@Max33Verstappen takes dominant victory in wet-and-wild #SaoPauloGP. #F1

Verstappen Brazil GP Victory – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen charged to a masterclass victory from P17 on the grid to take victory in a wet-and-wild Brazil GP to increase his Driver’s Championship lead over rival Lando Norris who is under investigation by the race stewards for a starting procedure infringement as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly completed the final points places in an impressive drive for Alpine.

 

 

Verstappen now holds a 62-point lead over championship rival Norris and could have his fourth world title crown wrapped up in Las Vegas.

 

McLaren’s lead over Ferrari in the Constructor’s sits at 36 points whereas Red Bull have also closed the gap to second-placed Ferrari in the standings to 13 points. Alpine’s double podium sees them jump from ninth to sixth with 49 points.

 

On the warm up lap, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll locked the rears of his AMR24 racer at turn four and spun off the track and hit the wall knocking off his front wing, then the Canadian reversed and was beached in the gravel.

 

FIA called for the race start to be aborted and a ten minute delay.

 

The drivers were left confused at the start as pole-sitter Norris went for an extra formation, whilst the others remained on the grid thinking the mechanics were coming to get them.

 

Pole-sitter Norris was under investigation by the race stewards for a starting procedure infringement.

 

The mechanics returned to the track to attend the cars with another ten minutes until lights out. The teams could opt to change tyres if need be.

 

There were 17 cars left on the grid with no Alexander Albon who crashed heavily and his FW46 racer was unable to be repaired in time for the Grand Prix, no Stroll after hitting the wall and beaching it in the gravel on the formation lap and no Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

 

Sainz is starting in the pit-lane after taking on a new power-unit after crashing in the earlier qualifying session.

 

When the 69-lap Brazil GP began, pole-sitter Norris got a good start long with Russell who made a move on the inside of the McLaren into turn one and took the lead meanwhile behind them Leclerc pushed his way in-front of Lawson to jump into fifth place.

 

Red Bull’s Perez suffered a spin out of turn ten and fell to the back of the pack.

 

On th beginning of the second tour Russell held a 1.4 second lead over Norris with Tsunoda third, Ocon fourth as Leclerc completed the top five.

 

Behind them championship leader Max Verstappen took a dive on the inside of 2021 title-rival Hamilton to move into the final points place after a brilliant start from 17^th on the grid.

 

Ferrari’s Sainz reported heavy rain coming out of the final corner at Juncao.

 

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was up into ninth place after starting 15^th on the grid.

 

Verstappen was told over the radio that the heavy rain would last two to three minutes.

 

On the fifth tour, Russell’s lead over Norris was at 0.992 seconds with Tsunoda third, Ocon fourth as Leclerc completed the top five.

 

Behind them Verstappen made a dive up the inside of Gasly into the Senna S to take ninth place off the Alpine.

 

And Haas’s Oliver Bearman slipped off in the middle sector after a collision with Williams’ Franco Colapinto to end up 16th behind Sainz.

 

Verstappen on his recovery drive made his way in-front of Alonso take eighth place.

 

Russell, Tsunoda and Lawson like Norris are also under investigation for a race start infringement.

 

In the battle for the lead Russell brought the gap over Norris to 1.011 seconds as Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race during the early proceedings on lap eight.

 

Meanwhile Bearman was hit with a 10-second timed penalty for his collision with Colapinto.

 

The battle for seventh saw Verstappen right on the gearbox of McLaren’s Piastri and had a look on the Australian but could not get past at turn four.

 

On the tenth tour Verstappen made a long late lunge up the inside of Piastri into turn one to move up into seventh place and next on his radar was RB’s Lawson.

 

On the 11^th lap, Russell held a 0.900 second lead over Norris with Tsunoda over five seconds down in third, Ocon fourth as Leclerc rounded out the top five.

 

Meanwhile, Verstappen jumped ahead of Lawson at turn eight to snatch sixth place as Mercedes’ Hamilton went off at Juncao, losing a place to Hulkenberg and then was overtaken by Williams’ Colapinto through the Senna S complex to move up into 12^th.

