Max Verstappen came from 17th on the grid to win the Brazilian Grand Prix, while title rival Lando Norris faltered. The Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly filled out the podium in a race for the ages in Interlagos.
Chaos ensued from the get-go in Interlagos. Lance Stroll found the gravel on the formation lap, causing the start to be aborted and triggering an incident that left Norris as well as the three behind him under investigation. When the lights did go out, he was shuffled to second behind George Russell.
The best action came from the back end of the grid. Starting from P17, Verstappen waited patiently before hammering the gas on the outside of the Curva do Sol, gaining a cluster of positions. By the end of lap six, he had made his way up to sixth.
When a Nico Hulkenberg spin brought out the virtual safety car on lap 28, Norris, Russell and some of the other frontrunners came in for fresh tyres, but when Franco Colapinto found the barriers hard, the red flag was brought out, handing the lead to Ocon and leaving Verstappen in second place.
There was drama under the red flag too. Hulkenberg, who was back in action after his VSC-inducing spin, was deemed to have done so with assistance and received the black flag, disqualifying him from the race.
When the session resumed with a rolling start, Ocon held the lead, but he was forced to do the hard work all over again when Carlos Sainz found the wall at Turn Eight, bringing out a safety car.
This played into the hands of Verstappen who scythed past Ocon to take the lead, rounding off a sensational comeback from 17th on the grid. Further back, Norris’ misery was compounded when he ran off at Turn One, dropping behind Leclerc and team-mate Oscar Piastri.
From that point, there was no stopping Verstappen. He laid down lap after lap at a pace nobody could match. When the chequered flag dropped he was nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ocon in second place.
This was a brutal blow for Norris’ title bid. The Brit trudged across the line in P6 with an investigation for a race start infringement still hanging over him. Verstappen, with a champion’s driver, looks to have dealt a killer blow.
