Tag Archives: Sao Paulo Grand Prix

2024 F1 Grand Prix of São Paulo — Results & aftermath

Verstappen recovers from P17 start to take masterful victory in the rain at Interlagos; McLaren & P6 Norris miss out with pit strategy, as Alpine capitalize on chaos to score surprise double podium with Ocon & Gasly

It was a tale of two polar opposite moods for Red Bull’s points-leading Max Verstappen in the quest for his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship and McLaren’s Lando Norris on his hunt for his first crown on a hectic, rain affected São Paulo Grand Prix. With Saturday qualifying postponed until Sunday due to torrential downpours, conditions were not that much better this morning, leading to multiple red flags and crashes. But it was also completed and set the race grid for just a little later in the day, with Norris soaring to take the pole while Verstappen was hampered by a red flag in Q2, thereby bounced in P12 and then handed a 5-spot grid penalty for engine component changes. That meant the Flying Dutchman was mired down in P17 to start the race, while his chief challenger started from P1. With the rain moderate on the formation lap,  Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll spun off the circuit, leading to confusion and a false start before the grid was reorganized for the proper beginning of the race. When the lights finally went off, Norris lost P1 to the ambitious Mercedes of George Russell, who made the superior getaway, while Verstappen set about picking off back markers and improving his position as much as possible. The modern Rainmaster did just that, and by Lap 11 he had already passed the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri for P7, with ambitions for even greater results.

The dilemma for all the drivers soon became when exactly to come in for fresh Pirelli wet weather tires. Ferrari were the first to pull the trigger, calling Charles Leclerc in for new Intermediates. While Norris debated making that move with his race engineer, the rain began intensifying again. When Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg brought out a Virtual Safety Car with a spin and temporarily getting stuck off track, both Norris and Russell pulled the trigger on their first pit stops. But Hulkenberg was quickly helped to get running again by the over eager marshals, for which the German was eventually black flagged from the race, and the VSC ended just as suddenly as it began, leaving Norris & Russell unable to take full advantage of the field’s previously reduced speed. With the rain now pelting down on Interlagos, a Safety Car was deployed on Lap 30 to slow things down to a safe pace. But very soon after rookie Franco Colapinto binned his Williams after hydroplaning, which brought out a Red Flag stoppage on Lap 32. Under Formula 1’s quirky rules, that meant that the entire field was entitled to a free change of tires while stationary in the pits, putting all those who had already stopped at a major disadvantage. 

For Verstappen, that was just the stroke of luck he needed and when the race resumed, he trailed only the unlikely leader, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Another Safety Car was deployed on Lap 43 when Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari, putting the Spaniard’s difficult weekend in Brazil out if its misery a week after his triumph in Mexico. When racing resumed on Lap 43, Verstappen got the jump on Ocon and took a lead he wouldn’t relinquish by the time the full 69-laps were in the books. Meanwhile, Norris ran wide on that same restart and found himself plummeting down to P7. Verstappen scampered away to the tune of an eventual 19.47-second final advantage over Ocon and took an astonishing win in São Paulo to earn his first victory since Round 10 in Spain back in June. But Norris was only able to gain one more place when all was said and done and finished P6. It was a huge shift in momentum back to Verstappen in the championship hunt and a blow to Norris, who now trails by 62-points with only  three races remaining. While the timing of the pit stop and the eventual Red Flag really hurt Norris, Verstappen made his own luck with a superb drive in the rain and an improbable and historic comeback victory after that lowly P17 start. This may well have been the race that ends up defining the 2024 season and secures Verstappen’s fourth consecutive title when the final story is written in the F1 history books.

Top 10 finishers of the São Paulo GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

69

2:06:54.430

26

2

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

69

+19.477s

18

3

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

69

+22.532s

15

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

69

+23.265s

12

5

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

69

+30.177s

10

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

69

+31.372s

8

7

22

Yuki Tsunoda

RB Honda RBPT

69

+42.056s

6

8

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

69

+44.943s

4

9

30

Liam Lawson

RB Honda RBPT

69

+50.452s

2

10

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

69

+50.753s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

After an absolutely bonkers conclusion in Brazil to a three races in a row triple header, the teams finally get a breather. The next race is three weeks hence, as the Formula 1 circus travels back to the United States for the Las Vegas Grand Prix under the gaudy lights of the strip and the Sphere. With momentum now swinging firmly back towards Verstappen after his heroics in São Paolo today, Norris and McLaren will look to regroup and get their man back into his now long shot Drivers’ Title hunt. Who knows how things will go in this most unpredictable Formula 1 season? But there is one sure thing — rain will definitely not be a factor in Vegas. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Verstappen sambas to record extending & record breaking victory in Sao Paulo; Norris takes another second place in breakout season; Alonso out-duels Perez in scintillating battle for P3

