Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sensationally won Formula 1’s 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix after starting 17th in a wet weather thriller, as his pole-sitting title rival Lando Norris faltered for McLaren.
Alpine scored a brilliant double podium with Esteban Ocon second and Pierre Gasly third ahead of early leader George Russell, which vaults the team to sixth in the constructors’ standings.
Norris came home sixth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but the Briton faces a post-race investigation for a bizarre aborted start incident over two hours earlier in the heavily disrupted contest.
This was after Lance Stroll went off at Turn 4 ahead of the first start and damaged his Aston Martin before getting it beached in the gravel, after which Norris led several cars off the line again in reaction to an “Aborted Start” message, while Verstappen from 17th on the grid was among a separate group that waited for green lights before going around again.
A 10-minute delay then followed, after which Russell jumped Norris on the run to Turn 1 from second on the grid, while Verstappen slalomed his way through several cars to run 11th at the end of the first lap.
He continued to carve his way through the field for most of the first half, with a series of bold dives at Turn 1, where the Dutchman was uber-confident on the brakes in his RB20.
At the front, Russell and Norris pulled clear of the chasing Yuki Tsunoda, Ocon and Charles Leclerc, but the McLaren could never get close to attack the leading Mercedes.
By lap 15, Verstappen had reached Leclerc at the end of the chase group, but he then became bottled up behind the Ferrari in a similar manner to Norris.
Russell jumped Norris away from the lights and led the opening stages
Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images
Leclerc was a surprise early stopper with a huge increase in rain coming as the clouds got heavier around lap 24, which eased Verstappen’s progress.
The race was then altered significantly when Nico Hulkenberg spun off solo at Turn 1 with Russell on the 27th tour, which led to a virtual safety car under which several cars far back in the pack pitted and then the leaders came in at the end of the lap 28.
But this was just as the VSC was ending with the Haas having gotten moving again after getting pushing assistance from four marshals and so when Ocon and Verstappen stayed out – plus Gasly from further back in the other Alpine – they cycled to the…
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