Brazil fight with Verstappen ‘what a title battle should look like’ - Hamilton

F1’s two leading protagonists went head-to-head for the race victory at Interlagos. 

The pair nearly came to blows on Lap 48 when Verstappen defended aggressively, forcing both drivers to run wide at Turn 4.

Several laps later, Hamilton made the most of Mercedes’ superior straight-line speed to take the lead of the race in what was a remarkable recovery from 10th on the grid.

Reflecting on the battle with Verstappen, Hamilton said: “Yeah, it was tough. In front of me, he generally could match my pace. I would say particularly or more so in the last sector. 

“It was very, very difficult to follow in the last sector and to get as good an exit as he did in Turn 12. So I kept coming up the straight and it wasn’t that easy to be in his DRS. And even if I was in the DRS zone it was a bit too far away. 

“But I just kept trying, just kept pushing. Obviously I had that one chance into Turn 4 but I couldn’t hold it. We… Yeah, it didn’t work out. Then I saw I had that experience and just made sure that I didn’t make that mistake again, but I was adamant and determined to get back into that position. 

“Yeah, it was fine. This is what a world championship battle should look like.”

Hamilton had no issues with Verstappen’s robust defence on Sunday despite Mercedes boss Toto Wolff saying it was “laughable” the Red Bull driver escaped a penalty.

“In the heat of the moment, it doesn’t… I don’t really know,” he added. “I think I was ahead initially, and I think he held his ground and we both ran out of road. 

“Well, I think he was running out of road, so I obviously had to avoid to go out of road – but I mean, I didn’t think too much of it and obviously I’ll have to watch the replay, but it’s hard battling and wouldn’t expect anything less really. We didn’t touch wheels, which is good.”