Although he rallied 15 positions after starting last due to a penalty, the current champion, the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), will start in the tenth box due to a five-seat penalty for having exceeded the quota for engine changes for the season.
Bottas led the race at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo from the first lap, when he overtook Verstappen at the start, who started in first place after Hamilton’s penalty.
The Finn, third in the general classification (188 points), got his twentieth pole position, his second in a row after that of the Mexican Grand Prix.
“It was a good start, Max was struggling but he was close to me,” said the winner of the third and final qualifying sprint race in 2021.
Verstappen (314.5 points), meanwhile, extended his lead over Hamilton (293.5) to 21 points in the absence of four Grand Prix, including this Sunday.
The Dutch driver is approaching the symbolic distance of 25 points over the seven-time world champion, the same number of units that the winner of a Grand Prix achieves, a gap that seems insurmountable in the final stretch of the season.
“The start was not the best. I think our pace was good, but sometimes here you just can’t get through. Tomorrow we will try again!” Said Verstappen, 24, who is seeking his first world title in the Gran Tent.
Source From: Ambito
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