In contrast, Mercedes struggled in Brazil during qualifying, though Hamilton was able to jump Vettel at the start from third and ran second for much of the race behind polesitter Verstappen. With Toto Wolff notably absent from the weekend for the first time in his career with Mercedes, Mercedes and Red Bull traded several strategic moves, but fell short near the end when they took an extra pitstop which dropped Hamilton to fourth during a safety car period in a chaotic race. He made a forceful move against Alexander Albon for second place, crashed with him, and was shuffled back to third after failing to overtake Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso at the line. He would later be penalized by the stewards for the move down to seventh, gifting Carlos Sainz his first podium and McLaren's first since 2014. Bottas retired in the middle part of the race with power unit failure, which meant neither Mercedes scored a podium since Singapore.