Piers Morgan has fired a brutal dig at the defeated Max Verstappen after Lewis Hamilton battled back from 10th on the grid to claim a famous victory in Sao Paulo. The title race is well and truly alive after the Brit passed Verstappen in the closing stages of the race, narrowing the gap before drivers head to Qatar next weekend.
Hamilton was disqualified from Friday qualifying which saw him start Saturday’s sprint at the back of the grid.
For his first heroic drive of the weekend, he battled his way up to fifth, although a five-place grid penalty for changing power units saw him start 10th on Sunday.
Benefitting from tremendous straight-line speed, Hamilton worked his way up to title rival Verstappen and passed him dramatically in the closing stages.
In response, Morgan said on social media: “Verstappen just got given a driving lesson by Hamilton. That’s how a real champion races a car.”
Indeed, it was a hugely disappointing Sunday for Verstappen and Red Bull, who missed a chance to build formidable leads in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.
The Dutchman began in second place, but quickly worked his way past Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas to take the lead of the Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was working his way through a pack of drivers, although it did not take long before the crowd were blessed with the familiar sight of Verstappen and the Mercedes man battling for the lead.
After almost colliding on lap 48, the seven-time world champion took his opportunity just a few laps later and did not look back thereafter.
Hamilton faced plenty of adversity in Sao Paulo, but ended up claiming an unlikely victory which was sweetened even further by Bottas’ third-place finish ahead of Sergio Perez.
After starting the weekend 19 points behind Verstappen, the gap has now been cut to 14 as we enter the darkest depths of the season’s business end.
Following the race, a delighted Hamilton said: “The team did an amazing job. Valtteri did a great job to get as many points as possible.
“I was pushing as hard as I could. From last on the grid and then another five-place penalty I think was the hardest weekend I’ve had, but my dad reminded me of 2004 when I was in Formula 3 when I was in Bahrain when I started last and then I finished 10th, and then I finished first. So this one was for my dad.
“Coming into this weekend I never ever thought we would be able to close the gap like we had today.
“Then these things that just kept going against us but it really shows for everyone, never give up. Never, ever stop fighting and that’s how I’ve really approached this weekend.
“It feels like the first because I don’t feel like I’ve had a win for a long time.”
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