Sprint Highlights | 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix | Crypto.com

The big news here at Interlagos today. Lewis Hamilton, disqualified from qualifying yesterday, sent to the back of the grid. A breach of the technical regulations regarding the DRS gap in his rear wing. 24 laps to come around Interlagos on this Saturday afternoon. It's lights out and away we go. Bottas does get away well. Verstappen's moving over to cover him. But I think Bottas is away and into the lead. Into Turn 1 goes Valtteri Bottas. Ahead of Verstappen on the inside there is Carlos Sainz. Ahead is Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. And then the McLaren under pressure from Pierre Gasly. Lando Norris going wheel-to-wheel with Gasly. And we see Yuki Tsunoda ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi. And already Hamilton has made up four places. But so has Carlos Sainz also on those soft tyres. And Verstappen goes wide. Comes back on in front of his team-mate. The soft tyres were brilliant away from the line. And Verstappen getting a hefty hit over the kerb as he came back onto the track. So Bottas leads then from Sainz and then Verstappen and then Perez. Then comes Leclerc, Norris, Gasly, Esteban Ocon, and then Sebastian Vettel ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who's dropped back a few places. As we can see what happened down at Turn 1. Locking up Kimi Räikkönen on the inside was his team-mate. They probably made contact. The Alfa Romeos sent Kimi facing the wrong way. And that was Antonio. With DRS, here comes Max Verstappen looking to make a move on car number 55. Carlos Sainz, and that is a move that he makes with great aplomb into Turn 1. Max Verstappen up into second place now, chasing after Valtteri Bottas. Here goes Hamilton on Tsunoda. This is a battle for 13th place. Hamilton's made it. Goes right the way round the outside. And watching Hamilton on the main straight with DRS. I think into Turn 1, Lewis Hamilton has got past Fernando Alonso. That, Martin, is a crucial move for him. There goes Lando Norris, birthday boy, putting on the show! With Charles Leclerc going into Turn 1. Leclerc defends mightily against Lando Norris. And through the Senna S's, that's sliding all over the place, that Ferrari. That'll give Norris hope, then, that he can get him going into Turn 4. Leclerc moves over to the left. Lando Norris stays exactly where he is. Leclerc tries to cut him off. Lando Norris has already moved past. And that's a super battle going on there. Lando Norris up to fifth. Look how he's almost pushing the McLaren across the line as they do cross the line. They're wheel-to-wheel at the moment. Hamilton's ahead by a car length. Hamilton, on lap 13, finally gets ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Now he's into the top ten. Hamilton is gaining, as you can see, on Pierre Gasly. Gets a lovely slipstream. Gets DRS as well. Powers past the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly. And now he is up into seventh place. We're on lap 17 of this race. The Ferrari, no match for Hamilton. A little unsteady into the braking zone in the Turn 4. But that is a very good sight for fans of Lewis Hamilton. There goes the rear wing open of Lewis Hamilton. He's a long way back. It'll be a big lunge from there. And he's going to try and make that lunge. And he does make that lunge down the inside, Lewis Hamilton. That is the best move of the lot. Hamilton on Lando Norris. The crowd absolutely love that. You can hear the cheers ringing out of your TV sets. They appreciate good racing at Interlagos. They got it right there. Bottas is going to pick up pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. He wins the Saturday sprint. Mercedes pick up three points. Verstappen, the championship leader, extends his championship lead by picking up two points for second place. As Sainz finishes third, Pérez fourth. And that is a mega sprint drive from Lewis Hamilton to come home in fifth place. Pooooool do Brasil. Well done, Valtteri. The tyres were kind of dead. So that's the random miles lap. Great job, Valtteri. Great job. Bottas will take pole. Verstappen will be alongside him. Hamilton will start 10th on the grid. He's never won from 10th. And if that is a 100 km little foretaste of what might be to come tomorrow, You might get three times the excitement over the Grand Prix at race distance.