Verstappen overcame a 5s penalty to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
Verstappen barged his way past Leclerc at the first corner, much to the pole-winner’s anger, and was given a 5s penalty but kept his track position at the front in the early stages.
Leclerc passed Verstappen just before his first pitstop, while Perez charged through the field after an early pitstop to change his front wing after a first-corner collision.
The race was interrupted when McLaren’s Lando Norris crashed out heavily on lap three, and again after Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell clashed just after half distance.
Perez and Leclerc swapped places, just as Verstappen caught them. Verstappen then passed them both to score his 18th win of the season. Perez took second when Leclerc ran wide, but Leclerc repassed him on the final lap to deny a Red Bull 1-2.
2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix results
How the 2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix unfolded
Polesitter Leclerc couldn’t hold on to his advantage on the short sprint to Turn 1, with Verstappen shoving him wide at Turn 1 to grab the lead. Moments later, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz both spun. Perez needed a new front wing on his Red Bull, as did Alonso after being nerfed in the run-off by Valtteri Bottas (whose Alfa Romeo had been pushed from behind by Perez). Sainz dropped to 17th.
Russell ran third, ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Alex Albon (Williams). Logan Sargeant (Williams) passed Kevin Magnussen (Haas) for sixth on the Strip on the opening lap, just before a virtual safety car to pick up debris.
The race went green again on lap three, with Verstappen running 1.8s ahead of Leclerc, but only until Turn 12 when Norris crashed out, just missing his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, as his left-rear wheel appeared to fail. That caused a safety car period, during which Sainz and Lance Stroll (Aston) took a ‘free’ pitstop for hard tyres.
The race resumed on lap seven, with Verstappen getting the jump on Leclerc – who complained that he overslowed his Red Bull before jumping on the gas – ahead of Russell, Gasly and the Williams duo. Verstappen was then handed a 5s penalty for forcing Leclerc off the track.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon snatched seventh from Magnussen, and Piastri followed suit after swapping eighth on lap 11. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who like Piastri was on hard tyres, then passed Magnussen for ninth….
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