The Brazilian award renews the struggle between Verstappen and Hamilton

Sao Paulo (AFP)

As the 19th round of the World Championships enters the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend, Dutchman Max Verstappen will have to be careful in pursuing his third consecutive Formula 1 victory. “The season will take place like never before. The previous two times were a good omen for him.

After winning in Mexico last Sunday, Red Bull extended his lead in the drivers’ position to 19 points over current champion and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, but he knew he would lose this advantage if he failed to finish the race.

Of the last two awards this season Sprint has seen on Saturday, two race drivers clashed on Sunday and he is well aware that the Dutchman failed to finish the race or even got any points.

At the British Grand Prix in Silverstone in July, their collision left Mad Max trailing in the lap of a high-speed boot, damaging his car and taking him to hospital before Hamilton could win.

After two months in Italy, they collided again with Verstappen, before they could safely get out of their cars safely and empty, ending up in Hamilton’s car.

“It’s hard to predict how far we will compete in Brazil, we won in 2019, but the war was last, this time I expect something similar,” said the Dutch (24 years).

“There will be a sprint, where I usually play well, but after that I don’t get good results, so let’s try to fix things this time.”

With its wavy lanes and sharp turns, Interlogos has seen races full of accidents and dramas, often limiting cars and drivers and their nerves in hot, humid and demanding situations.

Verstappen won the last race of 2019 (canceled in 2020 due to a fall caused by a corona virus infection), while Hamilton won in 2016 and 2018, but this was not Britain’s favorite because he had not achieved many good results in years. , Despite winning his first title at the 2008 World Championships, dramatically finished fifth in the final race in Brazil.

After finishing second last Sunday, Hamilton needed the amount of momentum he showed 13 years ago to prevent Verstopen from consistently winning a third in Brazil and resuming his title defense campaign. After playing from the pole position last Sunday, Finland’s “Silver Arrows” teammate Valteri Potas should have done something better too, but he failed to take advantage of that when he allowed Verstopen to turn around in the first corner and advance from third. First, Hamilton started second.

Britain backed his colleague, who was accused of “opening the door” against Verstappen: “We are a team, we are a team, we will win and lose as a team, until the next race, Voltaire.