Max Verstappen’s path to victory at Interlagos involved a string of passes early in the race, a nervous wait for a red flag as the conditions worsened, and an opportunistic move on the leader at the final restart.
It added up to one of the most memorable wins of the season and 26 points which give him a virtually unassailable championship lead.
Here’s how he and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase pulled it off.
Verstappen’s 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix radio messages
“Yellows at turn four for Stroll”
“The Alpine was stopped there”
“The rules are super-clear”
“Rain increasing here”
“He’s on your tail now”
“Keep an eye on Charles’ lap times”
“You need to advise with the radar”
“It needs to be red, this”
“We didn’t qualify in conditions better than this”
“This needs to be a Safety Car restart”
“Safety Car deployed”
“How far is he behind?”
“Make sure you keep finding the water”
“No risk from here”
“That is how we silence them”
NB. Repetitive messages such as gaps to other drivers omitted
“Yellows at turn four for Stroll”
Lambiase advises Verstappen that Lance Stroll has spun off at Subida do Lago. The team keep an eye on whether he is able to move his car so they can judge whether the start is likely to be delayed.
| Formation lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Max we’ve got yellows at turn four for Stroll. Believe his engine is on. Engine on. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | He’s rolling, he ‘s rolling. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Yeah engine is back on. I’ll keep you posted on his progress. At the moment, Max, no change to procedures. Obviously there’s been a bit of a delay in the decision-making. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“The Alpine was stopped there”
Arriving at turn 15, Verstappen has a near-miss with two cars as he reaches the start-finish area. He blamed an Alpine ahead, driven by Pierre Gasly.
| Verstappen | Woah, woah, woah! The Alpine was stopped there, mate. Blind corner, stopped around it, so dangerous. |
| Lambiase | We’ve still not had any information, Max. Last car has approached the back off the grid. Now we have an aborted start. |
| Engineer | Multiple voices talking at once Aborted start. Engine off. We’ll get at least six minutes before a about it. You know, we’ll get at least six minutes notice before a new formation… Okay, they’re doing an extra formation lap. I suggest we follow. Pit limiter… |
| Lambiase | Okay this should not… |
| Engineer | …be reduced by one lap |
| Verstappen | Okay Colapinto just parked in the wrong grid… |
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