula 1 history.
This is the first time that Ricciardo has failed to score in Brazil since 2015.