Image: (APA/AFP/Douglas Magno)
With Max Verstappen’s success in Sao Paulo, the Austrian-British racing team equalized the record number of victories within a season. Only Mercedes had previously achieved 19 within one calendar year in the 2016 season. For Verstappen, who won on Sunday ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, it was the 17th victory of the season.
It was mainly about tire management, explained Verstappen. “We were good on every tire, we gained a small lead,” explained the now 52-time Grand Prix winner. The Dutchman overtook four-time world champion Alain Prost in the leaderboard. With Lewis Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91) and Sebastian Vettel (53), there are only three all-time greats ahead of him. “At the high speeds you had to concentrate, but luckily it worked today,” emphasized Verstappen.
“Second place is the best we can achieve at the moment. Max always seemed to have an answer for everything,” said second-place Norris. “To be honest, it couldn’t have gone much better.” Alonso said: “A phenomenal result for the team! We struggled for a few races, two retirements, but this is for them.”
A crash occurred just a few seconds after the scheduled start of the Grand Prix. Alexander Albon lost control of his Williams after contact and took Kevin Magnussen in the Haas with him. There was then a lot of rubble on the race track. A little later the race was stopped with a red flag. Around half an hour later there was a second standing start, which went off without any turbulence.
Verstappen maintained the lead from pole position, followed by Norris, Alonso and the two Mercedes of Hamilton and George Russell, who had triumphed in Brazil the previous year. However, the “Silver Arrows” had problems maintaining the pace in the chasing group and soon had to let Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll overtake them. Later things got even worse: Hamilton had to settle for eighth place, Russell retired with a defect.
At the front, Verstappen and Norris controlled the action, the Dutchman putting a comfortable lead between his car and the McLaren. Meanwhile, Alonso, who was at a respectful distance behind, tried to keep Perez at bay. On the penultimate lap, the Mexican overtook the Spaniard, but he regained third place one lap later. It was Alonso’s first podium finish after second place in Zandvoort in September.
“For me it was 30 laps in which I had the pressure from ‘Checo’. When he overtook me with two laps to go, I thought the podium was gone,” said Alonso afterwards. Perez at least increased the championship lead over Hamilton to 32 points.
On the first introductory lap, Charles Leclerc left the race after his Ferrari broke down. “I’ve lost the hydraulics. Why am I so unlucky?” Leclerc complained over the team radio after racing backwards into the guardrails. He had to abandon the race before it began. Teammate Carlos Sainz saved sixth place for Ferrari behind fifth place Stroll. Yuki Tsunoda placed his AlphaTauri in ninth place.
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