It was a masterclass from reigning world champion Max Verstappen, as he won the Brazilian Grand Prix 2024 after starting P17, putting in a drive for the ages in São Paulo to take a stunning win in wet conditions. While Verstappen was on the top step of the podium, it was an equally strong and victorious weekend for the struggling Alpine, who saw both their drivers finish on the podium with Esteban Ocon leading Pierre Gasly. The win saw Verstappen break a 10-race streak of being winless while his championship rival Lando Norris continued to bottle pole position after position, and eventually finished sixth although he was due to be investigated post the race.
Also read: F1 Brazilian Grand Prix 2024 Qualifying Review: Norris takes pole in chaotic Brazilian Qualifying
Even before the lights could go off, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who had brought out a Red Flag in qualifying, locked up in the formation lap itself, spinning off and going into the barriers and failed to get the car going again, beaching himself on the gravel and led to an aborted start.
After a short delay, the lights finally went out under a gloomy São Paulo sky as pole-sitter Lando Norris lost the lead right off the line to George Russell due to a shockingly slow start. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen also had stunning starts with the latter two moving up to P10 and P11 while Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez had a spin and dropped to the back of the grid. Hamilton dropped out of the points places as Verstappen breezed past him heading into Turn 2 on lap 2 and a lap later picked off his former teammate Pierre Gasly at Turn 1 to move up to P9 while Norris up front came within a second of Russell, but with no DRS on due to the conditions, was unable to attack with more intensity.
Verstappen continued to just fly on the track, as he stormed past Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson in a space of a couple of cars, which saw him reach P6 by the 11th lap and was two-and-a-half seconds behind Charles Leclerc. A bit further down the grid, Lewis Hamilton had a moment, going off at Turn 12 and was soon picked off by the new crowd favourite, Franco Colapinto, which saw the seven-time world champion drop to P13.
Leclerc was the first to pit on lap 25, switching to another pair of the Intermediates, while Nico Hülkenberg going off at Turn 11 on lap 27 brought out the Virtual Safety Car, which saw most of the drivers pit to switch to a new pair. The German was disqualified from the race shortly after for receiving assistance on the track after he had stopped and continued racing. Esteban Ocon, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly did not stop though, which saw them take the top three positions, with Alpine having two cars in the top three. Norris moved up to fourth place on lap 30 before the Safety Car was brought out due to the wet conditions.
Shortly after, the Red Flag was brought out once again in Brazil as Franco Colapinto went into the barriers on the pit straight, playing into the hands of the top three who hadn’t pitted. Following a short delay, a rolling start got things going as Esteban Ocon led the grid and immediately Lando Norris was overtaken by George Russell after going off the track. A couple of laps later, the other remaining Haas of Ollie Bearman, lost his rear and went into the barriers at Turn 7 but somehow managed to keep going. Lap 39 saw the Safety Car deployed once again as Carlos Sainz crashed out, losing his rear at the Turn 8 entry and smashing into the wall. Racing resumed on lap 43 as Ocon got things going for a second time but Verstappen swooped down on the inside of the Alpine to take the lead of the race while Lando Norris went wide and dropped to P7.
While Pérez, Lawson and Hamilton were battling it out for the final two points, it was Pérez’s teammate putting in fastest lap after fastest lap up ahead as Verstappen turned on the heat in front of the grid. Verstappen eventually took the win, 20s clear of Esteban Ocon in second place, with Alpine making it two on the podium as Pierre Gasly finished third. It was George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the points places, although a couple of those drivers including Norris were scheduled to be investigated post the race due to various rule infringements.
Verstappen now has a 62 point lead of Norris, with Leclerc 24 points behind the McLaren driver. In the Constructors’ championship, it was Alpine, taking a huge leap to move into P6, getting past Haas, VCARB and Williams. With the triple header coming to an end, racing will resume in three weeks’ time, as the grid moves to Las Vegas for the final three races of the season.
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