Max Verstappen wins Brazilian GP and extends his dominance in F1 – Jogada

Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the Brazilian F1 GP this Sunday (5), accompanied on the podium by Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) and Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), while Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) finished fourth.

Verstappen, who started on pole, had no rival in the 71 laps held on the Interlagos circuit, in São Paulo, and completed a perfect Brazilian GP, ​​achieving the best time on Friday and winning the sprint race on Saturday.

With the victory at Interlagos, where he had only won in 2019, Verstappen ensured that he was the driver with the highest winning percentage in the history of F1 in a season. With two races remaining, he has managed to achieve a 77.2% win rate this season even if he doesn’t win in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, both
last races of the year, surpassing the Italian Alberto Ascari’s mark from 1952 (75%).

Furthermore, with the victory in Brazil he reached 524 points and became the first driver to surpass the 500 points barrier in a season.

Bumpy start

The race in Interlagos was marked by accidents right from the beginning. On the formation lap, Charles Leclerc, who started second, had a hydraulic problem with his Ferrari that ended up leaving the track,
colliding with the protection and being unable to run.

Just a few seconds after the start, before reaching the first corner, German Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Thai Alex Albon (Williams) collided and the latter ended up colliding with Danish Kevin Magnussen (Haas), leaving both out.

The accident left a lot of debris on the track, and even a wheel that flew off and hit the car of Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri). Ricciardo and Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) were the most affected, but were saved by the red flag, which allowed them to go to the pits to repair their cars.

The big beneficiary in the first start was Lando Norris, who started sixth and with a great start, managed to take second place before the red flag appeared.

Second start

After a half-hour break, another start was made, with Verstappen in first, leading comfortably, followed by Norris firmly in second position and with Fernando Alonso overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the inside, in third, on the second straight. Hamilton was hampered by a front wheel problem and had no chance of fighting for the podium, losing strength as the laps went by.

With Verstappen dominating at will and Norris consolidated in second, all the excitement was concentrated in third place, thanks to the great reaction of Mexican Sergio Pérez.

Alonso-Perez duel

After starting ninth initially and sixth in the second start, Pérez went after Alonso in the final laps, although the two-time world champion showed his experience with a great defense.

Using DRS on all straights, the Mexican managed to overtake Alonso on the last lap, although the Spaniard, in a historic finish, overtook him in the last few meters, overtaking Perez on the outside. The two drivers reached the finish line together, separated by
just 0.053 seconds, to the delight of the public.

It was Alonso’s ninth podium at Interlagos, the first he achieved on the Brazilian circuit since 2013.
With the victory, Verstappen further isolates himself in first place in the F1 world championship with 524 points, while Pérez, second with 258, widens the gap in relation to the British Lewis Hamilton (226), who has third place threatened by Fernando Alonso ( 198), Lando Norris (195) and Carlos Sainz (195).
After the Brazilian GP, ​​the F1 season will still have two more races before it ends: in Las Vegas, on November 19th, and in Abu Dhabi, on November 26th.

Brazilian GP final classification:

1. Max Verstappen (HOL/Red Bull) 305.879 km in 1h 56:48.894
2. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) at 8,277
3. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 34,155
4. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull) 34,208
5. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 40,845
6. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 50,188
7. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 56,093
8. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:02.859
9. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1:09.880
10. Estéban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) at 1 lap
11. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap
12. Nico Hülkenberg (ALE/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap away
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 1 lap away
14. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) at 2 laps

Note: The other drivers did not finish the race

Drivers’ World Championship:

1. Max Verstappen (HOL) 524 pts
2. Sergio Pérez (MEX) 258
3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 226
4. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 198
5. Lando Norris (GBR) 195
6. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 192
7. Charles Leclerc (MON) 170
8. George Russell (GBR) 156
9. Oscar Piastri (AUS) 87
10. Lance Stroll (CAN) 63
11. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 62
12. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 46
13. Alexander Albon (TAI) 27
14. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 13
15. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 10
16. Nico Hülkenberg (ALE) 9
17. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 6
18. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 6
19. Kevin Magnussen (DIN) 3
20. Liam Lawson (NZL) 2
21. Logan Sargeant (USA) 1
22. Nyck de Vries (HOL) 0

Builders World:

1. Red Bull 782 pts
2.Mercedes 382
3. Ferrari 362
4. McLaren-Mercedes 282
5. Aston Martin-Mercedes 261
6. Alpine-Renault 108
7. Williams-Mercedes 28
8. AlphaTauri-Red Bull 21
9. Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 16
10. Haas-Ferrari 12