Max Verstappen will be looking to make up for last year’s heartache of losing an unlikely win at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Against all the odds, the Dutchman was set to win back-to-back races for the first time in his career after an early storm through the field as he passed both Ferraris and both Mercedes on track to lead the Brazilian Grand Prix.
An altercation with Force India’s Esteban Ocon at turn two, however, ended his hopes of a dream win at the historic Interlagos. He will have an uphill battle to claim the win which escaped him 12 months ago.
The two long straights could give some explanation of why Ferrari were so slow in the speed traps in Austin last time out, whether their engine was breaking the rules before or whether it was just a blip. If they have solved their woes, then they should have a good chance of fighting for the win on Sunday.
It will likely however, that only be Sebastian Vettel fighting at the front as his teammate Charles Leclerc is starting at the back because he is taking a brand-new engine to Brazil. Although, a fight between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton – two drivers with ten titles between them – is an enticing prospect.
Mercedes will be confident of their chances of picking up a 14th win of the season. They sealed both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles with races to spare and have won each of the past four races. Their chances may be hurt by the fact that team principle Toto Wolff will be missing his first race since joining the German outfit in 2013.
The track does favour overtaking, so Saturday won’t decide the winner on Sunday, and it isn’t since 2016 that the pole sitter has won the race at this track. The drivers at the front of the field will have nothing to lose now that both titles are confirmed so there should be some close racing with no-one holding anything back.
Here’s how you can keep up with all the action this weekend:
Session Times (all times
GMT)
Friday
Practice One: 14:00 – 15:30
Practice Two: 18:00 – 19:30
Saturday
Practice Three: 15:00 – 16:00
Qualifying: 18:00 – 19:00
Sunday
Race: 17:10
Where can I watch?
All sessions are live on Sky Sports F1 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and BBC’s F1 website.
Channel 4 will be showing highlights of qualifying at 22:50 Saturday night and race highlights at 22:30 Sunday night. There will also be short highlights of every session on F1’s official YouTube channel.
By Lewis Brumby
Photo credit: Andy Hone / LAT Images