Max Verstappen has won the São Paulo Grand Prix in a remarkable victory which saw him come back from 17th on the grid. It’s his eighth win this year.
Meanwhile, Verstappen’s championship rival Lando Norris started in pole position but finished in sixth place. There are three GPs and one sprint race left in the season.
What happened
Verstappen originally qualified in 12th position but was handed a five-place grid penalty for taking a new engine outside his permitted allocation. In wet conditions, the Dutchman quickly worked his way through the back half of the field, and by Lap 11 he was in sixth position.
While Norris was forced to pit to change tyres in the heavy rain, Verstappen chose not to and was fortunate to be able to change tyres without pitting when the race was stopped due to Franco Colapinto crashing.
He then claimed the lead on Lap 43 and never looked back, winning by over 19 seconds. The two drivers from Alpine – Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly – filled out the remainder of the podium. Alpine’s strong drive in São Paulo has moved them from ninth to sixth in the Constructors.
Standings
Norris won the Sprint Race earlier in the weekend to reduce the gap between him and Verstappen to 44 points, but Verstappen’s victory in the GP has extended his lead in the Drivers Championship to an almost unassailable 62 points.
If Verstappen maintains a lead of 60 points or more after the next race in Las Vegas, he will win the world title for a fourth time. McLaren are still on top in the Constructors Championship, 36 points ahead of Ferrari in second and 49 points ahead of Red Bull in third.
What they said
Verstappen said after the race: “Starting P17, I knew that it was going to be a very tough race but we stayed out of trouble, we made the right calls, we stayed calm and we were fine… [it was] unbelievable to win here from so far back.”
What’s next
The next race on the calendar is the Las Vegas GP on 24 November (AEDT).