 

The starting procedure infringement involving Norris, Tsunoda and Lawson would be investigated after the race.

 

Piastri was told over the radio that the next band of rain is expected on lap 30.

 

On the 15^th tour, Russell’s lead over Norris was still hovering around the 0.800 mark with Tsunoda building a train with Ocon, Leclerc and now Verstappen joining the party. Further back, Lawson, Piastri, Alonso and Gasly were all in the points.

 

A tour later Gasly made his way in-front of Alonso to take ninth place.

 

Alonso was told heavier rain is coming in 15 minutes.

 

In the battle for the lead on lap 18, second-placed Norris was even closer to Russell bringing the gap down to 0.464 seconds and the latter managed to rebuild the gap through the middle sector to ease the threat of an overtake slightly.

 

Behind them Sainz and Bearman made their way past Hamilton to move up into 13^th and 14^th respectively after the latter suffered another lock-up at Juncao and Bearman made the move a Feradura.

 

Lap 20 saw race leader Russell bring the gap over Norris to 1.443 seconds with Tsunoda a distant third with Ocon, Leclerc and Verstappen all in the train behind the RB.

 

The fight for fifth saw Leclerc have a moment out of Juncao as it brought Verstappen right on his tail all the way down the main-straight, but the former covered the latter to remain in the position.

 

Verstappen had another look at Feradura, but Leclerc closed the door on the Red Bull.

 

Further back, 12^th-placed Sainz went wide after locking up at the turn four left hander allowing Bearman, Hamilton and Colapinto to move ahead.

 

On the 25^th tour, fifth-placed Leclerc boxed for a fresh set of intermediates as the rain arrived and emerged in 13^th place behind Hamilton.

 

Tenth-placed Hulkenberg pitted for a fresh set of inters on lap 26 and came out in 17^th behind Bottas.

 

Meanwhile on the 27^th lap, second-placed Norris was even closer behind Russell and had a look into turn four, but the latter covered the McLaren.

 

Behind them Hulkenberg was beached into turn one after suffering a spin as the VSC was brought out on the 28^th lap as Ocon overtook Tsunoda for third.

 

Piastri, Alonso, Bearman, Hamilton, Sainz and Perez all came in for a fresh set of inters and the latter a full wet.

 

Meanwhile, Hulkenberg has found his way back onto the circuit.

 

The VSC ended as both race leader Russell and Norris pitted along with RB driver’s Tsunoda and Lawson and all emerged in fourth, fifth and the RB’s in sixth and 11^th respectively.

 

On the 30^th tour, the safety car was deployed due to the heavy rain conditions.

 

Piastri was hit with a ten-second timed penalty for his investigation for causing a collision with Lawson at turn one.

 

The order under the safety car was Ocon first, Verstappen second and Gasly third with the top three still to pit, Norris fourth who made his way ahead on the inside of Russell into turn four before the SC was deployed.

 

Meanwhile, after changing to a fresh set of full wets, Colapinto suffered another heavy crash on the main straight, which brought out the red flag.

 

Replays showed the Argentine lost the rear of his FW46 racer coming out of turns 12/13 and spun off and whacked the wall at turn 14 destroying the front, left and back of the car.

 

The order under the red flag was as follows: Ocon, Verstappen, Gasly, Norris, Russell, Tsunoda, Leclerc, Piastri, Alonso, Lawson, Hamilton, Bottas, Sainz, Perez, Bearman, Zhou.

 

Hulkenberg was given a black flag and disqualification by the race stewards after being given help by the marshals for his VF-24 racer to be pushed off the drain and returned back onto the track to continue running.

 

Following a lengthy delay to clear Colapinto’s FW46 racer and removed the oil off the track that came out of the car, the race resumed behind the safety car with a rolling start procedure on lap 33.

 

Both Bearman and Zhou went off before the running restarted.

