After his F1 career best result in Mexico City, all eyes were on Ollie heading into São Paulo, and Interlagos definitely did not disappoint. A track famous for last-lap drama and unpredictable weather once again lived up to its reputation, and with the added chaos of a Sprint weekend, it was set to test every driver on the grid.
Practice
With only one practice session before qualifying, time was precious. Ollie completed 32 laps, testing tyre compounds and varied setups on track. He closed the session in P14, solidly in the midfield as teams scrambled to gather as much data as possible before qualifying.
Sprint Qualifying
In the first qualifying session of the weekend, Ollie showed strong pace early on, going P4 in the opening session. In SQ2, pace remained promising until a yellow flag caused by Leclerc’s late spin meant no drivers were able to improve their lap times, leaving Ollie in P15 for the Sprint.
Sprint Race
With a drying track following overnight rain, the opening lap of the Sprint saw brief contact between Ollie and the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson, sending the Haas into a spin and falling to P18. Ollie was behind his teammate when, on Lap 6, three cars veered off track in the same place, prompting a Safety Car and eventual red flag.
At the restart, Ollie was in P15 with 15 laps left of the 100km Sprint to get into the points. On Lap 18, Ollie followed his teammate past Lawson in P14. When Borteleto crashed in the closing seconds of the race, Ollie managed to avoid the chaos, making up places and finishing in P12.
Grand Prix Qualifying
Interlagos qualifying is rarely dull, and Ollie made sure it was one to watch. In Q1, he took to the track on the soft compound tyres, topping the timesheets and remaining in P1 with just two minutes to go, safely into Q2.
In Q2, Ollie repeated the flying performance, sitting towards the top of the times for much of the session with an outstanding first fast lap, even outpacing the McLarens by less than a tenth of a second. P1 with just five minutes to go, at the end of his second run, he was still second fastest and safely into Q3.
Chasing Haas’ first-ever front row start, Ollie took to the track first in the final qualifying session, putting the car P3 by the end of the first set of flying laps. Refusing to take anything for granted, Ollie continued to push but was unable to improve on the time. Ollie finished the session in P8.
The Race
Lights out in São Paulo and straight into chaos with a Safety Car called on the opening lap. Once racing resumed, further incidents between Piastri’s McLaren, Leclerc’s Ferrari and Antonelli’s Mercedes prompted a Virtual Safety Car, neutralising the race for a few more laps.
Avoiding all of the drama, on the restart, Ollie was half a second behind Lawson and quickly passed on Lap 13, securing P6. Pitting on Lap 18 for medium tyres, Ollie rejoined in P16 but quickly began carving through the field. Within 10 laps, Ollie was back in the points, in P9, overtaking Stroll and Colapinto in quick succession, rising to P8 when Alonso also pitted.
By Lap 35, Ollie was in P5 and battling with Russell’s Mercedes and Hulkenberg’s Sauber, trading positions through the middle stint, before pitting again on Lap 43 for fresh medium compound tyres - rejoining in P11.
Into the points within the next two laps, Ollie passed Alonso for P10 and remained within DRS of Albon ahead, eventually passing on Lap 47. When his teammate ahead also pitted, Ollie was in P8 with excellent race pace. Passing Hulkenberg on Lap 50 for P7, seven laps later, he was back on the tail of Lawson and snatching P6.
Ollie crossed the finish line in P6, collecting eight points for himself and the team and securing Haas’ best finish in Brazil.
Looking Ahead
With three races left in the season, the results are stacking up for Ollie. He now sits P11 in the Drivers’ Championship, just four points shy of P9. Next stop? The bright lights and high stakes of Las Vegas.
All in
Inspire