Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Race Recap

Magnussen started from 12^th position on soft tires but his race came to an end at the Senna S on the first lap after he was involved in a collision with Williams’ Alex Albon. Magnussen’s car sustained terminal damage in the clash and he was forced to retire, though fortunately was uninjured in the incident. 

Hulkenberg started from 11^th place on the Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires and also got entangled in the first corner melee, getting squeezed before contact was made between the Willams and his teammate. When the Safety Car was called after Magnussen’s accident, the German pitted for Yellow medium tires. The race was ultimately red-flagged, due to the need for barrier repairs and a 30-minute delay ensued, in which time the team promptly fixed damage to Hulkenberg’s car. 

He took the restart on soft tires, rising from 15^th on the amended grid up to 12^th after a battling opening phase. Hulkenberg extended the stint longer than his nearest rivals, creeping into the top 10, before coming in on lap 21 for another set of softs, and then once more on lap 47, again for softs. Hulkenberg went on to complete the race in 12^th place.

Up front World Champion Max Verstappen registered his 17^th victory of the season for Red Bull Racing, ahead of McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in third.
 

 

Kevin Magnussen:

“I got a really good start and then I think Albon squeezed Nico, they had contact, and that sent Albon into me like a chain reaction. It is what it is, you’ve got to move on to the next race, and the next race is Las Vegas. I look forward to that.”                                                                                                                                           

Nico Hulkenberg: 

“It was a typical start situation where it got too tight there, and it was very similar to what happened to me in the Sprint in Qatar, I got sandwiched. You can’t really bail out at that point, so I made contact with Albon which then put him into Kevin. It was unfortunate but there wasn’t much we could do. There was damage but the red flag allowed us to repair it, so the car was fine, there was just no performance this weekend.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:

“Having a crash at the start involving both of our cars, it just shows which side lady luck is on currently. In the race, after Kevin retired, Nico was just trying to do his best with the tires throughout the race, trying to find a way around the degradation we have with our car. I think he did the best he could, and in the end, P12 was the best we could do.” 

Today's Data

Event: Sao Paulo Grand Prix – Sunday November 5
Location: Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
Layout: 4.309-kilometer (2.677-mile), 15-turn circuit
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temps: 20.6 degrees Celsius (69 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit)
Race Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg – Started 11^th / Finished 12^th (Running – completed 70/71 laps)
Kevin Magnussen – Started 12^th / DNF (Contact – completed 0/71 laps)