Sunday, November 3, 2024, 16:09
| Updated 7:22 p.m.
The combination between Brazil and rain is a guarantee of an unexpected race, especially when qualifying had to be held a few hours before. Thus, it was impossible to predict that Max Verstappen would win this race, starting 17th, with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly on the podium and adding 33 points for Alpine, his best result in years.
Norris, unmitigatedly, bad. He finished sixth after being unable to take advantage of any of the multiple incidents that occurred in this race, in which he arrived to take an almost lethal bite at the title that, now, is slipping away. He cannot leave satisfied, nor can the Spaniards: Sainz crashed and Alonso finished second to last, with back pain due to the constant rebound of a clearly poorly calibrated Aston Martin.
Chaos before, during and after departure
Qualifying, postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain, left a grid led by Lando Norris. It was the only normal thing, because from behind came George Russell and the unexpected Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson. These positions perfectly summarize the chaotic nature of the day, marked by rain from the first moment of the morning. With Verstappen starting 17th, Sainz from the pitlane or Albon abandoning because the mechanics had not had time to repair his crashed Williams (the Aston Martin team with Alonso or Stroll, yes), a chaotic start was expected.
But the chaos came before the departure itself. On the formation lap, Stroll showed why he is one of the worst drivers on the grid and crashed not once but twice. The second was the final one, when he got stuck in the gravel. Aborted start, everyone on the grill… and investigation of Norris. The ‘poleman’ (and four other drivers) was warned for jumping the previous traffic light, something that other drivers could have looked at but which, however, they decided to let go.
Seventeen minutes after the scheduled time, which was still 13 minutes before the one initially scheduled before this Saturday, the second start of the day was taken, with rain already appearing on the track. The guest they wanted to avoid showed up anyway, the rain, which added an extra spice to the start.
Whether it was because of the water or because he was simply not good at it, Norris’ pole position lasted just a few meters. As has already happened several times, on this occasion it was Russell who took first place from the McLaren driver, who was forced to attack given that Verstappen had to come back from 17th position. The Red Bull rider, who swims very well in this type of sea, took just 5 laps to reach the top 10, until he was stopped by Piastri in 7th position. Norris’ teammate had to stop the advance of McLaren’s great ‘enemy’, but he was unable to do so. In fact, Piastri barely lasted half a lap for Verstappen whose goal was to reach the ‘top 5’ before the halfway point of the race.
The rain wakes up the race and puts Ocon first
The halfway point of the race arrived at a critical moment. The track was starting to dry out, but not enough to put on dry tires. The forecast that more water was going to fall was getting closer, so several drivers began to consider a dilemma: wait on the track to see if the water or a red flag would arrive, or change tires. In the latter case, see what wheels to put.
In the end, the decision was made in another way. First, Nico Hulkenberg spun and caused the safety car to be deployed, but he returned to the track (after being helped by the stewards, which caused him to be disqualified). That was not the most serious incident, but that of Franco Colapinto who, while screaming violently on the circuit, lost control of his Williams and crashed it violently against the protections. The red flag and the stoppage became mandatory.
As several drivers had stopped in the pits and others had not, in the end the big beneficiary was the unexpected Esteban Ocon. The Alpine driver entered as the leader of the race, with Verstappen second and Gasly third, Norris fourth, Russell fifth… Seeing the two Alpine drivers up there was a guarantee of an unexpected spectacle when they decided to resume the race, with the safety car as a hare to ensure safety.
On the restart, Norris blew himself up. An exit from the track after the safety car retired caused him to lose two positions with the ‘top 3’. Good for Verstappen who also saw another safety car. And that’s where he achieved success.
Verstappen, from mud to glory
Ocon knew that the battle was not with him. Although it was very greedy to try to hold Verstappen down, he did not put many obstacles in his way when the Dutchman took first place from him to go to the end in first position. It was well worth it for the Frenchman and his teammate Gasly to complete the podium, the best result by far for Alpine in years.
It was much worse for Norris. The one who was going to give a blow to the World Championship saw how Verstappen took first while he narrowly avoided the accident against Russell, which in turn made him fall to 7th place. If Piastri had not received the order to let his teammate pass, he would have given up another point with a Verstappen who already knows he is practically a champion.
As for the Spanish, unmitigated evil. Sainz ended up against the wall as soon as the race got underway, putting the finishing touch to a weekend to forget. Fernando Alonso, with an Aston Martin that is neither there nor expected, finished second to last of the 15 that reached the 69 laps of this race. A final spin condemned him when he was fighting for the points, but he decided to finish the Grand Prix for the mechanics and their work to prepare the car. Although it doesn’t give much more.
