F1 News: Verstappen 17th-to-1st in brilliant wet São Paulo GP drive

Max Verstappen showed the world why he may be the greatest driver of all-time by putting on a masterclass drive in heavy rain from 17th to win the São Paulo Brazil GP on the Interlagos Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Once he got in the lead by passing the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, Verstappen set the fastest race lap after fastest lap and won going away by 19.477-seconds over Ocon. Verstappen was lapping a second faster than all the other drivers in the field and also took the extra point for fastest lap by setting 17 fastest laps in the race.

Verstappen is driving the inferior Red Bull, but they say the rain separates the greatest driver from the wankers, and Verstappen made a statement today the F1 paddock won’t soon forget.

“My emotions today have been a rollercoaster with qualifying being unlucky with the red flag. But we stayed out of trouble, made the right calls, and we were flying, Unbelievable, to win here from so far back on the grid,” said a happy Verstappen.

Verstappen now leads Norris by 62 points over Norris (393 to 331), but there are still penalties to be announced, so that may change.

By winning today, his 7th win of the year, Verstappen has put his hand on his 4th straight World Driving title. With drivers spinning off or crashing throughout the race in the treacherous conditions, Verstappen was perfect. And he did all his passing on a day when there was no DRS.

Verstappen’s drive reminded me of Senna at Donington 1993, some called walking on water.

A generational drive for a generational driver. Verstappen can clinch the world championship in Las Vegas next time out if he leaves that weekend with a lead of 60+ Points.

Pierre Gasly was third, 22.5s behind Verstappen, giving the Alpine team a 2nd and 3rd on the podium. A strategic masterclass from them, what a result. That jumps them way up the order in the constructors’.

“What a day that was after a difficult season,” said Ocon. “I’m very happy to be on the podium, I cannot thank everyone enough. The car was extremely difficult in the dry, but I felt at ease when it started to rain. I love it here when it rains, and today it has brought us a special race.”

“It’s incredible for the whole team, it’s been such a tough season and we have struggled to score points,” said a happy Gasly. “But two cars on the podium, I don’t think anybody had that on their bingo card!

“We started 13th, managed to make 10 positions so I’m absolutely buzzing. Would have been easy to give up after a tough season but we never gave up.”

George Russell was 4th for Mercedes, 23.265s behind Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc held off Lando Norris for 5th, 30-seconds behind Verstappen.

“All of our position losses were under the red flag with the free pit stops for the others,” said 6th place Lando Norris.

“Sometimes you are unlucky, the rules go against you. I made a couple of mistakes, cost me against George, cost me against Charles. I’ve had a lot of good races, about time I had a bad one. They got lucky, with a rule that no one agrees with – every driver has disagreed with it in the past. But it could have benefitted us if we had stayed out.”

What a day. From qualifying earlier with those five red flags, to a race that featured a huge number of incidents, Safety Cars, a VSC, and a red flag.

Colapinto crash brings out red-flag

The race was red-flagged just before half-distance after a heavy crash by Franco Colapinto.

Running in 16th, Colapinto crashed coming onto the main straight on lap 32 as the field was under safety car conditions due to the rain that had plagued the race becoming more intense. The Williams driver, who had been supported by thousands of Argentinian fans, escaped unhurt.

The red flag jumbled the order of Interlagos’ race, with drivers who hadn’t yet pitted for new tires rewarded by being allowed to change tires before the restart.

Summing up……

Alpine are the big movers in the constructors’, jumping from ninth to sixth. They have 49 points, Haas have 46 and RB have 44. Spare a thought for RB, they thought they might end the day in sixth with those qualifying slots, not eighth after scoring double points.

Red Bull have closed the gap to Ferrari in the fight for second too, just 13 points between those two teams now.

Next up is the Las Vegas GP in three weeks time.

Note: Several drivers have penalties coming, and we might see Norris move up to possibly 4th after all the penalties are issued. Mercedes changed tire pressures on the grid, which is not allowed. Norris, Russell, Tsunoda and Lawson will likely get a penalty for taking off for a second Formation Lap after an aborted start, when they should have remained on the grid.

2024 São Paulo Brazil GP Results – 69 Laps