The 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Heineken do Brasil 2018) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 November 2018 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. The race was the twentieth and penultimate round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 47th running of the Brazilian Grand Prix and the 46th time that the race was run as a World Championship event since the inaugural event in . Following Felipe Massa's retirement from Formula One at the end of the season, this marked the first Brazilian Grand Prix where no Brazilian driver took part.
The race was won by Lewis Hamilton from pole position. Hamilton's race win combined with teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing 5th meant that Mercedes were able to claim the Constructors' Championship for the 5th consecutive season. Kimi Räikkönen finished 3rd for Ferrari, taking his 103rd and final podium of his career as well as his final for the team.
Background Going into the penultimate round of the season Lewis Hamilton had already claimed the Drivers' Championship, however Ferrari and Mercedes could both still claim the Constructors' Championship. Ferrari needed to outscore Mercedes by 13 points or more to prevent Mercedes winning the title after the race's completion.
Qualifying Qualifying classification DriverConstructor Q1Q2Q3144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:08.4641:07.7951:07.281125 Sebastian VettelFerrari1:08.4521:07.7761:07.3742377 Valtteri BottasMercedes1:08.4921:07.7271:07.441347 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:08.4521:08.0281:07.4564533 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:08.2051:08.0171:07.778563 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:08.5441:08.0551:07.7801179 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1:08.7541:08.5791:08.2966816 Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1:08.6671:08.3351:08.492798 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1:08.7351:08.2391:08.51781010 Pierre Gasly1:09.0461:08.6161:09.02991120 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1:08.4741:08.659101211 Sergio PérezRacing Point Force India-Mercedes1:09.2171:08.741121331 Esteban OconRacing Point Force India-Mercedes1:09.2641:08.770181427 Nico HülkenbergRenault1:09.0091:08.834131535 Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1:09.2591:10.381141655 Carlos Sainz Jr.Renault1:09.269151728 Brendon HartleyScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda1:09.280161814 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1:09.402171918 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1:09.44119202McLaren-Renault1:09.60120 107% time: 1:12.979 Source: Notes – Daniel Ricciardo received a five-place grid penalty for a change in turbochargers. – Esteban Ocon received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Race Max Verstappen was leading and extending his lead over Lewis Hamilton in second until, on lap 44, Esteban Ocon made contact with Verstappen. Ocon was trying to unlap himself, causing both drivers to spin allowing Hamilton to take the lead and eventually the win. Following the collision, the stewards gave Ocon a ten-second stop-go penalty for the incident. With the win by its driver Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes wrapped up the Constructors' Championship, while Max Verstappen's Red Bull finished second and Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari finished third. Daniel Ricciardo took fourth ahead of Bottas with Vettel struggling home to sixth. Ocon finished 14th.
After the race Max Verstappen pushed and hit Ocon forcefully several times in the chest in the FIA's garage. Verstappen would later be punished for actions that were deemed inappropriate for a sportsman and was punished with two days community service.
Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes711:27:09.066125233 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer71 +1.46951837 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari71 +4.76441543 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer71 +5.1931112577 Valtteri BottasMercedes71 +22.94331065 Sebastian VettelFerrari71 +26.99728716 Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari71 +44.1997688 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari71 +51.23084920 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari71 +52.8571021011 Sergio PérezRacing Point Force India-Mercedes70 +1 lap1211128 Brendon HartleyScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda70 +1 lap161255 Carlos Sainz Jr.Renault70 +1 lap151310 Pierre Gasly70 +1 lap91431 Esteban OconRacing Point Force India-Mercedes70 +1 lap18152McLaren-Renault70 +1 lap201635 Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes69 +2 laps141714 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault69 +2 laps171818 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes69 +2 laps19 27 Nico HülkenbergRenault32Overheating13 9 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari206 Source: Notes – Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso each received a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings DriverPoints1 Lewis Hamilton 3832 Sebastian Vettel 3023 Kimi Räikkönen 2514 Valtteri Bottas 2375 Max Verstappen 234Source:
Constructors' Championship standings ConstructorPoints1 Mercedes 6202 Ferrari 5533 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 3924 Renault 1145 Haas-Ferrari 90Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text indicates the 2018 World Champions.
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