Championship leader, Max Verstappen, has moved closer to retaining the Formula 1 title after emerging winner of the Brazil GP in Sao Paolo despite starting the race 17th on the grid.
Verstappen stormed to a remarkable victory with the Dutchman climbing through the field to score his first race win since June amid changing weather conditions and huge drama along the way.
Heavy rain and multiple red flags due to crashes conditions supplied some the chaos in Sao Paolo. Lance Stroll also spun off during the formation lap, leading to some confusion over the aborted start procedure as pole-sitter Lando Norris led a number of cars away while others stayed on the grid.
Norris’ move means that the McLaren driver, along with George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will be investigated after the race for a start procedure infringement.
When the Grand Prix did begin, Russell overtook Norris while Verstappen worked his way through the pack in the early stages, before a red flag on Lap 32 due to Franco Colapinto crashing his Williams.
The red flag came out shortly after Russell and Norris had lost out of the lead by pitting just as a Virtual Safety Car period ended, meaning Esteban Ocon led the race ahead of Verstappen and Pierre Gasly when the race resumed with a little over half distance remaining.
But after another restart – following a Safety Car appearance due to a crash for Carlos Sainz – Verstappen surged into the lead and from there looked untouchable, the world champion going on to take the chequered flag with a margin of 19.477s.
Alpine enjoyed a dream day as Ocon and Gasly held on to finish second and third respectively to give the team a double podium – resulting in the team making an extraordinary jump from ninth to sixth in the constructors’ standings.
Verstappen, on his part, now leads the drivers’ championship by 62 points, ahead of Norris with three races left in the season – the Las Vegas GP, Qatar GP and the Abu Dhabi GP.