Norris shines in Verstappen chase as Alonso thrills in Perez fight at Brazil GP

05 November 2023 , 19:02

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Max Verstappen claimed a record 17th win of the season in Brazil (Image: Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Max Verstappen won the Brazilian Grand Prix while closest challenger Lando Norris truly sparkled on Bonfire Night.

But while Brits were setting off rockets in their back gardens, the Brazilians have been celebrating their Day of the Dead holiday. So it was perhaps fitting that Lewis Hamilton declared that he cannot wait to lay his W14 car to rest after a dismal weekend for Mercedes in Sao Paulo.

Tyre degradation was heavy for Hamilton and George Russell while their massive rear wing meant they were slow on the straights too – even with the DRS activated. It meant neither of them were ever a threat to Verstappen in the race.

To be fair, few others were either. Only Norris showed the pace to keep Verstappen honest settling for second after driving the wheels off his McLaren in pursuit of the champion. Fernando Alonso came close to joining them on the podium after Aston Martin binned their upgrades and took their car back to basics, fending off Sergio Perez late on to take third.

There was a false start of sorts to the Grand Prix as first-corner crash which caused damage to several cars led to the race being stopped. There was so much debris on the road and damage to the barriers that it was safer to bring out the red flags.

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And Charles Leclerc hadn't even been involved in that start after crashing on the formation lap. He blamed a hydraulics failure over the radio, but later went back on that as he spoke to reporters about what had happened.

The restart was less chaotic, but not great for Hamilton. He had enjoyed a great launch off the line to move up to third on the first occasion, but this time Alonso got the better of him to move up into the podium positions at his old F1 rival's expense.

That left Russell behind his team-mate and the younger Brit was keen for the Mercedes drivers to work together. But Hamilton apparently didn't get the memo as he pulled out of DRS range, leaving Russell exposed to the lurking Perez.

Norris shines in Verstappen chase as Alonso thrills in Perez fight at Brazil GP

Verstappen led throughout but was tailed closely by Norris (Getty Images)

He was less than impressed as he questioned why Hamilton had not given him more of a hand as the Mexican swept past. And Hamilton was soon passed as well with the under-fire Red Bull driver looking more like his old self on track in Sao Paulo.

After the first round of pit stops Verstappen was still in the lead but he was being kept honest by Norris. The McLaren had fallen out of DRS range early on which made it all the more impressive that he was keeping up with the Red Bull impressively, just three seconds behind when they both pitted for the first time.

But the McLaren pit crew was slightly slower and Verstappen took full advantage to extend that to more than five seconds after the first lap on their fresh tyres. Alonso in third was already more than 10 seconds adrift and on older tyres as it became clear that this was going to be a two-horse race.

Verstappen and Norris were going quicker than everyone else by more than half-a-second per lap, underlining how much better they were than everyone else throughout the entire Brazilian GP weekend. Alonso was more than 20 seconds adrift of the lead. Hamilton and Russell were falling back all the time.

At the front, for all Norris' excellent work, he was going to need a safety car to catch Verstappen. But it never came and the Dutchman was able to manage his way to the end of the race with little issue, forcing the Brit to once again accept being the bridesmaid.

Russell didn't even make it to the end, told to retire the car. Mercedes explained that he had high oil temperatures which were only getting worse and there was a risk of an immediate engine failure. Perez got the better of Alonso on the penultimate lap but then the Spaniard returned the favour and took third in a dramatic photo finish.