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

Max Verstappen has stormed to a remarkable victory in a frenetic Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Dutchman climbing through the field from an original starting position of P17 to score his first race win since June amid changing weather conditions and huge drama along the way – which also saw Alpine score a double podium result.

The chaos started before the event had even got under way after Lance Stroll spun off during the formation lap, leading to some confusion over the aborted start procedure as pole-sitter Lando Norris led a number of cars away while others stayed on the grid, meaning that Norris, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will be investigated after the race for a start procedure infringement.

When the Grand Prix did begin, Russell enjoyed a stronger launch and led from Norris while Verstappen worked his way through the pack in the early stages. As the event unfolded amid changing levels of rainfall, a red flag was thrown on Lap 32 following a crash for Franco Colapinto in the Williams – shortly after Russell and Norris had lost out by pitting just as a Virtual Safety Car period ended.

This meant that Esteban Ocon was leading from Verstappen and Pierre Gasly when the race resumed with a little over half distance remaining. But after another restart – following a Safety Car appearance due to a crash for Carlos Sainz – Verstappen surged into the lead and from there looked untouchable, the world champion going on to take the chequered flag with a margin of 19.477s.

It proved to be a dream day, meanwhile, for Alpine, with Ocon and Gasly holding on to P2 and P3 to score a double podium – resulting in the team making an extraordinary jump from ninth to sixth in the constructors’ standings.

Russell ended the race in fourth for Mercedes ahead of Charles Leclerc in Ferrari, with Norris following in what was surely a disappointing sixth as the Briton loses ground to Verstappen in the championship standings. McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri crossed the line in seventh but was hit with a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Lawson, dropping the Australian down to eighth.

This promoted Tsunoda up into seventh, making it a double points celebration for RB as Lawson ended the race in ninth. Lewis Hamilton scored the final point on offer after working his way forwards for Mercedes and fending off a charging Sergio Perez in the latter stages, leaving the Red Bull driver in P11.

Ollie Bearman took 12th for Haas after an eventful afternoon for the teenager, who faced some off-track moments as well as picking up a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Colapinto. Valtteri Bottas followed in 13th for Kick Sauber, ahead of the final classified runners of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and fellow Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu.

Sainz and Colapinto both recorded retirements following their crashes, while Nico Hulkenberg was given a black flag just prior to the race restart after the Haas man received assistance from marshals when returning to the track following an earlier off.

Stroll did not take the start following his spin on the original formation lap in the Aston Martin, while Alex Albon had been unable to participate for Williams as the team did not have time to repair his car following his earlier crash in qualifying.

AS IT HAPPENED

After an eventful weekend so far – featuring the return of the Sprint on Saturday and a dramatic rain-affected qualifying earlier on Sunday, the session having been rescheduled following Saturday afternoon’s treacherous weather – the attentions of the paddock finally turned to the 71-lap Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

However, the ramifications of that chaotic qualifying were still being felt prior to the race getting under way. Five drivers – Colapinto, Sainz, Stroll, Alonso and Albon – crashed in the session, meaning that question marks remained over whether there would be enough time to fix all of these cars ahead of the event.

One person who would definitely not be participating was Albon, with the Williams team confirming before the race that the short window of time had not allowed for the Thai driver’s FW46 to be repaired. Sainz, meanwhile, was set to start from the pit lane after his power unit and gearbox were changed.

Verstappen would also line up further down the order than his original qualifying position of 12th, with the Dutchman dropping down to 17th after serving a five-place grid penalty for taking on a new internal combustion engine outside of his allocation.

The rain was holding off as the pack assembled on the grid, albeit with a track still drying out and a forecast predicting further showers. When the tyre blankets came off ahead of the formation lap, it was revealed that all of the field would start on the intermediate compound.

There was already drama before the race had started as Stroll spun off during the formation lap. While the Aston Martin tried to return to the track, the car became beached in the gravel, leading to an aborted race start as the Canadian climbed out of the AMR24.

This situation then led to some confusion, with Norris leading several cars away for another formation lap while some remained on the grid. As everyone should have in fact stayed on the grid for an aborted start, Norris subsequently found himself under investigation for a starting procedure infringement.

There was also an issue for Colapinto, who initially pulled into his correct grid slot before moving forward into the vacant slot left by Stroll. Meanwhile, the mechanics returned to the cars on the grid when everybody was in place as the pack awaited the new start time of 1247 local time.

