Verstappen seals record 17th win of the season from Norris and Alonso in Sao Paulo Grand Prix
Max Verstappen put in an assured drive to take a dominant victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, making it a record-breaking 17th win for the world champion in 2023.
There was drama even before the race had got under way when Charles Leclerc went off on the formation lap after losing the hydraulics, forcing him to retire. When the lights went out, Verstappen made a clean start into the lead, but a heavy collision between Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen behind resulted in the red flags being thrown.
It was another strong getaway from Verstappen at the restart, who resisted a challenge from Norris to hold P1 before going on to clinch his second win of the weekend after coming out on top in Saturday’s Sprint. Norris claimed a solid second place, while Alonso completed the podium after holding off Sergio Perez in a thrilling battle to the line.
Lance Stroll added to Aston Martin’s tally by taking fifth, ahead of the sole Ferrari runner of Carlos Sainz in sixth. Pierre Gasly was the lead Alpine in seventh, while Lewis Hamilton ended a tough day for Mercedes in P8. Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10.
Logan Sargeant just missed out on points in P11 and Nico Hulkenberg ended up in 12th, with both drivers running solo for their respective teams.
Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri were the last of those to cross the line in P13 and P14. The Australian pair had each suffered damage in the first-corner incident but were able to have their cars repaired during the red flag period.
There were several retirements from the race, with George Russell forced to pit owing to an oil temperature issue after a challenging afternoon, while the Alfa Romeo duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both recorded a DNF due to technical problems.
Magnussen and Albon were out following their first-lap crash, while Leclerc also recorded a DNF due to his formation lap exit.
