What a comeback! Lewis Hamilton roars back from 10th on the grid in a thrilling Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Ole, ole, ole, ole, Senna, Senna. So the crowd serenaded the Englishman wrapped in the flag of Brazil who had just performed a wonder of which their hero — and his — would have been proud.

Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the 101st of his career, stands comparison with the finest in his garlanded story. More than that, it ranks among the greatest displays in the history of automobiles.

If you think that fanciful, you haven’t read Damon Hill’s take on the back page of today’s paper.  

Lewis Hamilton has won the Brazilian Grand Prix after a dramatic overtake of Max Verstappen

The Mercedes star hails the crowd after the race, who supported him and cheered his overtake

The Mercedes star hails the crowd after the race, who supported him and cheered his overtake

Sir Lewis unfurled a Brazilian flag to the adoring masses after securing the win in Sao Paulo

Sir Lewis unfurled a Brazilian flag to the adoring masses after securing the win in Sao Paulo

Hamilton is doused in champagne by Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas after his victory

Hamilton is doused in champagne by Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas after his victory

‘One of the best drives I have ever seen in Formula One,’ he rhapsodised, as Hamilton narrowed his championship deficit to runner-up Max Verstappen from 21 to 14 points. The win was testament to Lewis’s belligerence. It told us a lot about him.

He is as hard as flint. He is as stubborn as a red wine stain. He is never more dangerous than when cornered. He fought his way out of a council house to reach unsurpassed pinnacles in a white man’s game. And here on parade was the same essential inner steel.

For make no mistake, Hamilton was furious at the hand he had been dealt by officialdom this febrile few days at the most intense track on the calendar, with its favelas outside and its seething masses inside. 

First, he was guaranteed a five-place drop for taking on a new engine. Then, he was deprived by the stewards of the pole he won for Saturday’s sprint race because his rear wing was deemed marginally illegal.

He and his Mercedes confrères were furious, arguing that the wing only wore itself illicit during qualifying and that they might have been gently asked to rectify the matter. Well, perhaps. But what entered Hamilton’s head was the thought that the FIA were out to nobble him.

A persecution complex can be a very useful tool in the appliance of sporting excellence. So, in the sprint, Hamilton tore through the field from last on the grid. From 20th to fifth in 24 laps. It was a short innings but every ball came off the meat of the bat.  

Red Bull's Max Verstappen led the race for a long time but could not resist Hamilton's advances

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the race for a long time but could not resist Hamilton’s advances

Verstappen pushed Hamilton wide of track but the Red Bull escaped any punishment

Verstappen pushed Hamilton wide of track but the Red Bull escaped any punishment

The defending champion emerged victorious from their enthralling game of cat-and-mouse

The defending champion emerged victorious from their enthralling game of cat-and-mouse

Yes, his engine was super-strong but not a single bit of BHP was wasted in the 36-year-old’s gloves. An indignant heart and a cool head conjoined in the first instalment of his resurrection in two parts. With his engine penalty added to his sprint-finishing position, he started on Sunday 10th on the grid.

In five laps, he roared past seven cars as if they were bollards, the last of those places bequeathed to him by team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was honest enough to admit after starting on pole and ending up third: ‘Lewis was in another league.’

Hamilton then made matchwood of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and planted himself on the tail of 24-year-old Verstappen.

What unfolded next was one of motor racing’s royal duels. Two beasts slugging it out for the grandest prize. One aiming for his first title, the other for a record eighth. The old king versus the young prince.

Lap after lap, rarely separated by more than a second and often by less, they went at it mano a mano. Apart from the idiot TV director who darted from irrelevance to irrelevance, we all knew this was something for the ages, the only show in this town or the next.

On lap 48 out of 71, Hamilton spotted his chance. The pair arm-wrestled through the opening bends. At Turn 4, the Briton would have gone ahead except that Verstappen, who has never turned down an invitation to take it outside, ran him off the road. 

Pianist Joao Carlos Martins played the Brazil national anthem on track before the race began

Pianist Joao Carlos Martins played the Brazil national anthem on track before the race began

The incident was officially ‘noted’ but race director Michael Masi deemed that no disciplinary action was necessary. Hamilton was informed of the non-investigation by radio and, exhibiting his sense of being wronged, said sarcastically: ‘Of course not.’

He was soon right up Verstappen’s exhaust. On lap 58, the Dutchman was forced to resort to weaving all over the place. He might have been on his way home from a liquid lunch at the Dog and Duck and was awarded a black-and-white flag — the one-more-and-you’re-out warning. Quite right.

Next lap, Hamilton pinned his foot to the floor and passed Verstappen who, despite driving like a giant all afternoon, was unable to resist the onslaught. Hamilton flashed by with some comfort at that previously pesky Turn 4.

The crowd stood in awesome wonder. How times change. When Hamilton was vying with Paulista Felipe Massa for his maiden title in 2008, the locals hissed him. On Sunday they hollered their support and he was handed the Brazilian flag on his warm-down lap.

Hamilton has now seized the momentum from Verstappen by the extraordinary nature of his first win since the Russian Grand Prix on September 26. Three races remain — in Qatar next Sunday, then in Saudi Arabia on December 5 and finally Abu Dhabi on December 12.

Whatever lies ahead, Hamilton’s deeds in Sao Paulo on the days of November 13 and 14, 2021, will never be erased from Formula One folklore.  

Want to relive proceedings from a dramatic Grand Prix in Brazil? Follow live coverage from Sportsmail‘s MAX MATHEWS below, including build-up, all the lap-by-lap updates and results.