F1 Sao Paulo GP: Can Lewis Hamilton end win drought at his second ‘home’ race?
A second ‘home’ race for Hamilton
After becoming an 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:honorary citizen of Brazil, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton may view this weekend’s F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix as his second home race.
His close association with the Brazilian crowd and three-time F1 🦩champion Ayrton Senna has won many fans over, particularly given Brazil’s lack of a local dr🍨iver since Felipe Massa’s retirement at the end of 2017.
Hamilton - and Mercedes - are still without a win in F1 2022, although they’ve had opportunities to do so or at least fight with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen.
In Austin and Mexico, 🦹Hamilton finished a superb second pl♐ace behind Verstappen but had it not been for different tyre choices by Mercedes, it could have been on both occasions.
Mercedes have turned a corner in recent races, although their draggy W13 car isn’t likely to perform as w﷽ell as it did in Mexico, where running high downforce was necessary.
Hamilton will be even more fired up t🅘his weekend as he looks to perform in front of the Brazilian fans, looking for that firs﷽t win of the season to protect his remarkable F1 record of winning in every season he has participated in since 2007.
Will the sprint finally deliver?
F1’s sprint format makes a return this weeke𒅌nd in Sao Paulo.
This means conventional qualifying is moved to Friday in place of s🐼econd practice, while a 100km sprint race takes place on Saturday afternoon.
One less practice session is great news given how dull FP2 has been recently due to Pirelli’s F1 2023 tyre tests.
So far, the F1 sprint hasn’t added to the weekend in terms of actual action on a Saturday, meani꧟ng it hasn’t won over a lot of fans.
However, having three days of meaningful action is✤ a positive, ๊combined with an unpredictable weather forecast, we could be set for a thrilling weekend at Interlagos.
What’s left to play for at Interlagos?
Even though꧃ both F1 chamꦅpionships are wrapped up, there’s still a lot to play for up and down the rest of the field.
Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc are separated by just five points in the drivers’ 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:standings w൩ith two rounds to go in the battle to be runner-up to Verstappen.
There are just 19 points between 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell, Hamilton and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz in the race for fourth.
Looking at the constructors’ championship, Mercedes are 40 points off Ferrari for second i𒁏n the c💝onstructors’ championship.
Unless Ferrari endure a miseraꦺble final two rounds, the runner up spo🌃t should be theirs.
Alpine are only seven points ahead of McLaren for fourth, while Alfa Romeo have a four-point advantage over 🌃Aston Martin.
H𓂃aas and Alph🌊aTauri are separated by just one point ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo GP.
Gasly is on the brink of F1 history
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Pierre Gasly is on the brink of making F1 history after moving onto 10 penalty points following the Mexico 𒆙City Grand Prix.
The AlphaTauri driver is no🌌w just two points away from receiving 🦹a one-race suspension - something that has never happened since the FIA introduced superlicence points in 2014.
Gasly will have to wait until💖 May for any of his existing penalty points to be removed, meaning he will have to be on his best behaviour for the final two races of this year and the first part of F1 2023 with Alpine.
To ensure he has a clean slate ahead of his new ventu🎉re with Alpine, would it be wise for Gasly to deliberately pick up two more points and a subsequent race ban during his final days with ♎AlphaTauri?
Smart on paper, but the embarrassment of being the first-ever driver 𓂃to receive a raceꦓ ban isn’t exactly an accolade to be proud of.
Chaotic weather ahead?
Rain th♒reatens all three days of running i𝕴n Sao Paulo.
Over the years, Interlagos has hosted some of the best F1 grands prix, parti🧸ally down to its unpredictable weather.
In 2008, in changeable conditions, Hamilton dramatically claimed his first F1 drive🎶rs’ title on the final lap at Massa’s expense.
Four years later, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sebastian Vettel did enough to se🥃cure his tℱhird title in a dramatic finale.
In 2016, Verstappe𝕴n showcased his generational talent with a stunning wet weather dri🎃ve to third.
The Sao P♐aulo (or Brazi𝕴lian) Grand Prix usually always delivers.
With a sharp eye for F1’s controversie🦹s and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
