Lewis Hamilton could hardly believe that he's managed to cut the gap to Max Verstappen in the Drivers' standings after what he described as the "hardest weekend I've had" in Brazil. The Mercedes driver impressed once again on Sunday, going from 10th to first to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The performance comes on a weekend that saw Hamilton excluded from qualifying for a Drag Reduction System (DRS) infringement, which forced him to start Saturday's Sprint from the back of the grid. After charging through to finish fifth, Hamilton started Sunday's Grand Prix in P10 due to a five-place grid penalty for an engine change. That didn't hurt him in the end, however, as a late pass on Verstappen sealed a famous win for Hamilton. "What a race!" Hamilton commented. "The team did an amazing job. Valtteri [Bottas] did a great job today to get as many points as possible. "I was pushing as hard as I could, but from last on the grid, and then another five-place penalty, it was the hardest weekend I've had. "But my dad reminded me of 2004, when I was in Formula 3 in Bahrain. I started last, and then I finished 10th, and then I finished first. So this was for my dad."
"Things kept going against us"
The result means Hamilton has closed the gap to Verstappen in the standings, with the Red Bull driver now leading by 14 points. Hamilton admitted after the race that he didn't think that was possible heading into the weekend. Hamilton added: "Coming into this weekend, I never, ever thought that we would be able to close the gap like we have today. "Things just kept going against us. I think it really shows, for everyone, just never give up, whatever you're facing. You've just got to keep pushing, keep tumbling away, keep fighting, and that's really how I've approached this weekend."
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