Formula 1®

DHL Fastest Lap Award: FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO HEINEKEN DO BRASIL 2017

Key Takeaways

  • Lewis Hamilton wins the DHL Fastest Lap Award for third time
  • Max Verstappen takes the DHL Fastest Lap in Brazil
  • The Red Bull driver set a new lap record for the Autódromo José Carlos Pace

Max Verstappen takes the DHL Fastest Lap in the FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO HEINEKEN DO BRASIL 2017 and sets a new lap record for the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. Lewis Hamilton secures an early victory in the DHL Fastest Lap Award before the end of the season.

DHL Fastest Lap Predictor Game

Fastest Driver Group 1: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 1:11.044
Fastest Driver Group 2: Lance Stroll (Williams) - 1:11.862
Fastest Driver Group 3: Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 1:13.451

http://www.dhl-in-motion.com/de/DHLFastestLap/

Max Verstappen takes the DHL Fastest Lap in São Paulo

After securing wins recently in the USA and Mexico, Max Verstappen was unable to do better than fifth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix and missed the podium, but the Red Bull driver was nevertheless pleased after the checkered flag had fallen. He made a second pit stop during the final stages of the race and took the DHL Fastest Lap on fresh supersoft tires.

“I didn’t want to drive the last ten or 15 laps with difficult tyres, and at the end of the day, I wasn’t going to lose a position, so we decided to make a second pit stop,” said the Dutchman. “From there on the race was gone, but I pushed for the fastest lap, I didn’t get it in Mexico, so I’m really pleased to take it here.”

Verstappen burned a time of 1:11.044 into the Brazilian asphalt, posting the fastest race lap ever seen at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. This was the second DHL Fastest Lap of the young Red Bull driver’s career after taking his first one last year at the same venue in São Paulo.

Lewis Hamilton wins the DHL Fastest Lap Award

As it was Verstappen and not Sebastian Vettel, who posted the fastest lap, Lewis Hamilton was able to win the 2017 DHL Fastest Lap Award before the end of the season with seven wins. Vettel needed to be the fastest man in the field both in Brazil and at the season finale in Abu Dhabi in order to draw level with Hamilton, which he was unable to do, despite winning the race.

Hamilton had to start from the pit lane after his crash in qualifying but managed to take his third victory in the DHL Fastest Lap Award after securing wins in 2014 and 2015. Hamilton and Vettel now share the honour of having won the prestigious trophy a record number of times – the German won in 2009, 2012 and 2013.

“I had a great time, I enjoyed the race very much. I had so much pace today, it would have been an easy win this weekend. So on the one side, I am disappointed that I put myself in the worst position for today. But yesterday is behind me, today has been very positive, I had fun coming through – it felt like the go-karting days where I would always start in the back in my first year or two,” said Hamilton about his determined charge up the field that gained him fourth place.

The newly crowned world champion started on soft tires and changed to supersofts for the second stint of the race. As a result, Hamilton was able to post a time of 1:11.845 on Lap 63, which Verstappen beat by eight tenths of a second shortly afterwards.

Fastest race laps: FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO HEINEKEN DO BRASIL 2017

01 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:11.044 - on Lap 64
02 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:11.845 - on Lap 63
03 Lance Stroll (Williams) 1:11.862 - on Lap 69
04 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:12.029 - on Lap 71
05 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:12.466 - on Lap 58
06 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 1:12.492 - on Lap 61
07 Sebastian Vettel (Vettel) 1:12.539 - on Lap 63
08 Sergio Pérez (Force India) 1:13.052 - on Lap 61
09 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 1:13.323 - on Lap 61
10 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1:13.451 - on Lap 57

History: DHL Fastest Laps in the FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL

With his DHL Fastest Lap of 1:11.044, Max Verstappen beat Juan Pablo Montoya’s lap record set in 2004 by about four-tenths. The Red Bull rider driver posted the fastest race lap ever seen at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace where Formula 1 was held for the 35th time.

However, Valtteri Bottas set a new all-time track record for the circuit in qualifying. The Mercedes driver secured pole position in a record-beating time of 1:08.322.

 

Posting Guidelines

All communications on Logistics of Things should be appropriate for a professional community, respecting the diverse views of individuals from different backgrounds. We will review all comments and reserve the right to terminate or restrict access to user's account and to delete any content posted through it, without notice and at our discretion, if we deem it to be overly promotional, offensive, or off topic.

All posting become property of DHL.