DHL FASTEST LAP AWARD: FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2016

Maiden win for Max Verstappen; Nico Rosberg overall winner in 2016! The FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2016 was an extraordinary race for a number of reasons, one of which was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clocking the first fastest lap of his career in the highest tier of the sport. His time of 01:25.305 minutes was superior to that of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and of race winner Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). The Dutch youngster thus becomes the ninth driver to make his mark in this year’s DHL Fastest Lap Award.

At the same time, Nico Rosberg was confirmed as 2016 winner in the category. The German has recorded the fastest lap on six occasions in the current season. As there is only one more grand prix ​​on the calendar, he can no longer be caught by closest pursuer Ricciardo who has four fastest laps to his credit. In third place is Hamilton on three ahead of Sebastian Vettel on two and Daniil Kvyat, Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg and Kimi Räikkönen each on one.

The race in Sao Paulo was severely affected by incessant rain. The start itself took place behind the safety car. Consequently, the lap times suffered from the adverse conditions. All the drivers were initially sent out on wet weather tires, but some of the teams decided at an early stage to try their luck with intermediates. Those drivers were now able to lap the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace at a faster pace. But the rain wasn’t letting up, and the teams who had made the early switch reverted to wets.

Another factor bringing down the lap times was the repeat deployment of the safety car which, after the start, had to be sent out for four further incidents. The FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2016 actually had to be red-flagged twice because of the weather, and all the cars were called back to the pit lane. When the race restarted, some of the drivers tried to steal a march by fitting intermediates. Two of them were Verstappen and Ricciardo. The Australian subsequently posted his personal best lap, the second-fastest of the day.

Remarkably, the Dutchman set his best time only later after the ongoing rain had persuaded him to pit for wets. In several other respects, it was a memorable race for Verstappen. On the sodden track, he found the better line against almost all of his opponents and battled his way through to a podium finish – despite having been down in P14 at one stage.

Formula 1 now has one more race venue to visit in the 2016 season. After the FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2016 comes the 2016 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX on the weekend of 25th - 27th November, when drivers and team bosses have a few more issues to settle. Not least, the driver’s world championship.

Fastest race laps: FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL 2016

01 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 01:25.305 - on Lap 67
02 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:25.532 - on Lap 42
03 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 01:25.639 - on Lap 44
04 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 01:26.062 - on Lap 70
05 Sebastian Vettel(Ferrari) 01:26.195 - on Lap 70
06 Nico Rosberg(Mercedes) 01:26.222 - on Lap 47
07 Kevin Magnussen (Renault) 01:26.524 - on Lap 69
08 Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) 01:26.728 - on Lap 69
09 Felipe Massa (Williams) 01:26.767 - on Lap 39
10 Jenson Button (McLaren) 01:26.983 - on Lap 38