Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Interlagos, 2021

2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid and Sprint Qualifying result

2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

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[raceweekendpromotion]Valtteri Bottas won the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying race for Mercedes ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jnr.

2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint qualifying result

PositionNo.DriverCar
177Valtteri BottasMercedes
233Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda
355Carlos Sainz JnrFerrari
411Sergio PerezRed Bull-Honda
544Lewis HamiltonMercedes
64Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes
716Charles LeclercFerrari
810Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda
931Esteban OconAlpine-Renault
105Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes
113Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes
1214Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault
1399Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari
1418Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes
1522Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda
166Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes
1763George RussellWilliams-Mercedes
187Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari
1947Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari
209Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari

2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid

Row 11. Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen +1.17
Red Bull
Row 23. Carlos Sainz Jnr +18.723
Ferrari
4. Sergio Perez +19.787
Red Bull
Row 35. Lando Norris +20.872
McLaren
6. Charles Leclerc +22.558
Ferrari
Row 47. Pierre Gasly +25.056
AlphaTauri
8. Esteban Ocon +34.158
Alpine
Row 59. Sebastian Vettel +34.632
Aston Martin
10. Lewis Hamilton +34.867
Mercedes
Row 611. Daniel Ricciardo +35.869
McLaren
12. Fernando Alonso +36.578
Alpine
Row 713. Antonio Giovinazzi +41.88
Alfa Romeo
14. Lance Stroll +44.037
Aston Martin
Row 815. Yuki Tsunoda +46.15
AlphaTauri
16. Nicholas Latifi +46.76
Williams
Row 917. George Russell +47.739
Williams
18. Mick Schumacher +50.014
Haas
Row 1019. Nikita Mazepin +61.68
Haas
20. Kimi Raikkonen +67.474
Alfa Romeo

Penalties

Lewis HamiltonFive-place grid penalty for exceeding his maximum number of power unit parts
Kimi RaikkonenPit lane start for rear wing specification change

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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26 comments on “2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid and Sprint Qualifying result”

  1. Great drive by Hamilton. Everyone else, not so much.

    1. Really Jim? Carlos was on fire: keeping Pérez at bay in an inferior car.
      Vamos Carlos!

  2. What a brilliant race by Lewis.
    His pass of norris: great stuff.
    Perez not so great.

    1. +1, Erikje :-)

    2. +1
      It was awful from Charles as well. He could have defended better from Hamilton and kept him behind a lap longer.

      1. Why would he? He knew he would get the place back anyway.

  3. Hamilton maximized his starting position for tomorrow, while Bottas minimized the points loss in the WDC lead + guaranteed Mercedes states ahead in the WCC, so a win-win situation for the team.

  4. Good lord how useless was Perez in the Sprint.
    Verstappen needs to clear Bottas as quickly as possible tomorrow.
    Lewis was incredible though, fighting drive, he will make the podium tomorrow make no mistake.

  5. Once again that Merc rocketship showing its huge advantage. Roll on 2022!

  6. Imagine what Hamilton could do with a class-leading car

    1. +1 put him in that RedBull and he isn’t only coming 2nd or 4th that’s for sure.

      1. Finishing half a minute ahead of second despite starting 20th

    2. We just saw it

    3. @hahostolze

      Imagine what Hamilton could do with a class-leading car

      Nobody here even doubted Hamilton could do a great recovery drive, unlike Bottas. The problem for him and his team is getting strategical planning right and maximising his haul of points in the weekends when Mercedes is the fastest car.

  7. I really think Hamilton’s pace today will worry RedBull. If Bottas can keep the lead then he looks to have the pace to control Max. Hamilton needs a repeat performance tomorrow for a podium finish. Can’t believe I’m saying this but if he has another race like that and his strategy works then he could genuinely win it.

    1. Bottas was on the softer tyres though. On the mediums we likely see an overtake

  8. What a drive from Lewis!
    What a drive from Carlos!
    What a drive from Lando as well.

    Perez not being able to overtake Carlos just shows that he has still not figured the RB out. Hopefully that changes with the new cars next year.

    1. It also shows that RB lost a lot when they let him go to Renault.

  9. Even if Hamilton had won the sprint he’d be starting in 6th place, so now he’s in 10th, only 4 places worse. He can still win tomorrow.

    1. Yep, Mercedes look like they have the pace for a 1-2 and that’s only ever happening in one order. Mind you, Mercedes have had the pace for a 1-2 at a few rounds this season and conspired to throw it away … one of the nice things about this season is that very few races have ended up being entirely predictable.

    2. Weird that I hadn’t thought about it that way before you’re comment @greenflag

      It’s a truly amazing result. Crazy to think it could have been 9 or even 8 with only a few laps more. With 71 tomorrow a podium is very possible and that’s excellent damage limitation. If the Mercedes engine improves their performance that much per race then there’s the argument to just take one or even two more. Starting P5 in a rocket ship is better than starting p2 or p3 with no chance to win like in Mexico.

      1. Ben

        Starting P5 in a rocket ship is better than starting p2 or p3 with no chance to win like in Mexico.

        It still wouldn’t have worked in a track like that one in Mexico.

  10. Isn’t Hamilton getting a grid penalty?

    1. Yes I think he should be shown in 10th.

  11. Damn, I forgot about Lewis penalty…

    I was looking forward to a good race between champ rivals. P10 is far from the front… He’ll have to do an Alonso like start..

Comments are closed.