Verstappen claims victory in São Paulo, Brazil, as chaos and excitement unfold on the track.
In a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix held at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Max Verstappen emerged as the triumphant driver, navigating through a series of challenges to claim his 17th victory of the 2023 Formula 1 season. The race, marked by numerous incidents and intense driving as drivers battled for the podium, was another wire to wire win for Verstappen position as he continues to rewrite the record books for most victories in a season.
The event began with a dramatic start when a collision between Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon at the first corner led to a red flag, temporarily halting the race. As the track was cleared and the race resumed, Verstappen showcased his exceptional driving skills, getting another near perfect start and setting the pace for a comfortable win.
Verstappen’s relentless pursuit for victory was met with brief opposition from Lando Norris, driving for McLaren, who put up a strong fight, for a few laps of the race. Ultimately, Norris secured an impressive second-place finish, highlighting his growing prominence in the world of Formula 1 and the resurgence of McLaren in the Constructors standings.
“The starts were very important today. Both of them were very good,” said Verstappen post race. “After that the whole race was about the management of the tires. We were good on any tire, but I think especially that middle stint we could create a bit of a gap, and I thought that was very strong there. It all looked quite good, but with the high degradation around here you were constantly correcting the car, so your focus always needed to be there, but luckily it worked out great today.”
“Overall, it has been a good weekend in Brazil,” he continued. “It was a great race and we had good all-round pace throughout. Again, it was a really long stint on the tires and it was important to save them throughout as we had high tyre degradation. Lando had a good race and I had to work to defend in the first lap and maintain the gap. He was close to me in stint one and pushed a bit harder on the newer compounds at the start but I stayed calm throughout the race, just relaxed and let the car roll into the corner. He did well and we had some good racing today. It has been quite a long triple header so looking forward to a few days break before preparing for Vegas. I am enjoying the moment and hopefully we can continue this success until the end of the year.”
The win was Verstappen’s 17th win of the 2023 season was also his 52nd in Formula 1, which moves him ahead of Alain Prost to go fourth in the all-time Grand Prix winners’ list – only Sebastian Vettel (53), Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103) have more.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was back on the podium for the first time since the Dutch Grand Prix in August and delivered a defensive masterclass against Perez in a thrilling duel in the final 15 laps.
Perez was in Alonso’s DRS for several laps and eventually overtook the Aston Martin driver on the penultimate lap. However, Alonso didn’t give up and got back ahead on the last lap going into Turn Four and held off Perez by 0.053s in a photo finish.
Perez, who has been the subject of several rumors of replacement this year, and who is locked into a tight battle for second place in the season standings with Lewis Hamilton, put together one of his better drives in the past few months.
“Let’s start from the beginning, it took me a while to get through the Mercedes and that damaged my race, after that we were always a bit on the back foot with Fernando,” said Perez post race. “We were chipping away at him and towards the end we came really close to the podium. I have to say well done to Fernando because it was a great fight and really fair racing. Between us, whoever got the podium, it was well deserved, and he got it. I had the opportunity and went for it but he was really fast on the straights and I don’t think I could have done anything differently in the final few laps. I think that pace has been there for the last few weekends, but we haven’t been able to put it all together, it was a matter of time before it came. It was a good weekend for us in Championship, because we are getting closer to securing second spot, now we go to Vegas.”
Lance Stroll took fifth in Aston Martin’s best result since the early part of the season, with Carlos Sainz in sixth and Pierre Gasly seventh.
Mercedes had a dismal day as Lewis Hamilton finished down in eighth and George Russell retired from a low points position. Yuki Tsunoda recovered from 16th on the grid to take ninth and Esteban Ocon was in 10th.
Next up for the F1 circus is one of the most-eagerly anticipated events of the year – the Las Vegas Grand Prix.