Brazil Grand Prix: Verstappen dominates rainy conditions, Piastri penalised for causing collision
Max Verstappen produced a virtuoso drive in often atrocious conditions to regain control of this year’s world championship when he charged from 17th on the grid to win the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen took a giant step towards securing his fourth Formula One world championship after a masterful drive in atrocious conditions to win the Brazil Grand Prix and extend his lead over his floundering title rival Lando Norris.
Starting from 17th on the grid after a wild qualifying session held in pouring rain just four hours before the race started, Verstappen brought back memories of Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna as he steered his Red Bull through the wet to claim his eighth victory this season and his first since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.
“You know what that is? Simply lovely,“ Verstappen told his engineers over the team radio.
Esteban Ocon finished a surprise runner-up with his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly joining him on the podium after taking third while Norris crossed the line sixth after starting on pole position at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.
Australia’s Oscar Piastri was demoted from seventh to eighth after he incurred a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Liam Lawson, the New Zealander who replaced Daniel Ricciardo mid-season.
“I deserved it, I didn’t get far enough alongside,” Piastri said.
“So my fault. It was just one of those days. It was just a tough, tough day.”
Verstappen cruised to victory by almost 20 seconds after benefiting from a red flag midway through the 69-lap race to strengthen his grip on the title.
“My emotions today have been a roller coaster,” Verstappen said. “Starting P17, I knew that was going to be a very tough race.
A win to savour 🤩#F1#BrazilGPpic.twitter.com/92kOgOcBR7
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 3, 2024
"The championship pendulum swings in one corner!" 🤯#F1#BrazilGPpic.twitter.com/WZwv6ozkzR
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 3, 2024
“We stayed out of trouble, we made the right calls and stayed calm and we were flying so all of these things together made that result possible but I mean unbelievable, to win here from so far back on the grid.”
With rain bucketing down, the Dutchman opted to stay out on the slippery circuit in his Red Bull when most of the early front runners, including Norris, George Russell and Charles Leclerc, all went to the pits for fresh intermediate tyres.
Verstappen got rewarded for his courage moments later when Franco Colapinto crashed heavily and the race was red flagged, enabling Verstappen, Ocon and Gasly to all take free stops for fresh rubber.
When the race resumed Verstappen waited patiently for the visibility to improve before seizing his opportunity to overtake Ocon and storm away to take the chequered flag for the 62nd time in his career.
He also picked up a bonus point for the fastest lap to extend his lead over Norris in the drivers’ title standings to 62 points with a maximum of 86 available from the remaining three rounds in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
“Sometimes it’s just unlucky and the rules go against you,” Norris said.
“So yeah, it was a difficult day. I made a couple of mistakes that cost me against George and cost me against Charles.
“It was a tough day. I did my best. I’ve had a lot of good races. It was about time that something didn’t go right.”
Leclerc remains in third spot with Piastri fourth but with neither driver now mathematically able to pass Verstappen.
Barring a miraculous turnaround, the Dutchman is now set to become just the sixth driver to win four or more F1 titles, joining Michael Schumacher (seven), Lewis Hamilton (six), Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Alain Prost (four) and Sebastian Vettel (four).
The only consolation for McLaren was that they were able to increase their lead in the constructors’ championship to 36 points over Ferrari and 49 over Red Bull though the biggest celebration was in the Alpine garage after their rare double oidium.
“It’s incredible for the whole team, we’ve had such a tough season and we’ve struggled to score points,” Gasly said.
“In these conditions everything was possible and no one believed it until the end, two cars on the podium, I don’t think anyone would have got that on their bingo card, it’s just fantastic.”
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Max Verstappen. - 393
2. Lando Norris - 331
3. Charles Leclerc - 307
4. Oscar Piastri - 262
5. Carlos Sainz - 244
6. George Russell - 192
7. Lewis Hamilton - 190
8. Sergio Perez - 151
9. Fernando Alonso - 62
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 31
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. McLaren - 593
2. Ferrari - 557
3. Red Bull - 544
4. Mercedes - 382
5. Aston Martin - 86
6. Alpine - 49
7. Haas - 46
8. RB - 44
9. Williams - 17
10. Sauber - 0
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