Verstappen Storms to 2024 Sao Paulo GP Victory – Sport Grill

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen stormed to victory at 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 17th on the grid.

Verstappen worked his way up to second in wet conditions with a long opening stint which gifted him a free tyre change under red flags, after Williams’ Franco Colapinto spun out on lap 32.

The reigning three-time champion then survived a safety car following a spin for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, and passed Esteban Ocon for the lead into turn one on the restart on lap 43.

Ocon and Pierre Gasly rounded out the podium in a two-three finish for Alpine ahead of George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton.

In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen extended his title lead over Norris to 62 points with three rounds left of the season.

Alpine’s 33-point haul propelled them up to sixth in the constructors’ standings above Haas and RB with five points between the trio, whilst McLaren sit 37 points clear of Ferrari at the summit.

A hour before the race, Williams announced that Alex Albon had withdrawn from the race due to severe damage to his car in a Q3 crash in wet conditions, which had continued through the gap until the race start.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll too failed to make the start after he spun out at turn 4 on the formation lap, and beached his car in the gravel which led to chaos as the start was aborted as everyone else lined up.

Seven drivers including Colapinto – who had gone to the 14th-placed grid slot rather than his 16th-placed slot – however stayed in place anticipating a start whilst many drivers conducted an extra formation lap.

Stewards eventually aborted the whole start procedure and sent mechanics back onto the grid to tend to their drivers and cars.

Once the race commenced, Norris got beaten off the line by Russell as Tsunoda and Ocon held position but Lawson lost fifth to Leclerc.

Verstappen meanwhile got a fast start from 17th to recover to 11th before he then passed Lewis Hamilton, Gasly and Alonso into eighth by the end of lap six, followed by Piastri and Lawson into sixth on lap 11.

Ferrari was the first to make a pit stop with Leclerc on lap 25 and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg followed suit on the next lap, only to spin at turn 1 on lap 27 which caused a virtual safety car.

Hulkenberg subsequently was black flagged on lap 33 after he received assistance as he re-joined the circuit.

Up front, Russell kept Norris at an one-second gap until the pair pitted on lap 29 as torrential rain began to fall, which saw Norris pass his British compatriot a lap later on lap 30 for the net lead.

The safety car however came out that same lap followed by red flags two laps later on lap 32, after Williams’ Franco Colapinto spun out at the final corner to cause debris across the track.

Colapinto’s spin gifted the top three of; Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly a free tyre change, which in-turn meant that Verstappen at time of stoppage extended his title lead over Norris to 50 points after his 44-point gap looked set to be cut.

The race resumed 25 minutes later under the safety car for one lap before Ocon led the pack away on the restart, whilst Norris ran wide at turn 4 and lost fourth to Russell.

The safety car was re-deployed on lap 39 for three laps after Sainz spun out at turn six.

Racing resumed on Lap 43 but Ocon was swiftly passed by Verstappen for the lead into turn one.

Leclerc meanwhile launched a wild inside late-braking lunge on Norris and Russell into turn one to take fourth, but conceded one position back to Russell two laps later.

In that incident, Norris ran wide to avoid contact and slipped to seventh but was allowed through by Piastri on lap 46 into sixth.

Up front, Verstappen sprinted away to his first Grand Prix victory in ten races as he built a strong lead over Ocon.

Ocon and Gasly settled for second and third as they became the first French pair to finish on same podium since 1997 Spanish GP, which saw Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi finish in the same positions albeit in drier conditions.

Russell attempted to snatch third but eventually settled for fourth ahead of Leclerc, Norris whilst Tsunoda finished seventh after Piastri picked up a 10s time penalty.

Lawson and Hamilton rounded out the top ten following a tense scrap with Perez.

F1 now heads to Las Vegas for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix where Verstappen can seal the title if he leaves that round with a title lead of 60 points or more.