Verstappen reflects on ‘absolutely crazy’ Sao Paulo GP after sublime climb from P17 to victory as he extends title lead

Max Verstappen delivered one of the all-time great wet weather drives in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, going from P17 on the grid to take victory for the first time since June – and extending his lead in the title race over Lando Norris.

Verstappen had been left frustrated after Sunday morning’s delayed qualifying session, when a crash for Lance Stroll and subsequent red flag saw him drop out of Q2 along with team mate Sergio Perez – with Verstappen starting a penalised P17 after a five-place grid drop for fitting a new internal combustion engine.

READ MORE: Verstappen wins chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix after stunning recovery from P17 as Alpine score shock double podium

But a determined Verstappen then overcame a tumultuous and rain-affected Sao Paulo Grand Prix, climbing to P11 on the very first lap before making his way all the way up to P2 behind Alpine's Esteban Ocon when the race was red-flagged on Lap 32 of 69 after Franco Colapinto crashed his Williams – Verstappen then handed a free first pit stop by the stoppage.

Although Ocon then nailed the rolling restart when racing resumed, Verstappen would then pass him for the lead immediately on a subsequent Lap 43 restart following a Safety Car intervention for Carlos Sainz’s retirement – the Dutch driver going on to open a 19.477s gap over the French driver in the remaining 26 laps after a wet weather performance for the ages.

It meant Verstappen scored his first victory since the Spanish Grand Prix in June – while with title rival and pole-sitter Lando Norris finishing down in P6, Verstappen extended his championship lead to 62 points, meaning he could clinch the title at the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix.

“My emotions today have been a rollercoaster,” said a delighted Verstappen afterwards. “You know, with qualifying, being really unlucky with that red flag and starting P17, I knew that it was going to be a very tough race.

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“But we stayed out of trouble, we made the right calls, we stayed calm and we were fine. All of these things together of course made that result possible. I mean, unbelievable to win here from so far back.

“Of course I was very frustrated with qualifying,” Verstappen added. “But we tried to just use it as a good motivation in the race. Luckily we had a great start and from there onwards, we were just having a really good feeling in the car.

“We made all the right calls again, stayed calm, and executed when we needed to, so incredibly happy with today. Honestly, it's crazy. I never expected to go from P17 to P1. I was hoping for good points, but this is absolutely crazy.”

WATCH: Colapinto slams into the wall to bring out the red flags during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Asked, meanwhile, if he now felt he had stepped closer to a fourth title going into the final three races of the season, Verstappen replied: “Now it’s of course a great result, which if you look a few hours ago, was definitely the other way around, looking like we were going to lose a lot of points!

“So I’m very happy, but still three tough races [to go], so we just need to stay calm and make no mistakes.”

Red Bull, meanwhile, scored 32 points from the Sprint weekend – 31 of them earned by Verstappen, after Perez failed to score in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix – to rivals McLaren’s 27 and Ferrari’s 20, meaning the third-placed team closed the gap in the constructors’ standings.