Brazilian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins again, Alonso steals the spotlight on the podium

It is a real chaos that we are experiencing in Brazil… Even before the lights go out. During the warm-up lap, Charles Leclerc slides on the track and crashes into the wall. Despite starting from the second position, it is already over for the Monegasque. « How can I be so unlucky? » he wonders over the radio. We won’t comment on that matter.

Chaos is once again at play shortly after the start. While Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton have effectively left the Aston Martins behind, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Williams of Alex Albon collide in the straight just before the first turn, triggering the deployment of the safety car. The Thai driver first collides with Hülkenberg, caught in between his teammate and the Williams, before ricocheting off Magnussen. However, there are so many pieces – and a loose tire – on the track that they ultimately decide to wave the red flag.

At that moment, McLaren informs Piastri that he won’t be able to resume the race due to significant damages. However, the team still attempts to repair the car during the red flag period. The same goes for AlphaTauri with Daniel Ricciardo’s car. Both will start from the pit lane for the restart.

Like last week in Mexico, we have a standing start. This second start is much cleaner, and Lando Norris is just as fast when the lights go out. However, Lewis Hamilton is not as lucky: Fernando Alonso is keeping up with him and manages to overtake him to take 3rd place. The other Aston Martin, Lance Stroll, has been demoted to 7th position, just ahead of Carlos Sainz, the only Ferrari still on the track.

The Briton from McLaren is hungry and fully intends to fight with all his might to challenge his friend Max Verstappen. He is less than a second behind the Red Bull and launches multiple attacks… Until the Dutchman finally pulls away by over a second. Is he playing with Norris to make him wear out his tires faster? Such a move wouldn’t be so surprising coming from the three-time world champion.

Sergio Perez counter-attacks (a little bit)

A little further, George Russell, behind his teammate, signals that Lewis should either pick up the pace or let him pass. Let’s remember that the Mercedes have surprisingly struggled all weekend, after Hamilton’s strong Sunday in Mexico last week. In the meantime, Sergio Perez is pushing at the back of car number 63, wanting to remind the world of F1 of his existence, which they may have already forgotten. The Mexican easily takes the advantage. The British driver complains about his teammate on the radio, asking, “Are we working together or is each one doing their own race?” A few moments later, the Red Bull overtakes Hamilton as well. At least there are no hard feelings at Mercedes…

The seven-time world champion then decides to pit, in order to refresh his tires and increase the pace. Lando Norris is also urged by his team to increase the pace. Max Verstappen is nearly 3 seconds behind. Perez also pits, trying to protect himself from a possible undercut. Upon exiting, he once again attacks the British driver and moves up to 7th position. An easy move, but the comparison remains difficult compared to his teammate. Stroll wastes no time in overtaking Russell as well, taking advantage of his new tires. At the same time, Guanyu Zhou has to retire from the race, as he seems to have a technical issue. At Ferrari, there is a little scare as Carlos Sainz nearly collides with Ricciardo in the pit lane. Thankfully, there are no unsafe releases on the horizon.

The Mercedes in distress at Interlagos

In the middle of the race, we have a little battle between the two Mercedes, with Russell looking to edge out his teammate. A battle to which Carlos Sainz joins in , also wanting to reclaim sixth place. The Spanish driver overtakes car number 63 without difficulty, taking advantage of the DRS, and does the same with Hamilton. The Mercedes cars are far too slow this weekend – especially on the straight. Just to prove us right, it is then Pierre Gasly who comes to threaten the Brackley team . Later on, Hamilton complains about the tire choice and would have preferred the hard tires. Quite a surprising strategy. The British driver adds more to it after Gasly overtakes him: « I have the DRS and I can’t catch up to him ». To make matters worse, George Russell has to retire on lap 59 , on Mercedes’ orders. The German team will have a lot to discuss after this Brazilian weekend…

Lando Norris then decides to step up the pace and sets the fastest lap… Which is promptly answered by Verstappen. It appears that the Dutchman is playing with the McLaren driver.

A beautiful battle between Hispanics, Alonso vs Pérez

Bad news for Alfa Romeo: Bottas must also retire from the race, on lap 41, which means a double retirement for the team.

At the front, a in great shape Fernando Alonso (he currently keeps his third place) finds himself under the threat of Perez, who is highly likely to execute an undercut. Aston Martin is putting together precise calculations to maintain their lead: they will need to increase the pace and hold it for as long as possible. The Mexican driver heads to the pits to execute his move… But Alonso also enters the pits to activate his shield… And the strategy works: the Spanish driver – who also benefited from a timely defense from Tsunoda – emerges ahead of Perez.

But the race is not yet won for car number 14, which still needs to withstand the attacks of the Red Bull. However, it takes more than a fast car to overtake the Spanish veteran, who endures the pressure for many laps. We can well imagine the Mexican fuming under his helmet, and with five laps to go, we are starting to wonder if he will be able to climb onto the podium. Aston Martin will eventually lay down their weapons on lap 70, almost at the end of the race… Only to regain the advantage in the final lap! They will beat the Red Bull by a hair on the finish line. Hats off to the walls of Oviedo, who entertained us in the final stages of the race. Honorable mention also goes to Lance Stroll, in fifth place, who demonstrated a surprising pace after several disappointing races.

Not surprisingly, it is once again Max Verstappen who wins the race, followed by Lando Norris who once again steps onto the podium, and the veteran Alonso who finally gets a taste of champagne again.

The ranking of the Brazilian Grand Prix