Hot on the heels of his Saturday Sprint win, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his campaign of total dominance on Sunday, surviving early race chaos behind him to take yet another assured win at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Despite a solid effort by eventual runner-up Lando Norris of McLaren, Vertsappen was never put under any real pressure during the 71-lap contest and simply managed the race and his tries from the point all day long. Verstappen bested Norris by a comfortable 8.277-seconds in notching his record-extending seventeenth win of the season, also breaking the 71-year old record for greatest percentage of wins in a season, previously held by the legendary Ferrari pilot Alberto Ascari. With his third consecutive F1 title in the bag several races ago, Verstappen simply keeps putting the pedal to the metal and, with only two more rounds remaining in the season, it’s hard to see the flying Dutchman lifting off the throttle and giving someone else a chance at the top step. Continue reading

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Russell takes first F1 win in Sao Paulo, Hamilton P2 to extend Mercedes’ late season surge; Sainz P3 for Ferrari ahead of Leclerc; Verstappen vociferously refuses to help teammate Perez

Mercedes up and coming young driver George Russell made good on the team’s constant faith in his talents and earned his first Formula 1 victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday. Spearheading a late season charge by the Silver Arrows, Russell started first on the grid after winning Saturday’s Sprint race and then survived an incident-filled 71-laps on the short and tricky Interlagos circuit to break his duck and claim his maiden F1 win. Better still for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton was able to survive early contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to come home P2, proving that the recent improved showing by the W13 were not just flukes due to the thinner atmosphere in Mexico City or a unique synergy between driver and track after Hamilton’s excellent showing at COTA in the USGP. After struggling mightily with porpoising to begin the campaign under the new aero specs and then being simply too draggy to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari until really the latter third of the season, Mercedes’ advancements might be too little too late for this year but bode well for a more competitive, possible 3-team competition in 2023. Hamilton and Verstappen also collided after a Safety Car restart on Lap 7, with neither car badly damaged but Verstappen requiring a new front wing and receiving a 5-second penalty as the guilty party, there were certainly shades of last year’s epic tense and testy season-long duel. Let’s hope it’s foreshadowing for next year.

Behind the top two Mercs there was a ton of tension and intrigue. Ferrari managed to come home with Carlos Sainz in P3 and Charles Leclerc in P4 after somehow recovering from a Lap 7 coming together with McLaren’s Lando Norris just after the Hamilton-Verstappen kerfuffle. It was an impressive rally from the Monegasque, whose Prancing Horse at first looked to be in real trouble after spearing into the barriers. While both Leclerc and his F1-75 proved resilient as they fought their way forward, less impressive was his repeated requests to the Ferrari pit wall to tell Sainz to let him by for the extra points. While it’s understandable that Leclerc would want every available advantage to try and secure second in the Drivers’ championship, bumping his teammate from a podium was never going to fly and simply made Leclerc seem a little whiny and desperate.

But that was nothing compared to what went down late race at team Red Bull. With Verstappen’s race compromised because of that early clash with Hamilton, it seemed that Perez might have the best opportunity to spoil Mercedes’ day. But the team had kept Perez out on Medium tires late in the race and the Mexican was forced to defend rather than attack, as Sainz came upon him after another Safety Car period ended on Lap 59 on fresher and superior Soft tire. Despite his best efforts, the veteran Mexican was easy meat for Sainz, the Spaniard making the overtake on Lap 63, a lap after DRS had been re-enabled. Worse still, Leclerc followed suit a lap later and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso also scooted by him on Lap 65. At this point, Verstappen had caught also up to Perez and the team somewhat curiously told Perez to let Max through to “take some points off Alonso and Leclerc”. But, despite the fact that Verstappen couldn’t make anything happen with that theory and stayed stuck in P6, the current World Champion then inexplicably refused direct team orders to hand the place back to Perez to finish out the race. That proved pivotal in the Drivers’ Standings, because while Leclerc salvaged P4 after his stressful adventures on the day, Perez sank to P7 behind his not-very-team oriented teammate Verstappen. The resultant points scoring on the day put Leclerc and Perez into a tie with 290 points, but Leclerc would earn the tiebreaker if it remained that way because he has more wins on the season. It remains to be seen if Verstappen, who many are theorizing still holds a grudge for Perez bringing out the Red Flag way back at Monaco qualifying to deny the Dutchman pole, will feel he’s made his point and go back to aiding Perez’s quest for P2 in the Championship at the last race in Abu Dhabi. However things turn out at Yas Marina next week, Verstappen’s diva-like behavior in Sao Paulo will likely not be forgotten by the popular Perez or by his legions of Mexican and non-Mexican fans. Frankly, there’s no putting that particular toothpaste back in the tube and it could cast Perez’s continued membership on the Red Bull team into some serious doubt.

