Max Verstappen claimed victory for Red Bull, with Pierre Gasly holding off Lewis Hamilton for second, as both Ferraris collided, in a frantic finale to Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Verstappen converted pole position into victory but had to twice pass Hamilton for the win as an initially strategic grand prix turned into an absolute thriller.
Verstappen and Hamilton mirrored each other’s approach before a pair of Safety Car periods late in the race resulted in a dramatic denouement.
Update: Hamilton hit with penalty, promoting Sainz to podium finish
One Safety Car period was caused by the Ferrari drivers colliding as they contested fourth position, leaving both out of the race.
Amid the drama weekend-long midfield leader Gasly surged into third spot, which became second when the recovering Hamilton clashed with Alexander Albon on the penultimate lap.
Hamilton, who accepted blame for a clash that is under investigation, recovered but fell millimetres short of taking second from the excellent Gasly.
At the start Verstappen retained the lead from pole position while Hamilton immediately emerged as his nearest opponent by passing Sebastian Vettel around the outside of the Senna S.
The lead pair were split by two seconds during the opening stint and Mercedes drove the strategy by bringing in Hamilton on lap 20 of 71, for used Softs, committing to a two-stop approach.
Verstappen responded a lap later but Hamilton’s out-lap, allied with the Dutchman being baulked by the Williams of Robert Kubica at pit exit, left the Mercedes driver up front.
But Hamilton’s lead lasted less than a lap.
Hamilton and Verstappen passed the yet-to-stop Charles Leclerc through Bico de Pato and Juncao respectively, and the Red Bull driver used a straight-line speed advantage to catapult himself past Hamilton along the pit straight.
Verstappen and Hamilton maintained their positions until the next round of stops, on lap 44 and 43 respectively, and both switched to Medium tyres.
Hamilton began to edge closer to Verstappen and had gone to within DRS range when the Safety Car was called on lap 53, after Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes lost power due to high oil consumption.
It marked Mercedes’ first mechanical retirement since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was told to “do the opposite” to Verstappen and when the Red Bull driver came in, for Softs, the Mercedes driver stayed out.
Hamilton doubted his ability to stay ahead of Verstappen and his fears were realised straightaway at the restart as the Red Bull driver surged back into a lead which he never relinquished, while Albon brilliantly passed Vettel for third around the Senna S.
Shortly afterwards Ferrari’s difficult day, with Vettel having been a lonely third for the most part, unravelled even further.
Leclerc, having climbed from 14th on the grid, dived up the inside of Vettel into the Senna S and grabbed fourth place, but his team-mate retaliated along the Reta Oposta.
However the pair made light contact and it was enough for both cars to sustain terminal damage, with angry messages expressed on the radio.
That required another Safety Car period which left just a two-lap shootout, the order Verstappen, Albon, Gasly and Hamilton, who had ducked into the pits for fresh tyres.
Hamilton immediately dispatched Gasly but collided with Albon through Bico de Pato, spinning the Red Bull driver, who dropped to the back.
Hamilton re-grouped and re-joined third but was unsuccessful in his pursuit of Gasly, who held off the Mercedes driver by less than a tenth of a second on the run to the line.
For Gasly it was his maiden podium finish and the second of the year for Toro Rosso.
Carlos Sainz Jr. rose from the back of the grid after an engine failure in qualifying to take fourth position, with Alfa Romeo profiting from the melee to claim a season-best fifth and sixth, Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi.
Daniel Ricciardo bagged points for Renault in seventh, with Lando Norris, Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat provisionally rounding out the top 10.
The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will take place from November 29 to December 1
