With a memorable comeback, after leaving in 17th place, Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the rainy Brazilian Grand Prix this Sunday and was left behind the doorstep of his fourth consecutive Formula 1 world title.
The Alpines, from Frenchmen Esteban Ocon (2nd) and Pierre Gasly (3rd), completed the podium in the exciting and rugged 21st of 24 of the season.
Magd Max, 27, took advantage of the mistakes of his main escort, the British Lando Norris (McLaren), and prevailed on a chaotic weekend at the Interlagos Autodrome in Sao Paulo, where the bad weather disrupted all the plans.
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Verstappen also took the quick turn – he scored 17 during the contest – took 19400 seconds from Ocon and now leads by 62 points to Norris, who won the sprint race and the pole but finished sixth after being unable to tame his McLaren on the wet track.
With 86 units in the race, Red Bull’s strongman was very close to a new coronation after a competition in which he ended a streak of ten races in a row without triumphs.
Apart from rediscussing the victory, which he had been unaware of since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, Verstappen liquidated a direct rival Monegasque Charles Leclerc, third in the general classification.
After being fifth, behind British George Russell (Mercedes), Ferrari’s man is separated by 86 points from the lead in the absence of three runs and a sprint by the end of the season.
In the event of equality, the defending champion would be imposed for having more victories (8 against 3).
In line with the weekend’s chaos, the game began 19 minutes later than expected and with clouds. A double error by Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) on the training lap delayed the start and forced the withdrawal of the Canadian, who departed 10th.
After flying in the “quality,” held five hours before the Grand Prix, due to Saturday’s bad weather, Norris lost the tip to Rusell before the first curve, in which his compatriot entered first by winning the inner lane.
From the back-ups of the punters, the threat of a man who seemed knocked out was already announced by Verstappen, who qualified 12th, but was penalized with five places for modifying components of the engine of his Red Bull.
The world champion showed his caste and had already climbed to fifth place for lap 25, in the run-up to the rain, present from the fourth crossing to the finish, he became much stronger, although he calmed down at the end.
The rainfall was partly responsible for the abandonment of five pilots, including the Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), winner in Mexico a week ago.
In addition to his superb performance, “Mad Max,” he benefited from an entry to the pits by Norris and Russell just after the end of a virtual safety car, decreed after Franco Colapinto’s accident on lap 32.
“They play it and it goes well, it’s not talent, it’s luck,” Norris said of Red Bull’s strategy.
The clash of the Argentine revelation paralyzed the competition for 25 minutes. Backed by hundreds of compatriots who traveled to Sao Paulo to support him, the 21-year-old left the fight as he went 16th.
Nor was the other Latin American, Sergio Perez, very pressed for his loose results in Red Bull. The Mexican finished 11th.
But the breaks allowed the Alpines to win positions and at times smother Verstappen with a sandwich, who finally got rid of both in another restart of the competition, suspended after the intervention of a safety car on lap 40.
With their entry to the podium, Ocon and Gasly managed to get their team from the penultimate to sixth place. Red Bull (544), winner of the last two manufacturers’s championships, is still third, behind McLaren (593) and Ferrari (557). “What a day,” said a radiant Ocon. The rain leveled the performance, so I’m very happy.
