Max Verstappen’s sensational victory in Formula 1’s 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix has won the Moment of the Year prize – presented by Bahrain International Circuit – at this year’s Autosport Awards.
The Award was chosen by motorsport fans in a vote on Autosport.com, with previous winners of this accolade including Ferrari’s victory in the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours and George Russell’s first F1 win in the 2022 Brazilian GP.
Fans had four moments to choose from when selecting the prize.
The nominations in addition to Verstappen’s 62nd F1 victory were Lando Norris’s maiden grand prix triumph for McLaren in last year’s Miami GP, Ferrari’s second successive Hypercar triumph at Le Mans and Lewis Hamilton’s record-extending win in the 2024 British GP.
Speaking in a video while accepting his Award, Verstappen said: “Thank you very much to all the readers for voting me.
“The moment of the year, the Sunday in Brazil, it was a very up and down rollercoaster of emotions.
“After qualifying, of course, we were all very upset. But then I think the race was something that I'll never forget always. Brazil is an amazing venue but then, of course, when it starts raining, it can get very hectic.”
Verstappen’s Interlagos victory all but secured his triumph in the 2024 F1 world championship, in his unexpected and at times bitter battle with Norris.
It was Verstappen’s first win in 11 races – after he had won seven of the first 10 in 2024 before Red Bull lost its way on developing its RB20 challenger and McLaren led the chasing pack in fully closing the performance gap at the head of the F1 field that had developed since the current rules era began in 2022.
Arriving in Brazil, Verstappen was under significant scrutiny for his driving in battle against Norris at the two previous F1 races in Texas and Mexico, with the Dutchman picking up a pair of penalties in the latter event.
In the Interlagos sprint race, Norris further reduced his rivals points lead in winning after being handed the lead by his team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Verstappen fourth.
This was after he was hit with another penalty – for going too fast at the ending of a virtual safety car period while chasing the second McLaren.
Qualifying for the main race was then postponed to Sunday morning due to heavy rain, with Verstappen dumped out in Q2 when it did run in only slightly less soaking conditions.
This was due to his times early in that qualifying segment not getting amongst the top times initially and Red Bull’s later run plan going wrong, although he and his team fumed about the timing of a red flag caused by Lance Stroll’s crash.
Verstappen lined up in 17th for the main race – although he started a net 15th due to Stroll and Alex Albon missing the start – and he unleashed a drive for the ages to win even from that lowly starting spot.
He carved his way through the field with a first lap that gained four more places and drew comparisons with Ayrton Senna’s famous start at the 1993 European GP at Donington, plus a series of bold later passes at the Senna S corner complex.
A mid-race red flag stoppage aided Verstappen’s rise past early leaders Russell and Norris, with his post-restart pass on Alpine’s Esteban Ocon sealing the victory and boosting his points gap at the head of the standings, as Norris erred on his way to finally finishing sixth.
Verstappen’s fourth world title was then sealed in the next race in Las Vegas and he took a final 2024 victory in the Qatar GP.
GianPiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer, collected the award on his behalf and added: “This race came at a time of the year when we were having to work extremely hard on everything we could manage to the chequered flag.
“Max hadn’t won since the Spanish GP and to say Max was slightly aggrieved to drop out in qualifying in Q2 is an understatement. So for Max to pull out that kind of drive in that situation was phenomenal.
“It has to be a natural and strong bond between us and I think Max and I have that. So it is good that people can see the fruits of that.”
To find out who our other Award winners are, go to autosport.com/awards