 

As the safety car came in, race leader Ocon back the pack up and left it as late a possible to make a charge on the rundown to turn one.

 

Behind them, fourth-placed Norris ran wide at turn four allowing Russell to take the position down at Feradura, whilst a bit further down the track, Leclerc ran wide but managed to cover Piastri.

 

Hamilton made his way ahead of Alonso for ninth on the inside at turn one.

 

On the 36^th tour, Ocon held a 3.131 second lead over second-placed Verstappen with Gasly third, Russell fourth, Norris fifth, Leclerc sixth, Piastri seventh, Tsunoda eighth, Hamilton ninth as Alonso rounded out the top ten.

 

Behind them, Bearman was right behind Sainz as he suffered a spin at Feradura and hit the wall with his front wing and managed to reverse and get going again as the Briton fell to the back of the field.

 

On the 38^th tour, Bearman also went off at Juncao after suffering a lock-up.

 

On the following lap, Verstappen brought the gap to Ocon down to 2.775 seconds as behind them, Hamilton was all over the back of Tsunoda in the fight for eighth place.

 

The 40^th lap saw Sainz suffer a spin at Feradura after touching the slippery white line and hit the wall damaging his front and rear wing and brought out the safety car becoming the fifth retirement of the Grand Prix.

 

When the race went back to green on lap 43 after Sainz’s SF-24 entry was cleared, race leader Ocon made the getaway near the pit entry line as Verstappen made a lunge on the inside to jump the Alpine to take the lead at turn one.

 

Behind them Leclerc made a dive up the inside of Norris to move up into fourth place as the latter ran wide at turn one and fell back to seventh behind team-mate Piastri.

 

At Juncao, Aston Martin’s Alonso went off into the grass and suffered a spin, dropping to the rear of the pack.

 

On the beginning of the following tour, Verstappen’s lead was at two seconds with Gasly third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Piastri sixth, Norris seventh, Tsunoda eighth, Lawson ninth as Perez completed the top ten.

 

There are still investigations by the race stewards to come with Norris, Russell, Tsunoda and Lawson along with Mercedes for a tyre pressure infringement.

 

Russell was all over the back of Leclerc and a tour later suffered a snap of oversteer at turn four and ended up the behind the Mercedes in fifth.

 

Leclerc was now added the race stewards list of investigations for rejoining the track unsafely.

 

With 20 laps remaining, race leader Verstappen posted the fastest lap and increased his lead to 4.670 seconds over Ocon with Gasly third, Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth, Norris sixth, Piastri seventh, Tsunoda eighth, Lawson ninth as Perez rounded out the top ten.

 

The next lap saw Verstappen post another fastest lap with a 1:22.470 as he continued to increase his lead over Ocon, which was at 5.562 seconds.

 

There was no further investigation for Leclerc rejoining unsafely at turn four as Norris was right behind the back of the Ferrari.

 

Piastri suffered a lock-up at Juncao and went onto the grass as the McLaren driver fell into the clutches of Tsunoda’s RB as the latter attempted to make the overtake, but the former kept the VCARB01 at bay into the Senna S.

 

Verstappen’s tyres were beginning to overheat as the Dutchman has been told to find some water to cool the tyres down, but still had a solid 7.627 second gap over Ocon as behind them the Dutchman’s team-mate Perez had a look on Lawson into turn one, but the Kiwi shut the door on the Red Bull.

 

A tour later, Perez had another look and made a move on the inside of Lawson in the battle for ninth at turn one, the pairing made contact, but the latter kept wheel-to-wheel with the Mexican and managed to keep the Red Bull behind.

 

Perez also ran wide at turn four allowing Hamilton to take the final points place and was now on the back of Lawson’s RB.

 

The incident involving Perez and Lawson was now noted by the race stewards.

 

Hamilton ran wide through turn eight as Perez had a look to make the move on the Mercedes but could not get by the seven-time world champion.

 

The incident involving Perez and Lawson so no further action necessary.

