The scene was set under the dark skies of the Interlagos Circut in Sao Paulo. Lando Norris was on pole; Max Verstappen was 16 places behind. With 44 points between the championship contenders, this was the day McLaren had been waiting for. This was the day of the much-needed points swing in the drivers’ championship. This was the day Norris’ challenge launched into reality.
But what you need to know about the highly-charged, fired-up version of Verstappen is that – with his back against the wall at the back of the grid – he thrives in such circumstances. A figure of immense anger in the morning after some misfortune in qualifying, following a 20-second penalty a week earlier in Mexico, he had a point to prove. To his rivals. To the “British press”. But perhaps most of all, to himself.
Without a victory since June, the Dutchman had been inching his way to the championship, unable to challenge the speed of McLaren and Ferrari. But treacherous wet conditions on Sunday levelled the playing field – who would rise to the occasion amid the mayhem of Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix? From a position of such weakness, Verstappen emerged with his greatest triumph.
There was, indeed, a major swing. Eighteen points in fact. But to Norris’ despair, it was a swing in the wrong direction. The British driver’s inaugural title dream lies in tatters and Verstappen is now on the cusp of four titles on the spin.
With an advantage of 62 points with three races to go, Verstappen can hit the jackpot in Las Vegas in three weeks if he finishes above Norris under the lights of Sin City. It’s now as simple as that.
How different it could have been for Norris. Buoyed by a sprint race win on Saturday, he alluded to the weather as a potential stumbling block for McLaren. The Bristolian is no slouch in the wet – but his level amid the pressure of a title race was badly exposed by the champion-in-waiting.
As team personnel arrived at the Interlagos paddock sleepy-eyed at 4am on Sunday, it had the sense of a decisive day. Qualifying to start with was action-packed, with five crashes and five red flags in what was the earliest qualifying session ever at 7.30am local time.
In such conditions, luck plays its part and Norris – who was close to a Q1 elimination – put his McLaren on pole. Verstappen, after a controversial late red flag at the end of Q2, was only 12th-fastest. And with his five-place grid drop, he was down in P17.
But it was far from over. As odd a statement as this may be nowadays, did Bernie Ecclestone have it right all along? In yesteryear, the former F1 supremo seriously suggested using sprinkler systems to soak F1 tracks in order to make races more entertaining. While that brash proposal did not see the light of day, the wet weather in Brazil triggered the most entertaining and chaotic day of the season.
For Norris, lights out was a familiar feeling. George Russell surged down the inside, with the McLaren slow to pull away. It was the ninth time out of 10 he had lost the lead from pole after lap one. But the real take-off was at the back.
TOP-10 - DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Max Verstappen - 393 points
2. Lando Norris - 331 points
3. Charles Leclerc - 307 points
4. Oscar Piastri - 262 points
5. Carlos Sainz - 244 points
6. George Russell - 192 points
7. Lewis Hamilton - 190 points
8. Sergio Perez - 151 points
9. Fernando Alonso - 62 points
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 31 points
Verstappen, who first showed his immense skill in the rain eight years ago in Brazil as a 19-year-old, surged up seven places by the end of lap one. It was an astonishing tutorial in the art of wet-weather driving. The Dutchman overtook four cars around the outside of turn 3, oozing finesse and control on a damp line, while others crept cautiously on the inside.
By the halfway stage of the race, with Norris and Russell pitting a lap too soon after a strategy error, Verstappen was all the way up to second. He benefited from a red flag and was able to change tyres without losing position. It was the stroke of “luck” – as Norris labelled it post-race – which altered the course of the race and with it, the championship.
Verstappen duly overtook Esteban Ocon after another safety car at turn one. A matter of seconds later, Norris was sliding off track, demoting him further down the field. By the chequered flag, Verstappen had won by 20 seconds and had set the 10 fastest laps of the race. More so than Barcelona 2016, Miami 2022 or even Abu Dhabi 2021, this was Verstappen’s greatest victory.
It was close to unprecedented too. In 1,121 races in the sport’s 74-year history, only five have been won by a driver in 17th place or lower. It was the first time since Kimi Raikkonen in Japan 19 years ago and marked Verstappen’s biggest-ever comeback to win.
“My emotions are all over the place, from wanting to destroy the garage (after qualifying) to winning the race,” said Verstappen. “It has been a rollercoaster. It is unbelievable to win here from so far back on the grid.
“I was expecting to lose points in the championship. Now, I just want clean races. But I am not thinking about clinching the title in Vegas.
“There was a lot at stake because I had to be aware of the championship, so for me this is the best one (victory).”
It was an excruciating few hours for Norris, who cut a crestfallen figure after he limped home in sixth place. Make no mistake: this season was a genuine opportunity for the 24-year-old to win a world title. But three wins and countless missed opportunities speak to his inexperience and unfathomable weakness at the start. He’ll learn from this – but will such an opening present itself again?
But Verstappen now looks set to join Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four world titles. That would put him in the top six of all time, with just Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio ahead. Amid speculation he could walk away from the sport soon, surely days like this will keep him immersed for a long time yet?
