Verstappen, just like the old days
It has taken Max Verstappen 133 days to return to winning ways. He did so by delivering a truly astonishing performance in Sao Paulo, given that he started from the seventeenth slot on the grid, even if two drivers who should have been ahead of him were absent – Alex Albon, his car too badly damaged to take part and Lance Stroll, stranded in a gravel trap on the formation lap. Since the start of the Formula 1 World Championship, only three times has a winner started from further down the order – Rubens Barrichello from 18th place at Hockenheim in 2000, Bill Vukovich from 19th in Indianapolis in 1954 and John Watson from all the way down in 22nd at Long Beach in 1983.
While it's true that anything can happen in a wet race, even the most ardent Verstappen fan could not have imagined that a win was possible after qualifying. Indeed, they might even have feared that a fourth world title would slip from the Dutchman's grasp given the way the weekend had gone up to that point. On Saturday, Lando Norris won the Sprint, usually such a happy hunting ground for Verstappen who had so far won all four of them this year, but had to settle for fourth, having picked up a penalty. On Sunday morning, Norris took pole for the main event, while the Red Bull driver had not even managed to make the cut to Q2, hampered by a red flag that came at just the wrong time. Even before then, Max knew he would be taking a five place grid penalty as the decision was taken to fit the sixth Internal Combustion Engine of the season to his car. In short, it looked as though the McLaren driver was all set to make significant inroads into Verstappen's championship lead, setting up a thrilling three race finale to the season.
But it was not to be, with everything working out just fine for Verstappen, beginning with another shaky start from pole position for Norris, after which the McLaren seemed far less competitive in the wet than in the dry, with the final impetus coming from a red flag triggered by Colapinto's crash, on this occasion perfectly timed for Max. All these factors combined with a simply extraordinary performance from the reigning world champion: he started off with several overtaking moves, helped along with a perfectly executed strategy before, in the later stages, running at a pace that was simply out of reach of the rest of the field.
By the end of the opening lap, Verstappen was already up to 11th and on lap 11 he was sixth. Then he found that Leclerc was proving harder to pass, but the Ferrari driver opted to be the first of the leaders to pit, which left the Red Bull with a clear track ahead. Then came the Safety Cars, first Virtual and then real, at which point the two drivers then out in front, Russell and Norris decided to pit, while Max and Ocon, who was ahead of him, stayed out. The race then being interrupted following Colapinto's crash proved providential, with Max passing Ocon after yet another Safety Car period, after which he proved that, in the wet he is simply unbeatable. He strung together 27 fastest race laps from lap 43 to 69, lowering the fastest lap time 17 times. As he stepped from the cockpit, it was clear that Max knew what he had done, knew what it meant, far more emotional than usual in the way he threw himself into the arms of his team and of his partner Kelly Piquet.
The win was very important for his title aspirations, as Norris now really needs a miracle to catch his rival, as the points gap has grown to 62 with just 86 still up for grabs. It means that Max could clinch a fourth title at the next round in Las Vegas, if he wins or scores at least one more point than Norris, or in a worst case scenario, if neither of them finishes in the top ten. The fight for the Constructors' championship is still more open. In Brazil, Red Bull scored the most points (32) the first time it has done so since the Spanish Grand Prix, although it has only closed on Ferrari by 12 points and McLaren by 5. The Christian Horner-run team is still third on 544, behind Fred Vasseur's squad on 557, while the Zak Brown-Andrea Stella team leads the way on 593. There are still 147 points to play for and on Verstappen's current form, Red Bull cannot be ruled out.
