4 Winners and 5 Losers from Brazil – Who excelled in the wet around Interlagos?

Red Bull raided the champagne fridge to celebrate a Grand Prix victory for the first time since June thanks to some brilliance from Max Verstappen in a soaking Sao Paulo Grand Prix – but others couldn’t wait to escape and dry off. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from Interlagos.
A day after winning the Sprint, Lando Norris’s hopes of further slashing Max Verstappen’s championship lead looked good as he sat on pole at Interlagos, with his title rival way back in 17th.
But not for the first time, Norris lost the lead from pole by Turn 1 as George Russell sailed by. As McLaren had ditched their medium downforce wing after the Sprint due to the wet forecast for the race, they were only the fourth-fastest team on the straights, and thus Norris couldn’t find a way to get back past Russell despite being faster.
Things got worse for him when he pitted for fresh tyres just when the Virtual Safety Car came to an end – and then his hopes of fighting for the win were extinguished a few laps later when a red flag was thrown, giving several drivers including Verstappen a free tyre change.
READ MORE: Norris rues ‘unlucky’ pit stop timing in Sao Paulo as he vows team will ‘keep our heads down’ despite title setback
Norris crossed the line sixth – his lowest finish when starting from pole this season. His title hopes now look bleak as he trails Verstappen by 62 points with only 86 remaining.
Verstappen hit back from a difficult weekend in Mexico to deliver one of the all-time great comeback drives and firmly slap one hand on the World Championship trophy with victory at Interlagos.
Verstappen had a sensational opening couple of laps to make seven places to run 10th. Yes, he benefitted from the red flag that allowed him a free tyre change, but he made his own luck by commanding the treacherous conditions in a way unrivalled by anyone else in the field.
This was his first Grand Prix win since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, ending a 10-race winless streak, and he has now broken Michael Schumacher’s record for the most consecutive days in the lead of the drivers’ championship – Schumacher led for 896 days.
READ MORE: Verstappen reflects on ‘absolutely crazy’ Sao Paulo GP after sublime climb from P17 to victory as he extends title lead
The Red Bull driver now heads to Las Vegas knowing that if he can win there – no matter where Norris finishes – he will claim a fourth straight title.
This was a brutal weekend for Aston Martin. Their mechanics were up against it after both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso crashed in qualifying – but they did an incredible job to get both cars ready for the race just a few hours later.
However, Stroll didn’t even get to take the start after he spun on the formation lap (he said after the race it felt like a brake failure) and as he tried to recover, the car got beached in the gravel.
Alonso spent most of the race in the points, but said he encountered a brake issue after the restart and later spun out of the top 10. The Spaniard reported a lot of discomfort in his back, courtesy of the car bouncing significantly, and he limped across the line 14th.
Alpine had not completed a single racing lap inside the top five all season coming to Brazil – but that all changed at Interlagos as they took advantage of the wet conditions to seal a remarkable double podium.
READ MORE: ‘We never gave up and here we are’ – Alpine pair overjoyed by unexpected double podium in Brazil
Esteban Ocon briefly led before coming second, one place ahead of Pierre Gasly who was racing in his 150th Grand Prix weekend.
It was the squad’s first double podium under the Alpine brand and the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix in 1997 that two French drivers had finished on the podium (Olivier Panis P2 and Jean Alesi P3).
The massive haul of points (33) catapulted them up three places to sixth in the constructors’ championship with three Grands Prix to go.
Williams’ bank balance took a massive hit in Brazil as they suffered three major crashes in the space of a few hours on Sunday.
Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto both crashed in qualifying, with the damage to Albon’s car so significant, he couldn’t start the Grand Prix.
READ MORE: One of the ‘lowest moments’ for Williams after three crashes in a day in Sao Paulo but team boss Vowles says they ‘will never give up’
Colapinto did see the start but he brought out the red flag when he lost the car on one of rivers of water streaming across the track.
Williams boss James Vowles says they now have a lot of work to do to get enough spares ready for the next race in Las Vegas later this month.
Though RB were overhauled by Alpine in the constructors’ championship, the Italian team can still take comfort from the fact this was their most productive weekend of the year so far.
Yuki Tsunoda sealed his best-ever grid slot with P3 after a sensational performance in wet conditions in qualifying, giving the team only their second top three start in in the last 16 years, with Liam Lawson an impressive fifth.
While they couldn’t maintain those positions in the second stint of the race, seventh equalled Tsunoda’s best finish of the year, while Lawson scored for the second time in his three starts so far.
HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action as Verstappen stages remarkable comeback in Sao Paulo while Alpine claim double podium
This was the first time RB have got both cars in the points in a Grand Prix this year and they are now two points behind Haas and five adrift of Alpine in a tense fight for P6.
Mercedes left Brazil wondering what might have been after watching George Russell qualify a superb second and lead the race, only for the Briton to get jumped by three cars who earned a free pit stop courtesy of a red flag.
Russell crossed the line fourth for his 18th score of the year (only three of those have been podiums) while team mate Lewis Hamilton lamented one of his most difficult weekends of the year as he snuck into the points in 10th.
That was Hamilton’s worst finish at Interlagos since he joined Mercedes in 2013 and came after he was booted out of Q1 for the third time this year and second time in the last three races.
READ MORE: ‘I was pretty angry’ – Russell reflects on losing out to red flags after leading initial stages of Sao Paulo GP
McLaren’s weekend got off to the perfect start as they locked out the Sprint grid front row and converted that into a one-two, with Oscar Piastri allowing lead drivers’ title contender Norris through to take that win.
Norris then nailed a brilliant lap to take pole for the Grand Prix – but that turned out to be the peak as he faded to sixth with Piastri finishing eighth.
That was their weakest weekend since Austria – but nonetheless, they leave Brazil having moved seven points further clear at the top of the constructors’ championship, now 36 clear of Ferrari. It’s these kinds of damage limitation weekends that can make the difference in a title fight.
The Haas team’s run of five races in the points came to an end in Brazil.
Ollie Bearman – subbing in for the unwell Kevin Magnussen – was kicked out of Q1 for the first time in his career as he ended up 17th, while Nico Hulkenberg was outqualified by a team mate for the third successive race as he ended up 19th.
READ MORE: What the teams said – Race day in Sao Paulo
The race was equally as painful as Hulkenberg got the black flag after receiving assistance to return to the racing action, while Bearman failed to score in a Grand Prix for the first time as he crossed the line 12th.