2023-11-05 19:54:14
In the Interlagos Sprint, all 20 Formula 1 stars had seen the checkered flag, and on GP Sunday there was the first retirement before the start: Charles Leclerc flew off in the seventh corner of the warm-up lap, meaning his race was already over before it had started. The Monegasse explained that he had no chance of avoiding the accident because the hydraulics failed.
The remaining drivers lined up for the starting grid and as soon as the starting lights went out, there was another crash. The repeat of the TV recordings showed that Alex Albon first collided with Daniel Ricciardo, then with Nico Hülkenberg and finally with Kevin Magnussen. Oscar Piastri’s McLaren was also damaged in the accident.
While Hülkenberg, Ricciardo and Piastri were lucky because they were able to take part again after an interruption in the race, the 20th GP of the year was over for Albon and Magnussen. The drivers lined up again on the starting grid, with Piastri and Ricciardo having to drive off from the pit lane.
Verstappen remained in the lead, followed by Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Sergio Pérez. Shortly after the second start, Alonso made short work of Hamilton and took third position on lap 4. Norris attacked Verstappen four laps later but couldn’t get past.
In the following laps, the champion increased his lead over the McLaren driver to more than two seconds and his teammate was also fast. On lap 14 the Mexican passed Russell and was fifth. The racer from Guadalajara’s race to catch up wasn’t over yet; on lap 18 he grabbed fourth place from Lewis Hamilton, who tried in vain to counter.
Quick stops from Red Bull Racing
Shortly afterwards, the seven-time world champion turned into the pits and got a fresh set of medium-hard tires in 2.7 seconds. The Mercedes driver returned to the track in 11th place. His teammate stopped one lap later on the 20th lap and was dispatched in 2.9 seconds. He also switched to the medium-hard tires and came back onto the track directly behind his teammate.
Hamilton then reported a problem with his left front tire and his car was pulling to the right, he explained. Meanwhile, Pérez reacted to the star drivers’ stops and also came into the pits. The Red Bull Racing veteran got the fresh medium tires on in 2.2 seconds.
The World Championship runner-up came onto the track behind Hamilton but in front of Russell and attacked for the first time on the 23rd lap. Hamilton was initially able to counterattack, but the six-time GP winner was past in turn 4. Meanwhile, Guanyu Zhou parked his Alfa Romeo in the pits.
Shortly before Alonso was called into the pits, Russell also lost a position and had to give way to Stroll. Alonso was dispatched in 2.8 seconds and came back to the top in 6th position ahead of Pérez. On lap 27, Sainz, Gasly and Tsunoda stopped at the same time. Sainz was sent off again when Tsunoda ran away.
One lap later, Verstappen and Norris also stopped. The Red Bull Racing crew managed the tire change in 2.2 seconds, the McLaren team completed Norris in 2.6 seconds. Both were able to take positions 1 and 2 again. Shortly afterwards, Sainz worked his way past Ocon and was eighth. Gasly overtook Sargeant on lap 30 and took 11th position.
Out for George Russell
At halftime, Verstappen was leading the race with a lead of almost five seconds over Norris. Alonso, Pérez, Stroll, Hamilton, Sainz, Russell, Gasly and Tsunoda occupied the other top 10 positions, followed by Bottas, Sargeant, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Ricciardo and Piastri. Ocon overtook Hülkenberg on lap 38. Three laps later, Bottas was taken out of the race. This meant that there were no longer any Alfa Romeo drivers on the track.
On lap 46, Russell opened the ranks of the race’s protagonists’ second pit stops, and one lap later his teammate and Pérez also stopped. Alonso pitted on lap 48 while Hamilton overtook Ocon and took 8th position. The two Alpine drivers then swapped positions and Gasly then made short work of Hamilton.
Ocon turned into the pits shortly after Sainz on lap 53 and the replay of the footage of Sainz’s stop showed that things were not going smoothly on the right rear tire during the Ferrari stop. Shortly afterwards, Stroll also had to accept a long stop. His right front tire was stuck. 15 laps before the end of the race, Verstappen also stopped and had soft tires installed in 2.5 seconds. Norris took the lead.
There was bad news for Russell, who had to end the race in the pits on lap 59. The reason for this was the worryingly high oil temperatures in its drive unit. One lap later, Norris turned into the pits and handed the lead back to Verstappen.
Strong performance from Fernando Alonso
In the following laps, Pérez tried to get past Alonso, but the Spaniard positioned his racer so well that the Red Bull Racing driver was left behind for a long time. It wasn’t until lap 70 that the Mexican made it to third position. Alonso didn’t give up and fought his way past again in the last corner. He was rewarded with third place.
Verstappen took his 17th win of the season and the 52nd GP triumph of his career. The champion said after the race: “The starts were very important today and both were good, then it was about tire management. We were strong on all compounds, but I was able to gain a good gap, especially after the first stop.”
Norris, who took second place in the GP for the sixth time this year, explained: “It couldn’t have gone much better. I got off to a good start and had a good pace. Second place is the best we can achieve at the moment, so I’m happy with it.”
And Alonso, who was able to celebrate his first podium finish since Zandvoort and the 106th top three result of his career, was happy: “It felt like 30 laps in which I felt the pressure from Checo. When he passed with two laps to go, I thought that was it for the podium. But then he braked late in the first corner of the last lap and I said to myself that I would try it in the fourth corner. It’s a phenomenal result for the team, which has struggled in recent months, especially in the last two rounds of the World Cup, and this is in the works for the whole team. We’ll keep fighting until the last round.”
Race, Brazil
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:56:48,894 h
02. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +8,277 sec
03. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +34,155
04. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +34,208
05. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +40,845
06. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +50,188
07. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +56,093
08. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +62,859
09. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +69,880
10. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1
11. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, +1
12. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), AlphaTauri, +1
14. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +2 laps
Out
George Russell (GB), Mercedes, Motor
Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, Motor
Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, Motor
Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, accident
Alex Albon (T), Williams, accident
Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, Hydraulik
World Championship standings (after 20 of 22 Grand Prix, including 6 of 6 sprints)
driver
01. Verstappen 524 points
02. Pérez 258
02. Hamilton 226
04. Alonso 198
05. Norris 195
06. Sainz 192
07. Leclerc 170
08. Russell 156
09. Plates 87
10. Stroll 63
11. Gasly 62
12. Ocon 46
13. Albon 27
14. Tsunoda 13
15. Bottas 10
16. Hulkenberg 9
17. Ricciardo 6
18. Zhou 6
19. Magnussen 3
20. Lawson 2
21. Sargeant 1
22. De Vries 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 782 Punkte
02. Mercedes 382
03. Ferrari 362
04. McLaren 282
05. Aston Martin 261
06. Alpine 108
07. Williams 28
08. AlphaTauri 21
09. Alfa Romeo 16
10. Haas 12
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#Max #Verstappen #wins #Alonso #strong