Lewis Hamilton paid homage to Ayrton Senna on the podium.
Don Kennedy on Formula One
Victory for Lewis Hamilton in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, formerly the Brazilian GP, has been described as one "against the odds" by the Sky Sports commentators, whose British bias was evident, just as a Hamilton win eventually was inevitable.
The odds Hamilton had to overcome included starting the sprint race, which determines the grid for the main race, from the rear of the grid after a post-qualifying penalty for a rear-wing rule infringement. He finished fifth in that race, but then took a five-place grid penalty in the race itself for replacing an engine. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff accepted the engine penalty was "self-inflicted" but the qualifying penalty put him in a frosty and feisty mood.
After the qualifying race, Wolff was on the team radio to Hamilton, telling him: "Brilliant job Lewis. F*** them all."
He later tried to explain he "obviously didn't mean it towards any of the regulations, it is a general mindset that we have that sometimes when there is hardship you need to build up resistance and say f *** them all."
What had Wolff and his driver, Hamilton, ticked off, was that the race stewards had measured the gap in the rear wing, which opens to take advantage of DRS (drag reduction system) and found the slot gap did not comply with the 85-millimetre gap.
Wolff claims it was only 0.2 mm too wide and that was because part of the wing was damaged. The FIA stewards' finding did state they accepted there was no intent on the part of Mercedes to infringe, but rules are rules and the breach was apparent.
The issue became political because Max Verstappen, who had finished second behind Valtteri Bottas in the sprint race, picking up an extra two championship points, had casually walked over to the rear of Hamilton's car, and brushed it with his hand, which is a no-no, as only FIA scrutineers can touch a car in parc ferme. The FIA fined Verstappen €50,000 ($80,780) - a hefty fine, yet there was no penalty for Wolff's colourful language on prime-time TV.
If telling "them" didn't mean the regulations, it could only mean either the FIA stewards or the Red Bull team who snitched on Mercedes in the first instance because they suspect the rear wing on the Mercedes is illegal.
They believe it is largely responsible for the extra speed the car seems to have over the rest of the field, a massive advantage at fast circuits, as it indeed proved to be in the race.
So, starting 10th and finishing first, when Mercedes would argue Hamilton would likely have won the sprint race and started fifth with the engine grid penalty, makes a plausible case for claiming it was a victory "against the odds" as Sky Sports commentator "Crofty" called it. It was undoubtedly a great drive, but if the car is illegal, it could be equally argued that Red Bull is the team racing against the odds.
After all, at Silverstone in mid-season Wolff announced Mercedes would not be developing the car for the remainder of the season, and given there is a ban on engine development once the season starts, it is curious that a car that couldn't match the Red Bull on circuits like Austin, Texas and in Mexico City, which have long straights, can suddenly go past Verstappen's Red Bull at least 30km/h quicker.
That is the question Red Bull boss Christian Horner and adviser Helmut Marko would like answered.
In the post-race interview with Sky Sports, Wolff claimed the car is "fully legal and we are happy to drive it everywhere".
"You can say then was it fully legal after qualifying - we think it was, but it failed one test because the rear wing was broken, the flap was broke. I think we are having a less draggy car, the engine is fresh which makes a big difference, the concept is good on the straight-line speed than we had in the past," Wolff explained.
"The people are free to challenge that and protest, which may happen. We'll even offer them a rear wing to put in at home in the library or cut it in a thousand pieces," he sarcastically added.
However, Wolff denied that it was gloves off, stating that "whoever wins the championship at the end will be the right winner and we'll always respect that, as long as it's the same rules and framework for everyone. It's part of the game that you look at other parts of other teams, to challenge them. You need to be sceptical and maybe an inch paranoid and that's okay for us."
But he also threatened to "look at every single bit of tape that falls off [the Red Bull]. I can promise we will be asking a lot of questions in the next races," Wolff said not long after he had reacted to Hamilton's victory by giving a horizontal one-fingered salute to the TV camera, presumably aimed at "them", whoever they might be.
For Hamilton, this was victory number 101, but more importantly, he has reduced Verstappen's championship lead from 21 to 14, with three races remaining.
The late Ayrton Senna was Hamilton's idol, so winning in Brazil with a race helmet partly emblazoned in the gold and green colours Senna had on his, is why this was largely a pro-Hamilton crowd, some of whom booed Verstappen, perhaps because they didn't like the way he forced Hamilton off the track at one point in his stout, but ultimately unsuccessful defence of the lead he had held since overtaking pole-sitter Bottas at the start of the race. Verstappen said he thought his defence was "fair", while Hamilton said he wasn't surprised the stewards took no action over it.
Hamilton perhaps sees himself as a reincarnation of Senna. He posted on Twitter a photoshopped picture of himself and Senna walking down the Interlagos track, with the caption: "My greatest inspiration. It was the way he raced, his passion for life and for the sport. But more than anything it was the way he faced alone a system that wasn't always kind to him."
He could easily be referring to himself, because he believes his colour has made life difficult for him. One difference between him and Senna is Hamilton has seven stars on his helmet, whereas Senna would only have three, his untimely death robbing him of the chance to acquire more. Hamilton wants to add an eighth star, of that there is no doubt.
"What a race, the team did an amazing job. Valtteri did a great job today to get as many points as possible [P3]. I was just pushing as hard as I could, but from last on the grid and then another five-place penalty was, I think the hardest weekend I've had," he said, slightly gilding the lily, as he actually started the race from 10th on the grid. In a car that is 1.5 to 2 seconds quicker than everyone except Verstappen and their respective teammates, it was not against the odds that he could overtake three-quarters of the field in the sprint race, and half the field in the race itself. Interlagos is a DRS dream come true for the driver who has the fastest car.
Hamilton said his father had reminded him that in 2004 when he was in F3 in Bahrain, he had started last and finished 10th and then finished first.
"And then these things that just kept going against us but I think it just really shows, and for everyone never give up whatever you are facing, you have just got to keep pushing, keep fighting, and never, never stop fighting," he said, soundly more like a preacher than someone driving the fastest car on the planet.
"That is really how I approached this weekend, inspiration from all round, but it feels like the first win because I don't feel like I've had a win in a long time."
More Hamilton exaggeration of course, as he won the Russian GP, round 16 of the championship and this was round 20.
Verstappen had said before the race that that "the maths is very simple. If I finish at the front, Lewis Hamilton will not come close."
Well, he's a lot closer now and Verstappen realises he couldn't do much about it.
"Of course, I tried everything I could, but clearly, we're just lacking a little bit of pace, a little bit too much," he said, "But I'm not too disappointed, because I think this is quite a realistic result, but at least we had a bit of fun you now, battling out there."
Horner was more emphatic about what went wrong.
"It was unraceable today," he told Sky Sports. "I think we put up as big a defence as we could. Max did his best, he raced hard but there was no chance today. You have the highs of Mexico and Austin, you have - not a low here - but it's a tough one having led probably 75 per cent of the race. But one week until the next one, we'll brush ourselves down and come back fighting in a week's time."
"Their straight-line speed is really impressive, with that new engine. They've got a Monaco rear wing on here, so it's very, very impressive. So that's a very potent weapon with some very fast tracks coming up in the next few races."
The next race is the Qatar GP at a new circuit. If Hamilton races there like in did in Sao Paulo, Verstappen will be the one racing against the odds.