For the first time in Honda’s long Formula 1 history, all four drivers started and ended in the same positions in a Grand Prix, but the quartet of Honda drivers took very different paths to get there at a fascinating Brazilian Grand Prix reach.
Red Bull Racing Honda’s Max Verstappen used his second grid position to take the lead in the first corner of the 71-lap race, but was content with second place after title rival Lewis Hamilton scored the point on lap 49. The result, if coupled with the two points that Verstappen scored in the sprint qualifying race on Saturday, he was able to maintain the 14-point lead in the Formula 1 World Championship with three races to go.
Sergio Perez jumped from fourth to second on the first lap on the Interlagos course, following his Red Bull teammate for the first 18 laps before giving in to Hamilton’s attacks. The Mexican driver dropped to fourth place during a pit stop during a Virtual Safety Car period, but pitted on the decreasing laps to buy new tires and score a key championship point for the fastest lap of the race.
Pierre Gasly started and finished seventh, achieving his third top 7 result in the last four races. The Scuderia AlphaTauri driver was one of the first drivers to make his first pit stop and fought well for the top 10 all day.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda started and finished 15th and fell back to the back of the field after an ambitious pass by Lance Stroll on lap four caused his AlphaTauri to need a new front wing. Undaunted and had to endure a 10-second penalty due to a collision, Tsunoda resumed the fight and climbed back to 15th place on the checkered flag.
Verstappen has a 14-point lead in the Qatar Grand Prix next weekend, but today’s result left Red Bull Racing 11 points behind Mercedes in terms of their lead in the constructors’ championship. Gasly’s result allowed AlphaTauri to stay in fifth place overall with Alpine Renault as he finished ahead of both Alpine drivers.
Verstappen’s 15 podiums are the most ever in any F1 season by a Honda driver, surpassing Alain Prost’s 14 podiums in 1988. However, Prost’s 14 podiums came in just 16 races, in one season in which he lost the championship by just three points to his Honda colleague Ayrton Senna.
The trip to Qatar this coming weekend completes a three-race route in three weeks and is the 20th on the 22-race calendar.
Toyoharu Tanabe
Technical Director, Honda F1
“It’s always disappointing not to win but it’s still a good result to have Max runner-up and Checo runner-up in the end and the points earned, including the extra from Perez for the fastest lap, will prove to be very important to us show the mastery. Both Red Bulls got off to a good start in first and second places, but Mercedes knocked us back and showed what strong competitors they are. Pierre drove once again very well for Scuderia AlphaTauri, had a very close race with the team’s main competitors in the championship and thanks to the decisive overtaking maneuvers on both alpine routes to achieve seventh place, we are still level on points with them. Yuki’s race was spoiled because he had to make an extra stop to change his nose after a collision and then received a penalty for the incident. But his pace over the weekend has been strong so we expect him to hit back in the races to come. Now it’s off to Qatar for the last part of this triple header. It’s a new venue for everyone, so we’ve worked closely with both our teams and Honda employees in Japan and the UK to prepare for the next race. “
Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing Honda
Start 2nd, finish: 2nd
“I knew it was going to be difficult today, but I did everything I could, we were just missing a little. At least it was a fun race, of course I would have liked to have won, but realistically I think that was a good result. Lewis and I have fought for position several times. I think it was a tough race, but a good race and that’s how it should be. I was hoping for a little more performance, but this result is definitely the maximum we can achieve. As for the top speed, it was tough to defend. If they take a new engine you can clearly see that they are getting a little more power, so hopefully that will wear off in the races to come. There are three races that will be completely different again, so we’ll see how it goes. “
Sergio Perez – Red Bull Racing Honda
Start: 4th, finish: 4th
Today was close and it was fun, but I’m not here to have fun, I’m here to deliver. I got off to a great start, but then it was very difficult to hold Lewis back. I tried my best to hold onto it but couldn’t, it flew! Then we were ahead of Bottas, we had the position, but the virtual safety car came two laps later. That timing was extremely unfortunate for us and it worked perfectly for him, he did the undercut and then he’s five seconds away from us. It’s a shame we lost the podium, but I was able to build enough gap to Ferrari in fifth to pit and set the fastest lap, which is an important point for the team. In the end, it’s a good result for us today, I think we couldn’t have done much differently, it’s just a shame because we should have crossed the finish line ahead of Bottas if it hadn’t been for the VSC. There are still three races to go and all that matters, so we’ll keep pushing. Now we’re looking forward to Qatar and hopefully we can be competitive there. “
Pierre Gasly – Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda
Start: 7th, finish: 7th
I’m really happy, it was a very intense race, but I think we can be happy with today. There were some really nice duels with Daniel (Ricciardo) and Seb (Vettel), then at the end of the race with the Alpines. They were so fun racing as we don’t do that often in F1. It was tough, of course, but today we got the best possible position behind the top three teams and that is the most important thing as we continue our fight for fifth place. “
Yuki Tsunoda – Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda
Start: 15th, finish: 15th
“I’m pretty frustrated after today. I think we made a good choice with the tires, but unfortunately the collision with Stroll completely ruined my race. It was a risky move, but he just didn’t look in his mirror and we got together. It’s a real shame I got the penalty as I struggled with damage for the rest of the race too, but these things happen and we’ll work to come back stronger next time. “
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