Hamilton earns win: 'This has been one of Hamilton’s toughest campaigns'

Lewis Hamilton spoke to the press on Friday evening with a satisfied feeling. The British driver finally managed to dominate again during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Lawrence Barretto believes the Mercedes man has a sparkle back in his eye.

The journalist stressed on the official website of Formula 1 that Hamilton has worked incredibly hard this season. "This has been one of Hamilton's toughest campaigns, the Brit using every iota of his experience to keep himself in the title fight despite having the second-best car for most of this season," Barretto wrote.

"For the first time in a while, Hamilton has the twinkle back in his eye. He may have an engine penalty that is going to make Sunday afternoon tricky, but such is his confidence in the car around Interlagos after just one practice and qualifying, you get the feeling he reckons he can overcome anything to come out on top on Sunday."

Verstappen and Bottas to follow

In qualifying, Verstappen did everything he could to improve on Hamilton's time, but the Dutchman came up quite a bit short. Valtteri Bottas in turn tried to outsmart the Red Bull driver. The Finn qualified in P3, while Sergio Perez set the fourth fastest time.