 

With ten laps left, Verstappen’s increased the gap over Ocon by 11.069 seconds with Gasly third, Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth, Norris sixth, Piastri seventh, Tsunoda eighth, Lawson ninth as Hamilton completed the top ten runners.

 

With seven tours remaining, Hamilton was still on the back of Lawson in the battle for ninth, the latter still kept the Mercedes behind.

 

As the circuit continued to dry and the rain was keeping away, race leader Verstappen was continuing to charge away from Ocon pulling out a 14.851 second gap with Gasly third, Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth, Norris sixth, Piastri seventh, Tsunoda eighth, Lawson ninth as Hamilton rounded out the top ten.

 

Verstappen once again posted the quickest lap of the Grand Prix a 1:20.990 and was flying out front with a 15.732 second gap to Ocon.

 

On the penultimate tour, Verstappen set another fastest lap with a 1:20.472 as he continued to cruise out-front.

 

Verstappen reached the chequered flag to win the Sao Paulo GP by 19.477 seconds and was the 62^nd victory of his career as Ocon came second and Gasly rounded out the top three for Alpine.

 

Mercedes’ Russell settled for fourth and ahead of Ferrari’s Leclerc who finished fifth.

 

McLaren’s Norris ended the Grand Prix in sixth with the cloud of post-race investigation hanging over the Briton, which could see the Briton fall out of the order.

 

RB’s Tsunoda and Lawson crossed the line in seventh and ninth respectively, but also are currently under investigation by the stewards for their starting procedure infringements as McLaren’s Piastri split the pairing in eighth and ended up in eighth after his 10-second penalty was applied to his finish time.

 

Mercedes’ Hamilton completed the final points place as both Mercedes are also currently under investigation for their tyre pressure infringements under the red flag.

 

Red Bull’s Perez took 11^th place and in-front of Bearman who placed 12^th and Sauber’s Bottas who came 13^th in the classification.

 

Aston Martin’s Alonso and Sauber’s Zhou completed the final runners of the Grand Prix.

---

2024 Brazil GP – The Top Three

 

 

2024 Brazil GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20 – 26 Points:

“My emotions today have been a rollercoaster with qualifying being unlucky with the red flag. But we stayed out of trouble, made the right calls and we were flying, Unbelievable, to win here from so far back on the grid.”

 

2^nd Place – Esteban Ocon, #31, BWT Alpine F1 Team, Renault, A524 – 18 Points:

“What a day that was after a difficult season. I’m very happy to be on the podium, I cannot thank everyone enough. The car was extremely difficult in the dry, but I felt at ease when it started to rain. I love it here when it rains, and today it has brought us a special race.”

 

3^rd Place – Pierre Gasly, #10, BWT Alpine F1 Team, Renault, A524 – 15 Points:

“It’s incredible for the whole team, it’s been such a tough season, and we have struggled to score points. But two cars on the podium, I don’t think anybody had that on their bingo card! We started 13th, managed to make 10 positions so I’m absolutely buzzing. Would have been easy to give up after a tough season but we never gave up.”

---

Formula 1 Lenovo Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2024 Race Results Classification (71 Laps)

 

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	69	2:06:54.430	26
2	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	69	+19.477s	18
3	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	69	+22.532s	15
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	69	+23.265s	12
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	69	+30.177s	10
6	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	69	+31.372s	8
7	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	69	+42.056s	6
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	69	+44.943s	4
9	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	69	+50.452s	2
10	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	69	+50.753s	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	69	+51.531s	0
12	50	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	69	+57.085s	0
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	69	+63.588s	0
14	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	69	+78.049s	0
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	69	+79.649s	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	38	DNF	0
NC	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	30	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	0	DNF	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	0	DNF	0
* Provisional results. Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1249/brazil/race-result

 

****Please Note Results May Change Following Post-Race Investigations****

 

Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 22 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns to the Las Vegas Street Circuit in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America for the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024 from Friday November 21-Sunday November 23.