Max Verstappen survives, Kimi Raikkonen crashes, blames Pirelli wet tyres at Brazilian GP 2016
Published On 09-Jan-2019
Brazilian Grand Prix for the season 2016 witnessed one of the wettest track conditions, with intermittent rains and multiple delays. Not only the tarmac was terribly wet but multiple crashes had started to take the joy out of the race.
The race had to be stopped twice and Safety Car hogged much of the limelight. But what was a slow commencement ended up in being a spectacle. Hamilton got the taste of his first victory in Brazil, Rosberg finished second and young Max Verstappen finished 3rd after a heroic display of talent, rising from 15th place to get the podium.
Amidst all this, Kimi Raikkonen, who crashed on a straight line stretch and suffered an ignominious ouster, blamed Pirelli wet tyres for easy aquaplaning. He was on lap 20 when his Ferrari spun over standing water, crashed, and the race had to be stopped.
Kimi commented, “ They [the full wet tyres] are very easy to aquaplane with, it's not like it's raining a lot. We've said that many times, but it obviously also depends on the circuit and many things.”
He added, "If I compare to ten/twelve years ago, those tyres could cope with this kind of rain with no issues, no aquaplaning. The aquaplaning is the biggest issue, if we have a bit of standing water we get zero grip.”
“It was not raining heavily but there's a lot of standing water and it's very easy to go off when we hit it. The reasons behind that are hard to say, but looking purely at the conditions they're not that bad."
There was a lot of standing water on the track and many other drivers, including Sebastian Vettel and Jensen Button, spun off. 19 year old Max Verstappen showed some serious skills and made up his way from 15th place to 3rd, with many a few ingenious overtakes. He too, however, spun at one time but was able to wrestle his Renault on to the track and finished a brave 3rd.
Nico Rosberg, who finished 2nd, is now just a step away to become the champion of the world. He is only required to get a podium position, no matter whether 1st or 3rd, in the upcoming Abu Dhabi race to beat his team mate, Lewis Hamilton, and clench the Word Championship Title.
