The season ends with the driver’s and team’s championships decided weeks ago in favor of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, but with three Grands Prix remaining (Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi) the World Championship still has plenty of attractions. One of them focuses on: mercedes, This weekend represents a clear ‘threat’ in Sao Paulo. The team, which is in second place with 23 points against Ferrari, wants to repeat the success it achieved here a year ago. George Russell and lewis hamilton. The seven-time champion is 20 points behind Checo Pérez at the World Cupremains determined to attack for second place.
Actually, Hamilton If he had not been disqualified in Austin, where he lost 18 points, he would have been chasing the Mexican Red Bull driver. Lewis It creates an anthological season finale with incredible regularity. Apart from a driving error in Qatar and a disastrous Austrian GP, the Briton has finished in the top six in every race and has now six podiums.
Pérez, on the other hand, had a dramatic Sunday in front of his fans as his crash at the start left him without a race and without points in Mexico. This result, combined with Hamilton’s second place and the bonus of the fastest lap, allows the Mercedes driver to take a place in the rankings. 220 points, just 20 points behind Checo and on the eve of the Brazilian GP, where Lewis is the idol of the fans.
Improvements that work
Mercedes’ latest update package for Austin is working and has allowed them to move closer than ever to ‘king’ Verstappen this season. In Austin, Hamilton battled for victory, finishing just 2 seconds behind the three-time champion. Red Bull before being disqualified Due to irregularities in the bottom of his W14, which exceeded the allowable wear limit on rough Texas asphalt. And in Mexico the Briton finished second again, although he was some way off the RB19.
Located at an altitude of 760 meters above sea level, the Interlagos circuit, dominated by slow corners and long straights, is open to surprises. The top speed that distinguishes Red Bull and more recently McLaren is not so decisive on the São Paulo circuit and hence Mercedes emerges as the main rival to break Verstappen’s hegemony again, just like Sainz and Ferrari did in Singapore; This is another scenario where the championship-dominating car is left defenseless, taking 18 out of a possible 19 wins.
Last year two Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Pérez, They dropped to sixth and seventh place respectively. The Dutchman, who has 16 victories this year, was not only outclassed by the Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton, but also by Carlos Sainz, who finished third on the podium. Fernando Alonso He managed to finish fifth with Alpine.
Lewis, “super motivated”
“If the car performs well this weekend, we’ll give it our all for the fight,” Hamilton said. Sao Paulo Grand Prix. In Brazil, the Briton feels “at home” and even more so after last year, when in 2021 he received the title of honorary citizen of Brazil from the House of Representatives for honoring his greatest F1 idol, Ayrton Senna.
“It was one of the most incredible days of my career. It was so surreal to have that experience,” admits Lewis, who hasn’t won in almost two years, since December 5, 2021 in Saudi Arabia. “I hope to be able to represent Brazilians and all the values of this great country in the best possible way. I am very motivated and happy to be here,” he says.
Russell is not far behind when it comes to showing his ambition. The Englishman dreams and believes in repeating his victory at Interlagos last year. evolution mercedes It will allow them to compete face to face with Red Bull next season: “Our only goal is to have a car capable of winning races once again and we will have that again in the short future. Mercedes will once again be at the top of the championship,” he warns.