With the two Alpine’s of Alonso and Esteban Ocon playing reasonably nice for a change, the team had a very good day at the races. First and foremost was Alonso’s most impressive drive. Staring from P17 on the grid behind Ocon after the pair had tangled multiple times in the Sprint race, the Spanish two-time World Champ put in a brilliant effort to come home all the way up in P5 and ahead of both Red Bulls. Combined with Ocon’s solid P8 and a double DNF for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who knocked out Haas’ Kevin Magnussen along with himself on the opening lap, and Lando Norris, whose car died on Lap 52 bringing out the final Safety Car, it made for a 19-point lead for Alpine over McLaren for P4 in the all-important Constructors’ points with only the one race remaining. Valtteri Bottas also scored decent points for Alfa Romeo with a ninth-place finish and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took the final point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paulo GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 1:38:34.044 26
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +1.529s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +4.051s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +8.441s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 71 +9.561s 10
6 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +10.056s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +14.080s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 71 +18.690s 4
9 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 71 +22.552s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 71 +23.552s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In one week’s time, it’s the final race of the 2022 season — the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the futuristic and colorful Yas Marina Circuit. The last of the prizes will be claimed and it will be more than a little interesting to see if Verstappen can overcome his bizarre fit of pique and actually help his teammate Perez to prevail over Leclerc for P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Likewise, can Mercedes finish on another high and keep the good vibes flowing into the off season? Stay tuned & hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out as Formula 1 draws to close for the year!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Sprint Qualifying results

Magnussen earns first F1 pole in rain-effected quali but Russell wins Saturday Sprint race at Interlagos

Formula 1’s final Sprint Qualifying of the season went down on Saturday at a wet Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo. While Haas’s Kevin Magnussen had the thrill of winning his first F1 pole during Friday qualifying thanks in no small part to a well-timed Red Flag and subsequent rainy conditions, that only earned the veteran Dane the honor of starting first in the Sprint race, which will actually set the grid for Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP. While it was a more lively than usual affair, probably due to all the major 2022 prizes having already been scooped up by team Red Bull and their peerless ace, Max Verstappen, the fairly gimmicky 24-lap Sprint format began in dry conditions that saw Magnussen quickly overwhelmed by faster cars. Mercedes’ George Russell, driving aggressively but smartly, eventually earned the win ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P2 and Verstappen in P3. In truth, the Haas driver benefitted greatly on Friday from Russell beaching his Silver Arrow midway through Q3, which brought out a Red Flag just before the skies opened over Interlagos. So, no other drivers could match Magnussen’s fast lap that he had set in drier conditions. But on Saturday the conditions were not particularly wet from the start despite cloudy skies, allowing the field to start on slick tires rather than Intermediates and the stronger cars to perform up to their true capabilities. As Magnussen faded to a P8 finish, Russell surged forward to dice with Verstappen, eventually passing the Dutchman for the race lead, the Red Bull having picked p some front wing damage after a clash with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz early on. That slowed the Red Bull enough to where both Sainz and the second Merc of Lewis Hamilton were also able to pass Vertsppen in the waning laps of the Sprint, though Sainz will be relegated 5-grid spots come race day due to engine component changes, making a front row lockout come race time.

Saturday Sprint Race Top 10:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 24 30:11.307 8
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 24 +3.995s 7
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 24 +4.492s 6
4 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 24 +10.494s 5
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 24 +11.855s 4
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 24 +13.133s 3
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 24 +25.624s 2
8 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 24 +28.768s 1
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 24 +30.218s 0
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 24 +34.170s 0

Friday Qualifying results:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:13.954 1:11.410 1:11.674 26
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:13.625 1:10.881 1:11.877 23
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:14.427 1:11.318 1:12.059 24
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:13.106 1:11.377 1:12.263 25
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:14.680 1:10.890 1:12.357 24
6 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:14.663 1:11.587 1:12.425 22
7 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.542 1:11.394 1:12.504 21
8 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:13.403 1:11.539 1:12.611 25
9 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:13.613 1:11.456 1:15.601 26
10 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:14.486 1:10.950 DNF 25

Complete results and final starting grid available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP airs live on ABC beginning at 1PM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Mercedes resurgence is for real, if Ferrari can overcome their tentative and clumsy strategy calls to grab a victory or if Verstappen has been sandbagging en route to padding his record win total.