Lando Norris sees him very close now. The Briton extended his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship with an end-to-end win at Interlagos, and with just three races remaining he extended his overall lead over Oscar Piastri to 24. … points. The Australian, who has been in free-fall since his win at Zandvoort on the last day of August, can only finish fifth this time. He risked too much in search of a direct fight with his McLaren teammate and paid for it with a collision with Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes that cost him a penalty. His options are to once again be the infallible driver for the first half of the season, although today he is a long way from that version. Antonelli resisted this initial shake and finished second, the best position of his short career. The podium was completed by Max Verstappen after another great comeback.
(Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix results)
Under the constant threat of rain that never came, Norris consolidated his new victory, seventh on the track, with a good start from pole, away from the barrage of touches and accidents that occurred behind him. The first, as soon as the race started, affected Gabriel Bortoletto, the only Brazilian on the grid, who crashed into the wall after making contact with the ground to avoid contact with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. The Sauber accident caused the grandstands to collide and the safety car came out, in addition to being decisive in the outcome of the race. In the restart, Kimi Antonelli was unable to defend his second position on the grid and allowed Piastri and Leclerc to stand alongside him parallel to the end of the straight, one on each side. The work led to Chrome. Piastri saw his great opportunity to challenge Norris for victory, but he was too ambitious. Despite the McLaren’s desperate braking at the apex, there was contact with the Mercedes which bounced and collided with the Ferrari in turn. Leclerc was the worst off. He lost a wheel and left it. Lewis Hamilton did not complete the race either, as the car was damaged on the first lap after contact with Sainz and Franco Colapinto. A day to forget in Maranello.
Piastri was found guilty of the collision with Antonelli and was given a ten-second time-served penalty after approximately 35 laps at his first stop. Thanks to this, he was able to control the disaster and avoid a greater loss.
While all this was happening, Verstappen had begun a frantic comeback that started from pit lane, the place the Dutchman had chosen to start the Grand Prix so he could change the engine, settings and sensations of the car after the disastrous failure in qualifying. The play turned exciting. A series of crashes helped him in the opening laps, although he also had to face an unexpected extra stop due to a puncture. But winning the podium would not have been possible without putting a lot of talent and motivation into the task. Something that only the four-time champion seems able to boast today. Great instigator.
Not much can be said about Alonso’s career. He chose to start with the stiffer tire with the intention of making one stop, but quickly discovered that was not the right strategy. Within just twenty laps, the compound stopped working and forced the Spaniard to quickly change his strategy. By then he had already lost some positions. He finished 14th.
It wasn’t a weekend for Sainz either, as he finished one place ahead of the two-time champion. After his first touch with Hamilton, he accelerated his options to get to the points, but the Spaniard lacked what he almost always did: more speed to fight in the central area.
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