Verstappen finishes in 6th position in Brazilian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen finished in a disappointing 6th place in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday in Sao Paolo. A collision with Lewis Hamilton and a slow pit stop did not help this season’s champion, who was as low as 17th at one point. George Russell of Mercedes won the race.

Verstappen started the race in the third position after qualifying. George Russell started in pole position with Lewis Hamilton also of Mercedes in second.

A crash between Kevin Magnusson and Daniel Ricciardo caused a safety car early in the race; however, the restart was not a good one for Verstappen, who collided with Lewis Hamilton, causing problems with the Dutchman’s car and causing him to make a pit stop losing ground on the competition while doing so.

Verstappen was given a five-second time penalty for the collision. “Where did they expect to go” Verstappen’s reply was upon hearing the news.

The race went from bad to worse for Verstappen as his pit stop was too slow, with the Red Bull struggling to replace the tires. This again caused the 23-year-old to fall further behind to 17th place.

Verstappen recovered to finish in the 6th position. A notable incident occurred at the end of the race when the Red Bull team asked Verstappen to let teammate Sergio Pérez pass him to earn the Mexican some points. Verstappen refused and told his team, “Don’t ask me to do that again. I already told you my reasons”. Sergio Perez’s response was, “Thanks, guys, it shows how he really is” it seemed to cause a confrontation with news coming out later that Verstappen promised to help Perez in any way possible to win second place for the season next week in the final race of the season.

Verstappen has one more race to extend his world record of most wins in a single season. Verstappen’s record at this time is 14 wins. The season's final race is next week in Abu Dabhi at the Yas Marina Circuit.