Despite nasty weather, the Grand Prix this Sunday ended up being a consequential and enthralling match.
The race was consequential because Lewis Hamilton’s victory means the championship will be decided at the last race of the season. If Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s Mercedes-Benz teammate, had won, he would have sealed it up, but now the last race of the Prix matters.
The enthralling part of the race though was watching Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s amazing comeback at the end.
The rain’s impact was felt even before the race started, when Haas driver Roman Grosjean crashed before reaching the grid. As a result, the first seven laps took place behind the safety car. While the safety car is in front, no overtaking is allowed and all the drivers follow the safety car until conditions improve.
Once the race set pace, Verstappen made an early move on Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen and made it to the third position, behind Hamilton and Rosberg.
The first accident of the race occurred in the thirteenth lap when Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson hydroplaned into the wall and crashed at the pit lane entry.
The safety car came back out for another six laps, but as soon as it left Raikkonen got into a horrible crash. Drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon managed to whirl pass the vehicle just in time to prevent a major accident.
Raikkonen was lucky to walk away from the crash unscathed. The race officials didn’t want to count on any further luck though, and red flagged the race, halting it entirely until conditions improved. Eventually the race got started again, but only behind the safety car.
The amount of time spent in the uneventful wake of the safety car was disappointing for the Brazilian fans, who were mostly cheering Williams’ driver, Felipe Massa, for his last home race.
Little did they know that the last hour of the race was going to end up being talked for days afterwards.
After three laps behind the safety car, the race set pace once again. Hamilton continued to lead the pack, but Verstappen made a great move to pip Rosberg for the second position. Just when it seemed like Verstappen was making ground on Hamilton, Massa crashed out and brought the safety car on again.
Massa, who is retiring at the end of this season, was given a hero’s applause as he walked back to the garage. He was not only cheered by the fans, but also by his former teammates from Ferrari as he walked out of the track.
While race continued behind the safety car, Red Bull decided to switch their tires from wet to intermediate. Intermediate tires have poorer performance in wet conditions but last longer. Red Bull decided to take that gamble considering that the conditions had improved considerably since the start of the race.
Verstappen disagreed, however, and complained on the team radio about slipping even at low speeds shortly after the change. After the race resumed, Verstappen pitted again to switch to wet tires and ended up back in sixteenth position.
All hopes seemed lost with only 13 laps left. But this 19-year-old had something else in mind. While other drivers were trying to maintain their position in the awful weather, Verstappen started attacking with renewed strength.
In no time, he was beating other racers at almost a rate of one each lap. The fans were up on their feet to watch this youngster dart past other drivers. He rallied his way from sixteenth to the third position as he reached the checkered flag. Verstappen, a driver who did not have a valid license to drive till last year, is undoubtedly creating some ripples in Formula One.
Hamilton, on the other hand, had a near perfect drive and won the race. This also means that the championship will be decided on Nov. 27 in Abu Dhabi.
Although there won’t be any rain to make the race exciting, a perfect showdown is expected at the Yas Marina Circuit, a spectacular ending to this remarkable season.
