2024 Brazilian Grand Prix | 8 talking points

Verstappen’s rise from 17^th

A combination of a grid penalty for replacement engine parts and bad luck in qualifying – delayed until Sunday morning because of the dreadful weather – left Verstappen just 17^th on the grid. That seemed a disaster, especially in the wake of pole position for title rival Norris, who had also trimmed the points gap with a team orders-assisted Sprint race win on Saturday.

But the ultimate leveller of a drenched track allowed Verstappen to do what he does best. He and his Red Bull team executed a perfect race to win for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix way back in June. Sure, a dose of luck on the timing of a race-interrupting red flag helped. But even without it, the Dutchman was in a different class at Interlagos.

Verstappen’s confidence on the brakes into Turn 1 set him apart as he quickly rose through the order in the opening laps, following an aborted start. By lap seven he was already eighth, then easily dispatched Oscar Piastri into Turn 1. A lap later, RB’s Liam Lawson saw good sense by not fighting his stable-mate too hard and now Verstappen was sixth – nicely poised to rise further with still nearly 60 laps left to run.

How Verstappen’s Christmas came early

It certainly played into his hands when rivals ahead of him, including leader George Russell and Norris, pitted for fresh Pirelli intermediates. Verstappen was now second, sandwiched between the two Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who also made what turned out to be the right call not to pit – and the trio then gained free stops when the pause button was pushed on the race.

A red flag was caused by Franco Colapinto crashing his Williams heavily under the second of the race’s two safety car periods. When a race is stopped, the rules – rightly or wrongly – allow all drivers to take on fresh tyres, and that was a perfect gift for Verstappen.

Verstappen: shades of pass master Wattie

Out front, Ocon had handled the first safety car restart – after Mexico Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz Jr. dropped his Ferrari on a white line – with perfect precision to keep out of Verstappen’s range when racing resumed. But for the second restart following the red flag, the champ stayed right on the Alpine when Ocon tried to sprint away. Again, Verstappen’s absolute confidence into Turn 1 made the difference and it was no contest.

The Red Bull now led and pulled away to win by nearly 20 seconds to cap a virtuoso performance. Shades of another pass master, John Watson, who also won from 17^th on the grid, for McLaren at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix.

A catalogue of errors for Norris

That restart after the red flag could be described as the moment Norris’s slim title hopes were finally spent. As Verstappen passed Ocon for the lead, the McLaren driver outbraked himself and slid straight on at Turn 1. From pole position, Norris was now seventh, which at least became sixth when, for the second time across the weekend, Piastri obediently moved over to let his team-mate through.

But rather than distil it all to a single unfortunate moment, Norris’s Brazilian Grand Prix was really one of a catalogue of errors. The biggest was illegally setting off on a second formation lap, when the original start was aborted following a crash on the way to the grid for Lance Stroll. The offence was investigated after the race, so it hung over him through the entirety of the grand prix. Surprisingly, when the penalty eventually came hours after the chequered flag it amounted to only a reprimand and a fine, so Norris kept his sixth place.

But that’s small comfort from a race he should have won, even though fellow front row starter Russell beat him to the first turn to lead the early stages. The pair circulated in close formation until their ill-fated decisions to both pit at the same time, which lost them crucial track position. After that, Norris did actually pass Russell on-track on the run to Turn 4, only for a slip to allow the Mercedes back through. That summed it up: this just wasn’t Norris’s day – mostly because of his own actions.

The gap to Verstappen is back out to 62 points with 86 left on the table, which means Max can now seal the title next time out in Las Vegas the weekend after next.

Alpine’s season turned around in one day

Might Ocon have won this race with a better restart after the red flag? The combination of terrible conditions and a poor, bumpy new track surface made overtaking tough at Interlagos on this occasion. Then again, such was Verstappen’s superiority into Turn 1, it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t have unlocked Ocon’s defences at some point.

No, Ocon had every right to be delighted with second rather than face disappointment to lose what would have been his second career win – especially after the terrible season he’s had to endure, for a team he will leave for Haas in 2025. Then, for Gasly to hold off Russell to complete the podium made this a bounteous harvest for the Renault-owned team.

Having lurched from one crisis to another this year, suddenly in one afternoon Alpine rose from a depressing eighth in the constructors’ standings to leap ahead of both Haas and RB to sixth. The three teams are now separated by just five points with three rounds to run, and with millions at stake for each position gained there’s plenty to be won and lost in the weeks to come.

Russell fuming at pit call

How about Russell? Might he have won without that backfiring decision to pit? He was certainly annoyed that he didn’t stick to his own instincts and ignore the team’s call to come in. The Norris parallel continued, in that he too raced under a cloud, thanks to a Mercedes technical violation to alter his tyre pressures on the grid on already fitted wheels. Like his McLaren compadre, Russell escaped with a fine and reprimand, and kept his finishing position on the road: in his case, fourth. Best of those that pitted will be of no consolation to him.

Hamilton’s Senna tribute

Mercedes committed the same offence on Lewis Hamilton’s car, but the seven-time champion also escaped a time penalty and therefore kept his hard-earned tenth place, ahead of Sergio Pérez but behind Liam Lawson. For Hamilton, an emotional demo in an ex-Senna McLaren MP4/5B was by far the best bit of his difficult weekend in Brazil. Like Norris, the rest of it he’ll want to forget.

No points for Bearman this time

Final word this week to Oliver Bearman, who gained a third surprise call-up of the season when Kevin Magnussen was taken ill. Earlier in the year, Bearman – who joins Haas full-time in 2025 – made a sensational and history-making F1 debut for Ferrari when Sainz was ruled out from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix by appendicitis. The teenager was the talk of that weekend when he finished seventh. Then in Baku in September, Bearman scored again when he stepped in for Magnussen, this time because the Dane had copped enough penalty points to receive a race ban.

But in Brazil, the British driver’s hopes for a points hat-trick trickled away in the rain – which is nothing to be ashamed of given the challenging conditions he faced. He picked up a penalty for contact with a Sauber, spun while chasing Sainz and hit the wall, but kept plugging away to at least finish 12^th. On a weekend when team-mate Nico Hülkenberg was disqualified for a push from marshals after a spin, that really wasn’t so bad after such a tricky afternoon.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.