Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen took a record-extending 17th win of the Formula One season in Brazil yesterday after leading a red-flagged and re-started Sao Paulo Grand Prix from pole position.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second, 8.2 seconds behind but with a bonus point for fastest lap, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took third place on the final lap after a thrilling battle with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Verstappen, now on 52 career wins, clinched the title in Qatar last month while Red Bull have also retained their constructors’ title. The champions have won 19 of the 20 races so far.
“Well done Max, that was absolutely clinical once again,” said team boss Christian Horner over the radio as Verstappen took the chequered flag.
“The starts were very important today. Both of them were I think very good. After that the whole race was about the management of the tyres,” said Verstappen.
While the Dutch driver’s victory always looked inevitable, Alonso provided the late thrills with a dramatic battle with Perez in which he showed all the attacking fire and defensive skill of a double world champion.
The Spaniard crossed the finish line just 0.053 seconds ahead of the Mexican after Perez passed him on the penultimate lap and Alonso, the oldest man in the race at 42, grabbed the place back on the last. “It was like 30 laps when I had the pressure from Checo (Perez),” he said. “When he passed me two laps to the end, I thought ‘okay, this is gone, the podium is not possible anymore,” he said.