The Brazilian weather promised twists and turns, and there was no shortage of them on Sunday, November 3, during the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. Starting from 17th position on the grid, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) took the opportunity to climb to first place and achieve a very good performance in the drivers' standings, since his runner-up Lando Norris (McLaren) only finished sixth. . Opportunistic in the face of the difficulties experienced by the other drivers, the French Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly completed the podium and allowed Alpine to score valuable points among the manufacturers.
For Max Verstappen, the “remontada” operation took a good turn from the start, with seven places gained in the first lap, to quickly place him in the points. The Dutchman continued to swallow up his competitors little by little, without much resistance from the other drivers, who know his superiority but also his aggressiveness. Fate also smiled on him when a virtual safety car regime was decided on lap 28, and it ended with leaders George Russell (Mercedes) and Lando Norris pitted, trapped and demoted in the standings.
Like Esteban Ocon, past leader, the double world champion then took advantage of a “free” pit stop, without loss of time, a few laps later, while the race was interrupted under a red flag after a crash by Franco Colapinto (Williams). Second on the restart behind the Frenchman, a new twist smiled on him: the exit of the track of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), on the 40th lap, leading to a safety car. Thanks to the forced slowdown of Esteban Ocon, Max Verstappen got closer to the Frenchman, and overtook him on the restart.
He then took the lead and even had the luxury of the extra point for the best lap in the race, while Lando Norris continued his disappointments with off-track events. The Red Bull driver consolidates his lead in the drivers' standings with 18 points from the Briton (393 against 331), and could be crowned at the next Grand Prix in Las Vegas if he finishes ahead of him.
A time leader, Esteban Ocon still had a smile on his face at the finish, like his teammate Pierre Gasly, who started 13th. The two Frenchmen made no mistakes and took advantage of the difficult weather conditions to get on the podium, the fourth of Esteban Ocon's career, the fifth for his teammate. “We suffered a lot this season, and in these conditions everything became possible. We believed in it until the end. Two cars on the podium, no one could have imagined this result”welcomed Pierre Gasly as he got out of his car.
We had to go back to the 1997 Spanish Grand Prix to find two French people on a podium, with Olivier Panis (2nd) and Jean Alesi (3rd). Thanks to this almost unexpected result this season for Alpine, the French team, penultimate in the constructors' standings before the Brazilian weekend, moved up to sixth place with 49 points.
