In wet conditions, Max Verstappen tends to prove to be a different driver. This Sunday (3), the Dutchman from Red Bull overcame the chaotic São Paulo GP, tumultuous mainly due to the storm that has been punishing the capital of São Paulo since Friday (1), and won the Brazilian stage after climbing the field.
In addition to qualifying poorly and being eliminated in Q2, the season leader also had to serve a penalty. Therefore, to win the race, he needed to gain 16 positions. But he managed it, with precision that few had throughout the race.
Despite being at the forefront of the Drivers’ World Championship, the three-time champion has not won a race since June 23, when he won in Spain, in the 10th stage — the race in Brazil is the 21st on the calendar. Even so, he remained at the top thanks to the good advantage he built in the first half of the season.
Furthermore, Lando Norris, from McLaren, his main competitor in the fight for the title, is unable to maintain a regularity to significantly reduce the difference between them. This Sunday, he started on pole, but made mistakes and only finished in sixth place — as a result, the difference between the leader (393) and the runner-up in the World Championship (331) rose to 62 points.
Alongside Verstappen, who won at Interlagos for the third time (2019, 2023 and 2024), the two Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierry Gasly, reached the podium, in second and third position, respectively.
In addition to the surprising duo from the French team, another driver was greatly celebrated at Interlagos despite having only crossed the finish line in 10th position, the Englishman Lewis Hamilton. Before the race, he sent the crowd into a frenzy by driving the McLaren MP4/5B with which Ayrton Senna won the second of his three world titles. The action was part of the tributes to the idol over the weekend.
My emotions today were like a roller coaster. In qualifying I was very unlucky with the red flag. Starting in 17th place I knew it was going to be difficult today, but we didn’t get into trouble, I stayed calm the entire race and we were very fast. The combination of all this gave the result it did. It’s amazing to win here [em Interlagos]
The race had a series of incidents, starting before the start, in the introduction procedure, when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashed at the end of the opposite straight and caused the start of the race to be postponed. Then, it was Norris’ turn to make a mistake and miss the start, which caused another postponement. The McLaren driver will only be investigated for the incident after the race.
Including Stroll, five drivers left the track early because of crashes. One of them occurred on the 33rd lap, when the race was under safety car regime. Alone on a curve, Argentinean Franco Colapinto, from Williams, crashed and destroyed his car.
His departure provoked a lot of reaction in the stands, which received a legion of Argentines to support him. This was just to shake the fans, who even with the storm stopped supporting the driver.
Rain was present throughout the entire F1 weekend in São Paulo and caused changes to the schedule of the Brazilian stage. On Saturday (2), citing safety concerns for the drivers, the FIA (International Automobile Federation) decided to postpone qualifying training. The session was held on Sunday morning, at 7:30 am, as was the race, brought forward from 2 pm to 12:30 pm (Brasília time).
On Saturday, before the storm, it was possible to hold the sprint race, won by Lando Norris, from McLaren, who also took Oscar Piastri to the podium, in second. The two echoed criticism from other drivers, such as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who spoke about the “consistency” of the asphalt. Before hosting this year’s stage, the circuit underwent its first resurfacing in 10 years.
“We have to do something for the next time we come here,” Piastri said.
The City of São Paulo, under the management of Ricardo Nunes (MDB), is expected to spend R$275 million on works on the Interlagos circuit, including the construction of a new building, in addition to permanent stands. The budget also includes the allocation of R$37 million for maintenance, which includes asphalt.
Fans who attended Interlagos since Friday (1) reported several problems, most of which were related to the organization of the event, such as long access lines, few turnstiles and delays in food service.
Images and videos of the public trying to protect themselves from the intense rain and mud were shared on social media. Some even went under trash can lids to protect themselves.
When contacted by the report, the GP São Paulo organization stated that “after opening the gates, we had localized problems in managing the large flow of people. But, even in the morning,
the situation has been normalized.”
GP São Paulo final classification
1 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 – Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
3 – Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
4 – George Russell (Mercedes)
5 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6 – Lando Norris (McLaren)
7 – Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
8 – Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
9 – Liam Lawson (RB)
10 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
11 – Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
12 – Oliver Bearman (Haas)
13 – Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
14 – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
15 – Guanyu Zhou (Kick Sauber)
– Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
– Franco Colapinto (Williams)
– Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
-Alexander Albon(Williams)
– Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
