Max Verstappen claimed a sensational 15th-to-first victory ahead of a shock double podium for Alpine at a marathon wet-weather Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Polesitter Lando Norris, having spied a chance to make significant gains on Verstappen’s title lead, finished a scrappy and error-prone sixth, his title challenge snuffed out. The Briton also ended the race under post-race investigation for a start procedure infringement, having bizarrely completed an additional formation lap after the first start was abandoned after Lance Stroll spun off the road and ended beached in the gravel before the start.
Verstappen capitalized on his rival’s mistakes and the intermittent heavy rain to break his 10-race victory drought with a masterclass wet-weather performance and put one hand on a fourth championship trophy.
The Dutchman — who technically started from 17th on the grid but Alex Albon and Lance Stroll failed to take the start — was up to 11th on the first lap and up to sixth by lap 11, putting himself within striking distance of the podium in the variable weather. From there his victory hinged on two key incidents between laps 27 and 32 of 69.
The first was Nico Hulkenberg spearing off the road at the first turn and getting stuck on a raised drain, triggering a virtual safety car. He was subsequently disqualified for having marshals dislodge his car to help him rejoin the race.
The timing of the caution was poor for erstwhile leader George Russell, who had taken top spot into the first turn on the first lap, and Norris, both having just powered down the front straight, and they were only just cresting the hill towards the pit entrance when virtual safety car was ending. Both committed to pitting anyway, dropping them to fourth and fifth behind Esteban Ocon, Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, who didn’t stop during the interruption. That premature pit stop came back to bite hard on lap 32, when Franco Colapinto crashed his Williams climbing the hill out of Juncao.
Safety car neutralization was already underway just as Norris retook what should have been the net lead, but Colapinto’s smash forced its suspension with red flags. It gifted Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly free tire changes, relegating Norris and Russell to fourth and fifth.
A rolling restart was called for once conditions mellowed enough for racing to resume, with Ocon nailing his start, gapping Verstappen, with Russell pinching fourth from Norris. The action lasted just five laps before Carlos Sainz sent his Ferrari careering into the wall at Turn 8, forcing another safety car.
The second resumption wasn’t as smooth for the leading Frenchman. Waiting until the last moment to put his foot down, Verstappen had no trouble shadowing him down pit straight and launching a move down the inside at Turn 1 to take top spot.
News got better for the Dutchman, with Norris losing his bearings in the first-turn melee and ending up off the track, where he dropped to seventh behind teammate Oscar Piastri when he rejoined, dumping him out of podium contention.
With only the relatively uncompetitive Alpines behind him and with overtaking tricky in the slippery conditions, Verstappen opened up a comfortable margin at the head of the field with ease to record a famous and dominant 19.2s victory.
“My emotions today have been a rollercoaster, with qualifying being really unlucky with that red flag,” he said of the events that left him down the grid order. “I knew it was going to be a very tough race. … We stayed out of trouble. We made the right calls. We stayed calm and we were flying. All of those things together made that result possible.
“Unbelievable to win here from so far back on the grid.”
Ocon was faultless after losing the lead to take his fourth career podium and his first since last year’s Monaco Grand Prix.
“What a day that was after a difficult season,” he said. “It’s really nice to be driving around here and having the performance a bit leveled out in the rain. … I felt at ease when it started to rain this morning. I love it here when it rains. Today a special race for us.”
Pierre Gasly completed the podium double by holding off Russell’s faster Mercedes in the final laps of the race to claim the fourth piece of silverware of his career.
“It’s incredible for the whole team,” he said. “We’ve had such a tough season. We’ve struggled to score points. … Two cars on the podium — I don’t think anyone would’ve had that on their bingo card ahead of the season. It’s just fantastic.”
The 33-point double rostrum appearance leaps Alpine from ninth to sixth in the constructors championship, three points ahead of Haas and 37 behind Aston Martin.
Russell turned his early race lead into fourth behind Gasly, but both he and teammate Lewis Hamilton, who finished 10th, face a post-race investigation for Mercedes adjusting their tire pressures on the grid with wheels already fitted to the car.
Charles Leclerc finished a quiet fifth for Ferrari ahead of the chastened Norris in sixth, the Briton gifted the place by teammate Piastri in another team order. It dropped him to 61 points off the title lead, with the championship able to be settled against him at the next race in Las Vegas.
Norris, too, might have post-race pain to endure pending an investigation for a breach of start procedure.
An aborted start to allow Stroll’s beached car to be collected required cars to wait on the grid, effectively as though the formation lap hadn’t happened yet, but Norris instead embarked on another lap of the circuit, followed by Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. After a short delay, most of the rest of the field followed with permission from race control. Those four drivers will see the stewards after the race to explain an unprecedented situation.
Tsunoda finished seventh after being promoted a place ahead of Piastri, who copped a 10s penalty for hitting Lawson in the first half of the race. Lawson finished directly behind him in ninth after a spirited battle with Hamilton and Sergio Perez behind him in the closing laps, the Kiwi junior prevailing over his more experienced rivals.
Hamilton completed the top 10 ahead of the scoreless Perez, Oliver Bearman, Valtteri Bottas, the injured Fernando Alonso and Zhou Guanyu as the last among the finishers.
