Verstappen wins Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2024

Max Verstappen wins chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix after stunning recovery from P17

Max Verstappen has stormed to a remarkable victory in a frenetic Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Dutchman climbing through the field from an original starting position of P17 to score his first race win since June amid changing weather conditions and huge drama along the way โ€“ which also saw Alpine score a double podium result.

The chaos started before the event had even got under way after Lance Stroll spun off during the formation lap, leading to some confusion over the aborted start procedure as pole-sitter Lando Norris led a number of cars away while others stayed on the grid, meaning that Norris, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will be investigated after the race for a start procedure infringement.

When the Grand Prix did begin, Russell enjoyed a stronger launch and led from Norris while Verstappen worked his way through the pack in the early stages. As the event unfolded amid changing levels of rainfall, a red flag was thrown on Lap 32 following a crash for Franco Colapinto in the Williams โ€“ shortly after Russell and Norris had lost out by pitting just as a Virtual Safety Car period ended.

Verstappen wins Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2024
Verstappen wins Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2024 / Photo: F1

This meant that Esteban Ocon was leading from Verstappen and Pierre Gasly when the race resumed with a little over half distance remaining. But after another restart โ€“ following a Safety Car appearance due to a crash for Carlos Sainz โ€“ Verstappen surged into the lead and from there looked untouchable, the world champion going on to take the chequered flag with a margin of 19.477s.

It proved to be a dream day, meanwhile, for Alpine, with Ocon and Gasly holding on to P2 and P3 to score a double podium โ€“ resulting in the team making an extraordinary jump from ninth to sixth in the constructorsโ€™ standings.

Russell ended the race in fourth for Mercedes ahead of Charles Leclerc in Ferrari, with Norris following in what was surely a disappointing sixth as the Briton loses ground to Verstappen in the championship standings. McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri crossed the line in seventh but was hit with a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Lawson, dropping the Australian down to eighth.

This promoted Tsunoda up into seventh, making it a double points celebration for RB as Lawson ended the race in ninth. Lewis Hamilton scored the final point on offer after working his way forwards for Mercedes and fending off a charging Sergio Perez in the latter stages, leaving the Red Bull driver in P11.

Ollie Bearman took 12th for Haas after an eventful afternoon for the teenager, who faced some off-track moments as well as picking up a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Colapinto. Valtteri Bottas followed in 13th for Kick Sauber, ahead of the final classified runners of Aston Martinโ€™s Fernando Alonso and fellow Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu.

Sainz and Colapinto both recorded retirements following their crashes, while Nico Hulkenberg was given a black flag just prior to the race restart after the Haas man received assistance from marshals when returning to the track following an earlier off.

Stroll did not take the start following his spin on the original formation lap in the Aston Martin, while Alex Albon had been unable to participate for Williams as the team did not have time to repair his car following his earlier crash in qualifying.

Max Verstappen delivered one of the all-time great wet weather drives in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, going from P17 on the grid to take victory for the first time since June โ€“ and extending his lead in the title race over Lando Norris.

Verstappen had been left frustrated after Sunday morningโ€™s delayed qualifying session, when a crash for Lance Stroll and subsequent red flag saw him drop out of Q2 along with team mate Sergio Perez โ€“ with Verstappen starting a penalised P17 after a five-place grid drop for fitting a new internal combustion engine.

It meant Verstappen scored his first victory since the Spanish Grand Prix in June โ€“ while with title rival and pole-sitter Lando Norris finishing down in P6, Verstappen extended his championship lead to 62 points, meaning he could clinch the title at the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix.

โ€œMy emotions today have been a rollercoaster,โ€ said a delighted Verstappen afterwards. โ€œYou know, with qualifying, being really unlucky with that red flag and starting P17, I knew that it was going to be a very tough race.”

Asked, meanwhile, if he now felt he had stepped closer to a fourth title going into the final three races of the season, Verstappen replied: โ€œNow itโ€™s of course a great result, which if you look a few hours ago, was definitely the other way around, looking like we were going to lose a lot of points!

โ€œSo Iโ€™m very happy, but still three tough races [to go], so we just need to stay calm and make no mistakes.โ€

Red Bull, meanwhile, scored 32 points from the Sprint weekend โ€“ 31 of them earned by Verstappen, after Perez failed to score in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix โ€“ to rivals McLarenโ€™s 27 and Ferrariโ€™s 20, meaning the third-placed team closed the gap in the constructorsโ€™ standings.

Source: F1.com

Related Articles

Responses