The Brazilian Grand Prix was a race full of plot twists, ending with Verstappen extending his gap on Norris, McLaren in crisis and Alpine celebrations.
Brazil has given us one of the most hectic qualifying sessions and races, with an unpredictable result.
Max Verstappen has given a strap to the Championship and returns to the podium. In the meantime, Lando Norris has to face an uphill climb. Not to mention, the final podium was a real surprise.
What a chaotic Qualifying session!
An unpredictable Qualifying session went down in Interlagos. Because of the heavy rains, the FIA made the decision to cancel it on Saturday afternoon. Instead, the drivers went to the track in early Sunday morning. Due to the weather, the team used the full wet compounds for Q1 and inters for Q2 and Q3.
Lando Norris took pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix during a chaotic session full of yellow and red flags.
Williams had a long weekend at the Brazilian GP. They suffered with both drivers in the barriers: Franco Colapinto crashed in Q1 while his teammate, Alexander Albon, was on the wall in Q3. The British Thai driver didn’t take part in the Brazilian Grand Prix due to the extensive damage to his car. On the other hand, Colapinto started in P16, with the mechanics being able to get the Argentine’s car ready in time.
Carlos Sainz, the winner in Mexico, crashed in Q2 and ended in P14. However, the Spaniard started the Brazilian GP from the pitlane, since Ferrari decided to use a new engine in his car. The other Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso, crashed in Q3. Alonso started in P8, right behind him was the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll who also crashed in qualifying, and the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were definitely the biggest surprises of this Quali session. The three times World Champion was out in Q2. After his 5-place grid penalty was applied, he started in P17. Hamilton was expected to do some magic in Interlagos, since his ability in adverse weather conditions. Unfortunately, the Brit wasn’t able to make a good time and was out in Q1.
On a positive note, Yuki Tsunoda secured a start at the front of the grid for the Brazilian GP. The Japanese driver was on the second row in P3 alongside Esteban Ocon’s Alpine. Their aim was naturally to conquer their best results, so far.
And a chaotic race
Right from the start, the Brazilian GP was erratic. Lance Stroll spun during the formation lap, having to retire from the race. Following the rules, the drivers had to abort the start. Instead, Norris went on another formation lap, with George Russell, Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda immediately following suit.
Shortly after, all the drivers, except for Sainz in the pit lane, followed the leader. This caused Race Control to intervene and noted Norris, Russell, Lawson and Tsunoda for a starting procedure infringement. There have been no developments on this investigation as of yet.
But the penalties didn’t stop there. Oscar Piastri and Oliver Bearman had a 10-second penalty each for causing collisions. Piastri had contact with Liam Lawson’s Racing Bull while Bearman’s incident was with Franco Colapinto.
Throughout the race, the rain increased creating more problems for the drivers. Nico Hulkenberg spun, and a Virtual Safety Car was deployed. This gave the chance to the drivers to pit, however, Russell and Norris, respectively in P1 and P2, stayed out until the very last second. The VSC ended before they left the pits. This completely changed the race, with Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly in the first three positions.
Drivers kept asking for a Safety Car, and even a red flag because of the rain, the visibility decreasing by the minute. The FIA eventually decided to bring out the Safety Car, seeing that the asphalt was in full wet conditions. But the red flag came out shortly after, not for the rain, but for Franco Colapinto. The Williams driver crashed under the SC. A weekend to forget for the Argentinian who also had a crash during the Qualifying session.
During the red flag, Hulkenberg received a black flag and was disqualified for getting assistance in getting his car back on track.
Shortly after the restart, Carlos Sainz was yet again in the barriers. Just another of the various plot twists during the Brazilian Grand Prix.
A wasted opportunity for McLaren
Brazil was the race for McLaren to give a strong message for both Championships. Lando Norris was the favourite driver to win, and McLaren was the strongest car, ideally. Ferrari struggled the whole weekend, with a DNF from Sainz and a P5 start from Charles Leclerc. With Verstappen starting in P17, everything seemed to be on the papaya team’s side. The Sprint race with the double podium proved that. And yet, the race turned in a completely different direction.
Piastri had a 10-second penalty, finishing the race in P9. Meanwhile, Lando Norris was under investigation for the entire race, lost the lead at the start and had to cross the finish line in an underwhelming P6.
Luck wasn’t exactly in Norris’ favour. The red flag after Colapinto’s crash came right after he made his pit stop. At the restart, the British driver was fourth behind Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly. The track’s conditions were not for inter compounds and the McLaren #4 paid for it with a mistake. This favoured Russell who overtook Norris for the fourth position.
After going off the track in turn 1, Norris was P7. On the other hand, Piastri made a mistake and had to give up his position to Tsunoda.
With this win, Verstappen is 62 points ahead of Norris in the standings. With only three more races to go, the McLaren driver’s hopes for the Titles are slipping away.
Maxterclass
At the Brazilian GP, Max Verstappen stood on the podium as the winner of a Grand Prix for the first time in 10 races. It seems impossible to think so after the 2023 season where he kept winning. But now, when everybody started to doubt him, he came back stronger.
Starting P17, only at the start, he was able to overtake seven cars. He, then, had to sit behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and overtake him after the Monegasque went to the pit.
He capitalised on the Virtual Safety Car, staying out and climbing up to P2 behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Then, the timing of the Safety Car and the red flag was perfect for his race. He basically got a free pit stop for Intermediates, while his direct contender Lando Norris had already stopped.
At the restart, it wasn’t actually easy for Verstappen to overtake Ocon. He had to wait until lap 43, after the Safety Car brought by Sainz’s crash ended, to overtake the Frenchman. Since then, his lap times were impressive, marking fastest lap after fastest lap. Within a few laps, Verstappen opened a gap of 13 seconds on the Alpine, leading the Brazilian Grand Prix with an insane race pace.
Max Verstappen is the winner at Interlagos. The Red Bull driver has gained 25 points and an extra one for the fastest lap. If Norris sees his chances slim down, the Dutchman can already taste the champagne for his fourth World Title.
Vive La France!
The real surprise of the Grand Prix in Brazil was Alpine. The team ended the race with a double podium with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. And through the whole race, the French team was quite competitive.
Ocon qualified in P4 and climbed up to the first position. He managed to keep the lead despite Verstappen pushing behind him. In the end, he couldn’t do much against the speed of the reigning World Champion, but his performance was still impressive. After the race, Verstappen even commended the Frenchman’s pace, claiming it was hard to get close.
His teammate, Pierre Gasly, started the race in P15. Just like Verstappen, he had the best outcome from the VSC and gained third position behind the other Alpine and the Red Bull. Not even Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari seemed to be able to keep up with their rhythm.
This result at the Brazilian GP is the best in Alpine’s history. After all the problems that the team faced the whole season, Alpine can finally take a breath of relief.
