Max Verstappen pulled off a stunning victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix, climbing up from 17th on the grid in a chaotic and rain-lashed race.
Verstappen finished 19.477 seconds ahead of Alpine’s French duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Mercedes’ George Russell finished fourth and Charles Leclerc fifth for Ferrari in an eventful race which saw two red-flag stoppages, safety car periods, penalties and planned post-race investigations.
Rival Lando Norris of McLaren finished sixth after a couple of key errors, to trail by 62 points adrift of Verstappen with 86 still available in the final three races.
The Dutchman’s triumph lifted him to 393 points, increasing his advantage over Norris who is on 331.
Verstappen, who is eyeing for a fourth consecutive world title, will become world champion if he leaves the next race at Las Vegas on 23 November with a lead of at least 60 points.
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Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly took the final two podium places to transform Alpine’s season and move the team up from ninth in the constructors’ championship to sixth.
It was Verstappen’s first win since the Spanish Grand Prix in June and it took him 11 races.
Lando Norris’ hopes to win a world title were crushed at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. As he was slowly inching closer toward that goal, the brilliant performance by Verstappen dashed his hopes.
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To make it worse, the Brit received reprimand for aborted start infringement.
Driver Standings after Brazil GP
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Max Verstappen – 393 points
- Lando Norris – 331 points
- Charles Leclerc – 307 points
- Oscar Piastri – 262 points
- Carlos Sainz – 244 points
- George Russell – 192 points
- Lewis Hamilton – 190 points
- Sergio Perez – 151 points
- Fernando Alonso – 62 points
- Nico Hulkenberg – 31 points
- Yuki Tsunoda – 28 points
- Pierre Gasly – 26 points
- Lance Stroll – 24 points
- Esteban Ocon – 23 points
- Kevin Magnussen – 14 points
- Alex Albon – 12 points
- Daniel Ricciardo – 12 points
- Ollie Bearman – 7 points
- Franco Colapinto – 5 points
- Liam Lawson – 4 points
- Zhou Guanyu – 0 points
- Logan Sargeant – 0 points
- Valtteri Bottas – 0 points
Constructors’ Championship after Brazil GP
- McLaren – 593 points
- Ferrari – 557 points
- Red Bull Racing – 544 points
- Mercedes – 382 points
- Aston Martin – 86 points
- Alpine – 49 points
- Haas – 46 points
- RB – 44 points
- Williams – 17 points
- Sauber – 0 points
Also Read: All You Need To Know About F1 Racing
