Lewis Hamilton has, once again, proven why he is one of the best drivers to ever grace the track after he finished first at the São Paulo Grand Prix, his 101st win. Hamilton, who started the race at P10, was able to snatch the lead from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen when the race had just few laps to go. Verstappen finished second while Valterri Bottas, who began the race at P1, came third.

Hamilton’s victory came after a very eventful weekend that saw him disqualified from qualifying, due to a technical error, despite taking first in Friday’s Qualifying test. That forced Hamilton to start Saturday’s F1 Sprint, the last of the season, at P20. But the seven-time world champion was able to put up a good performance and finished at P5. But his woes were not over yet as he was given a five-place grid penalty for taking a new engine, his fifth for the season. This caused him to start Sunday’s race at P10.

But even two sets of penalties could not keep Hamilton from winning in São Paulo, which was very decisive.

By winning, Hamilton has strengthened his hopes of winning this year’s title. If Verstappen had won, all he needed to do was to come second in the remaining three races of this season and he would still have won the title. Although Hamilton is still 14 points behind Verstappen on the driver standings, he still has a bit of a shot as there are three races left for the season. What he would have to do is to try and take first at next week’s Qatar GP, so he can lead Verstappen on the leaderboard.

As we head into the final three races of the season, we can expect to see more competition between the two teams. Last weekend in Brazil was quite tensed and things are bound to get tougher with Hamilton’s win. Mercedes continues to lead Red Bull on the constructor standings, however, with 11 points.

Written by: Leon Osamor