With the conclusion of the Brazilian Grand Prix, held in Sao Paulo’s Interlagos neighborhood, the golden medal once again went to McLaren’s Lando Norris. With the 25 points he got from winning the Brazilian GP, and another 8 for winning the sprint race on Saturday, he further lengthens his championship lead to 29 points over Oscar Piastri and 49 ahead of Max Verstappen. Despite all this, Verstappen was voted driver of the day in the popularity vote. Why is this, you ask? You just have to look at the thrilling wet race that happened that day. The starting grid consists of Lando Norris in P1; followed by Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes’ rookie on P2; and Charles Leclerc on P3. Surprisingly, championship leader Verstappen started on pit lane after violating parc fermé and installing a new engine and altering the setup, which hurts Verstappen’s already terrible qualifying session (in which he finished P16, getting booted off in Q1) even more.
Going into the race, the rainy weather and the damp track proved to be a hassle for the drivers, as Gabi Bortoleto’s Sauber crashed at Turn 1, which forced the race into safety car laps. After the restart, Piastri locked up and collided with Antonelli, which, in turn, forced Antonelli into Leclerc’s Ferrari, tearing his tire and destroying his suspension, thus forcing him out of the race.
The collusion between Leclerc and Antonelli brought out a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) that brought the entire pack together. After some racing, an incident between Hamilton and Sainz unsettled Hamilton’s car and on Lap 37, Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire from the race. But as Hamilton dragged his crippled Ferrari into the pits, Verstappen, who initially found himself on the pit lane, was now seen in P8 and rapidly gaining positions. Meanwhile Lando Norris generally led the pack throughout the race, with some exceptions when pitting for tires.
As the checkered flag waved, Verstappen found himself in P3, a near repeat of his championship-winning performance on the same track last year. Ahead of Max Verstappen was the rookie Kimi Antonelli in P2, who, despite facing pressure from the 4-time world champion, persevered and held P2 from the start of the race till its conclusion. And to nobody’s surprise, Lando Norris gained the victory in Interlagos. With Lando Norris’ victory, he extended his championship lead and pushed the light away from Verstappen’s hopes of winning his 5th title. Even with his lackluster performance lately, if we look at a graph showing Verstappen’s growing trend in points, followed by his 5 consecutive wins after the summer break, it really looks to be in his favor:
But honestly, if there’s anyone who can recover from a 49 point deficit, it is definitely Max Vestappen. From his miracle win in Sao Paolo in 2024 starting at P16, to his 4 world titles and extremely dominant 2023 season, the only thing holding Max Verstappen back is the superiority of the McLaren chassis and recent issues regarding his cars setup. Although his chances are slimmer, his hopes of winning the championship are not over as the grid heads into the flashing lights of Las Vegas with the Driver’s Championship Trophy still up for grabs.