Following another formation lap, all of the 17 cars left on the grid made it smoothly back to their positions – just as rain started to fall again at Interlagos. The lights finally went out and Russell enjoyed a stronger launch than Norris, allowing the Mercedes to sweep into the lead at Turn 1.

Meanwhile some juicy battles were unfolding behind, with Tsunoda, Ocon and Lawson duelling over third before Lawson was forced to back out, allowing Leclerc to slip through into fifth place. Elsewhere Alonso was challenging Piastri for seventh, but the McLaren man wasn’t backing down and snatched the place back.

Further back, Verstappen and Hamilton had both moved up the order and the former title rivals were soon fighting over 10th place. The Dutchman looked to have much more confidence as he took the position from Hamilton into Turn 1 – but Red Bull team mate Perez was not having such luck, the Mexican suffering a spin which saw him drop to the bottom of the field.

As Lap 4 ticked down – with Norris closing in on Russell, having pumped in the fastest lap – the rain looked to be getting heavier. The conditions did not seem to be slowing Verstappen down, though, the world champion picking off Gasly for ninth place before overtaking Alonso for eighth.

Meanwhile, the news came that Russell, Tsunoda and Lawson had also been noted for a starting procedure infringement like Norris, while Bearman and Colapinto were also under investigation for a collision at Turn 10 – which subsequently resulted in a 10-second time penalty for Bearman, who had made contact with the rear of the Williams and dropped backwards.

By Lap 10 Verstappen was hot on the tail of Piastri as the Red Bull continued to fly through the field – and it did not take long for the move to be made into Turn 1, promoting Verstappen up into seventh place. Next up was Lawson, and the RB driver did not put up much defence as Verstappen took sixth.

Hamilton had an off on Lap 12, triggering the yellow flags before the Mercedes returned to the track in P12. But he had Colapinto behind, leading to a bit of wheel-to-wheel action in which Colapinto came out on top, prompting cheers from the crowd. The rain, meanwhile, had lessened again.

With 15 laps on the board, Russell was leading Norris by around one second, with Tsunoda was in third some seven seconds off that duo. The RB had a tight pack of cars in his wake, with Ocon, Leclerc and Verstappen running in close succession.

“It's getting slippery with the worn tyres here,” Hulkenberg reported, reflecting the dilemma facing the pack over managing the changing conditions. Hamilton’s tough afternoon, meanwhile, looked to be continuing, the Briton losing places to Sainz and Bearman which dropped him down to P15 as he called his car “undriveable” over the radio.

As Race Control confirmed that the race would now run to 69 laps following the additional formation lap, Verstappen was busy trying to find a way past Leclerc for fifth while Sainz skated off the track at Turn 4, seeing him drop to P15 amid the rain becoming heavier again.

On Lap 25 Ferrari were the first to make a move in the pit lane, with Leclerc pitting for another set of intermediate tyres. The Monegasque emerged back into 13th place – but who would follow next? Norris seemed keen to, the McLaren driver discussing the idea with his engineer. Elsewhere, the stewards confirmed that Mercedes were under investigation for a tyre pressure infringement on the grid.

While Norris was dissuaded from pitting, the Briton was busy closing in on Russell as the rain became increasingly heavy. Things were not going so well for Hulkenberg, though, with the German becoming beached off track which triggered a Virtual Safety Car – before the Haas then got going again.

All of this led to plenty of action in the pit lane, with much of the second half of the field coming in – but by the time Russell and Norris made their stops, the VSC had ended, meaning that the pair had been somewhat caught out. This dropped them down to fourth and fifth, but Norris soon reversed those positions as Russell struggled for grip.

The Safety Car was then called on Lap 30 amid the worsening conditions, with Ocon leading the race by eight seconds from Verstappen and Gasly, a trio who were all yet to pit. Norris remained in fourth from Russell, while Piastri had been handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Lawson.

Lap 32 saw the red flag thrown after a big crash for Colapinto, the Argentinian driver fortunately emerging unharmed after hitting the barriers heavily. This brought an end to what had been a miserable day for Williams, with Albon having been unable to start at all following his qualifying incident.

This meant that the rest of the pack returned to the pit lane, with just over half of the race distance left to go – and now everybody would be able to change tyres. During this pause, Piastri went to apologise to Lawson, while Hulkenberg learned that he had been given a black flag for receiving assistance from the marshals when he returned to the track after his off, meaning that he was disqualified from the event.

