Max Verstappen triumphs for Red Bull at chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil

Max Verstappen took victory for Red Bull at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, with the Dutchman triumphing from 17th on the grid.

Victory was the first for both Verstappen and the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing since the Spanish Grand Prix back in June, with Verstappen charging through to take the lead after a red flag and a safety car in a chaotic race in Brazil held through heavy rain.

Verstappen would triumph by a margin of over 19 seconds to second place finisher Esteban Ocon in the Alpine, while he also picked up a fastest lap bonus point in a result that sees him stretch his lead in the Formula One Driver’s Championship.

With three rounds of the season to go, Verstappen now holds a 62 point lead on second place Lando Norris in the McLaren, who finished the race in sixth. The Dutchman will win a fourth consecutive Driver’s Championship title if he can get a favourable result at the next round in Las Vegas, though victory at Interlagos puts him now in prime position to become the champion once more.

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez finished 11th, narrowly finishing behind Lewis Hamilton in the battle for the final points position.

In the Constructor’s Championship, Red Bull remain third but gain on their competitors. The Milton Keynes-based team are now on 544 points, with Red Bull now 13 points behind second place Ferrari and 49 behind leaders McLaren.

A chaotic weekend of wet weather saw Verstappen only qualify 12th in a session held on Sunday morning, which became 17th when a previously applied grid penalty for an engine change was taken into account.

The position became a net 15th before it started, with Alex Albon unable to start due to damage caused by a crash in qualifying and Lance Stroll getting beached in a gravel trap on the initial formation lap.

When the race started, Verstappen flew out of the traps, flying up into the points by the start of lap 2 before making moves on the likes of Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly ahead to move into the top six.

Verstappen’s drive to victory initially stalled a she got stuck behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who in turn had been stuck behind Yuki Tsunoda and Ocon.

Around a third of the way through the race, however, things changed when rain intensified.

The Dutchman was one of a few drivers to gamble on staying out on the tyres with which they’d began the race, with Leclerc pitting, followed by Tsunoda and then the race leading duo of George Russell and Norris.

This bumped Verstappen up into second when the safety car was deployed due to the conditions, which was upgraded to a red flag with Williams driver Franco Colapinto lost it in the wet and crashed out.

When proceedings restarted, Verstappen initially failed to keep up with the pace set by Ocon, but was given another chance when a crash for Carlos Sainz lead to another safety car.

On the restart from that, Verstappen duly overtook Ocon and set off into the distance, setting fastest lap after fastest lap on his way to a dominant win reminiscent of his successes in the first stages of the season.

Perez, meanwhile, spun on lap one, and his race ultimately became a battle to try and get into the final points position.

He was able to gain places thanks to the likes of Sainz, Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg being unable to finish, but having got into the top ten, he was unable to clear the RB of Liam Lawson before losing a track position on Hamilton and following him home.

The positions may yet change, however, with all of Norris, Russell, Tsunoda and Lawson under investigation for potential infringements for an unauthorised additional formation lap after Stroll’s formation lap crash, and with Mercedes duo Russell and Hamilton under a further investigation for a technical infringement relating to their tyres during the gap between the attempted first start and actual start.