Max Verstappen, leader of the Formula 1 World Championship, took a serious option for the title by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, ahead of the French from Alpine Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, while Lando Norris (McLaren), second in the general classification, finished sixth.
Back to business for “Super Max”: he had, of course, won the sprint race of the United States GP two weeks ago, but the Dutchman had not won in a GP since the end of June, in Spain.
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On the famous soggy Interlagos track, the Red Bull driver put an end to a drought of more than four months without a Sunday victory: “I went through all the emotions,” he reacted at the finish, telling him which started from a very distant 17e place. “We stayed away from problems and we made the right decisions,” he also said.
Like Verstappen, the French Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly – 2e et 3e – also benefited from the racing circumstances in Sao Paulo to offer Alpine its first podium of the year.
In the championship, Verstappen takes 18 points from Norris. At the next meeting, in Las Vegas, “Mad Max” has a first chance to retain its world crown since it is now 62 points ahead of its British rival, and could therefore be titled in the streets of the city game on November 23.
Providential red flag
When the lights went out, George Russell, second on the grid, immediately took the reins of the race from polesitter Norris. Far behind, Verstappen also got off to an excellent start since at the end of the first lap, the three-time reigning world champion was already 11e.
True to his status, the Dutchman then progressed to gradually move up the hierarchy.
Shortly before halfway, several drivers – including the two leaders, Russell and Norris – took advantage of the intervention of the virtual safety car (VSC) to return to the pits and put on new tires.
Ocon, then third after starting fourth on the grid, thus regained the lead of the race ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen and his teammate Gasly.
Thanks to a big twist of fate, these three drivers, who until now had not stopped to change their tires, benefited from a “free” pit stop a few laps later, when the race started. was interrupted after the violent exit from the track of the Argentinian Franco Colapinto (Williams).
When the GP restarted, Ocon, very comfortable on a wet track, quickly got rid of Verstappen… until Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) went off the track, necessitating the neutralization of the race and the intervention of the safety car.
At the new restart, Verstappen showed all his talent to take back the reins of the GP from Normandy and begin his flight.
Behind, Ocon played solidly to maintain his rank ahead of Gasly, 13e on the grid, which resisted the Mercedes of George Russell until the end, finally fourth.
Revamped program
Thanks to this double, the French team, in great difficulty since the start of the season, jumped to sixth place (out of 10) in the constructor standings.
This weekend, drivers and teams had to deal with a revised program due to the downpours of rain which fell on Saturday afternoon in the Sao Paulo region.
For this reason, qualifying was postponed until Sunday morning. At their end, Lando Norris won the eighth pole of his F1 career – the 7e this season.
These qualifiers produced a surprising second row, with the modest Racing Bulls of Japanese Yuki Tsunoda in third, ahead of Ocon.
On the sidelines of the championship, this weekend was also an opportunity for the paddock to pay a new tribute to the Brazilian F1 legend, Ayrton Senna.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, honored in 2022 with the title of honorary citizen of Brazil, notably took the wheel of the 1990 McLaren of his idol on Sunday morning who died in a racing accident in Imola (Italy) 30 years ago. years.