Conditions were still wet when the race resumed at 1402 local time, with the Safety Car leading the pack out for one tour before Ocon took over, the Alpine smoothly holding the lead from Verstappen. Behind them Norris went wide at Turn 4, allowing Russell through into fourth, while Hamilton took ninth place from Alonso and Leclerc also had a moment, the Ferrari running between Norris and Piastri.

Bearman’s eventful afternoon continued when he spun off into the barriers at Turn 7 on Lap 36. The sole remaining Haas was fortunately able to get going again – before suffering another moment a couple of laps later. Meanwhile Ocon was leading Verstappen by three seconds with Gasly in third, a sight that was surely exciting the Alpine pit wall.

It was time for the Safety Car to return on Lap 40 after Sainz crashed into the barriers, the Spaniard being another driver who had faced a difficult day after an earlier off in qualifying. “Anything can happen,” Verstappen was reminded by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase as the remaining 15 cars circulated – a fitting message given that further rain was expected.

After the Safety Car peeled in on Lap 43, Verstappen surged forward to snatch the lead from Ocon while Norris had a nightmare restart, the Briton dropping back down to seventh following a wide moment. Meanwhile Leclerc was up to fourth ahead of Russell and Piastri and Alonso slipped to the bottom of the order after going off track.

McLaren opted to switch their drivers on Lap 46, with Piastri compliantly allowing Norris through to move up into sixth before the championship hopeful set his sights on Leclerc in fifth. Speaking of Leclerc, the Monegasque had been noted for returning to the track unsafely, having had an off which allowed Russell through into fourth.

The double yellow flags made a brief appearance on Lap 52 following a slide for Piastri and the Australian faced further trouble when Tsunoda closed in on him in a battle for seventh, though the McLaren managed to fend off the RB. Verstappen, meanwhile, was now nearly seven seconds ahead of Ocon up front.

Others, however, were struggling to make ground, including Verstappen’s team mate Perez. The Mexican was busy trying to find a way past Lawson in a fight for ninth place – but in his attempt to overtake suffered a wide moment, which allowed Hamilton to sneak through into 10th. Perez and Lawson were subsequently noted by the stewards after a moment of contact.

While Perez was not giving up as the Red Bull man tried to retake P10 from Hamilton, Norris was reminded that it would help to get closer to Leclerc given that Piastri behind him had a 10-second penalty to serve. With five laps remaining, the Briton trailed the Ferrari by just under three seconds.

As the race entered into its final few tours, Verstappen was now 15 seconds clear of Ocon while Russell was one second away from Gasly – could the Mercedes man disrupt Alpine’s double podium prospects? Meanwhile Hamilton was busy trying to take eighth from Lawson, with Perez also still on the tail of both.

But as the chequered flag fell, all eyes were on Verstappen as he crossed the line to take his first race win since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, extending his championship lead to 52 points in the process. A further 19 seconds down the road was Ocon, who took second while Gasly held off Russell to claim third and give Alpine an extraordinary double podium result.

Russell was fourth for Mercedes, with Leclerc and Norris following in fifth and sixth respectively. While Piastri initially claimed seventh, the McLaren man’s 10-second time penalty for his collision with Lawson dropped him down to eighth.

That subsequently promoted Tsunoda up into P7, with RB team mate Lawson also adding to the team’s points tally in P9 which has helped them to close in on Haas in the championship standings – though Alpine have now stormed up into sixth ahead of them both.

Hamilton clinched the final point on offer in 10th, having made up positions from his original starting position of 14th, while Perez just missed out in 11th despite battling to get ahead of the seven-time world champion.

Bearman was P12 after a busy afternoon for the Haas substitute driver, the teenager finishing ahead of final classified runners Bottas, Alonso and Zhou.

Sainz and Colapinto both recorded a DNF in the race due to their crashes, while Hulkenberg was forced to retire his car after being given a black flag.

Stroll and Albon were the final drivers not to make the final classification, with Stroll having found himself out of the running due to his off on the formation lap while Albon had not been able to take the start due to the aforementioned lack of time to repair his Williams following his qualifying crash.

Key quote

"My emotions today have been a rollercoaster, with qualifying being really unlucky with that red flag," said Verstappen. "Starting P17, I knew that it was going to be a very tough race 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."

What's next

The 2024 season will enter into its closing stages with a final triple header of races, beginning with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on the weekend of November 21-23. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action from the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.