‘I never thought I’d win’: Verstappen after shock Brazil GP triumph from 17th

  • Victory means he can seal fourth F1 title in next round
  • Rival Lando Norris says winner ‘got lucky’ with red flags

Max Verstappen revealed he had not believed he had a chance of victory after his remarkable and unexpected win from 17th on the grid at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

The Dutchman described it as an emotional day after opening with a major setback in qualifying before delivering the comeback drive of the season, while his title rival, Lando Norris, noted Verstappen had got lucky with red-flag rules that were largely opposed by drivers.

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Max Verstappen produces wonder drive to claim F1 São Paulo Grand Prix

  • Champion wins from 17th place on grid
  • Lando Norris’s title hopes in tatters

When the world championship is finally decided, the moment where it was surely settled was ­appropriately with what must be considered the drive of the ­season from Max ­Verstappen. The ­Dutchman’s ­uncompromising style and ­aggression has come under ­enormous scrutiny of late but with his victory from 17th on the grid at the São Paulo Grand Prix he gave a stark reminder that, for all that, he is an exceptional driver and in so doing left his title rival Lando ­Norris’s hopes shattered.

This was a peerless performance, a masterclass in the rain in Brazil that has deservedly all but clinched Verstappen’s fourth title but a more unlikely win was hard to imagine before the lights went out.

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Max Verstappen to start F1 São Paulo GP from 17th as Lando Norris secures pole

  • McLaren driver prevails in delayed, dramatic session
  • Max Verstappen in 17th before potentially defining race

Lando Norris took pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix in a dramatic and incident-packed qualifying session that could presage a major shift in his world championship battle with Max Verstappen. It puts the McLaren driver in the best possible position to make a huge move in closing the gap to Verstappen, who was unlucky and caught out in qualifying and finished 12th, which will mean he will start the race from 17th with a five-place grid penalty.

Qualifying had been postponed from Saturday after a torrential rainstorm had engulfed Interlagos and instead took place on Sunday morning. When it got going, once more in the wet, Verstappen was unable to finish his final quick lap in Q2 when the session was stopped after a crash by Lance Stroll. The world champion now faces an enormous task in the race.

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Norris wins São Paulo GP sprint to narrow gap as Verstappen hit with penalty

  • Verstappen drops to fourth with five-second penalty
  • Ferrari’s Leclerc and Sainz finish fourth and fifth

Lando Norris won the sprint race at the São Paulo Grand Prix for McLaren with the team choosing to employ team orders to have his teammate Oscar Piastri cede the lead to maximise the British driver’s points advantage over world championship Max Verstappen. The Dutchman finished third but was later given a five-second penalty dropping him to fourth. Piastri was second, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third and Carlos Sainz fifth

Piastri led from pole for the entire race until lap 22 of the 24 when he moved over for his teammate but the team had made it clear early in the sprint, their intent was to switch the two drivers in Norris’s favour and Piastri had been explicit beforehand he would not have an issue doing so.

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Max Verstappen’s five-place grid penalty in Brazil GP is chance for Lando Norris

  • F1 championship leader breached engine rules
  • Norris can cut 47-point lead if he takes advantage

Confrontation on the track has dominated the world championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris for the previous two races but now closing out what has been a tempestuous and gruelling triple-header, Norris has the opportunity to take advantage in a manner that will make the most impact on the Dutchman without so much as a backward glance.

Verstappen will start on the back foot in Brazil with a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after changing his engine, leaving him in a starting position of at best sixth, and potentially even lower if the Red Bull has not closed the gap to Norris, McLaren and the recently resurgent Ferrari who have dominated the last two races. These are places that matter in an increasingly tight fight. Norris trails Verstappen by 47 points with four meetings remaining. This weekend and Qatar next month both include sprint races, taking the points still available to 120.

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Hamilton claims Verstappen has kept driving dangerously since 2021 clashes

  • Verstappen under scrutiny for Austin and Mexico races
  • Hamilton: ‘I don’t think you are seeing much difference’

Lewis Hamilton maintains Max Verstappen has continued with an unacceptable driving style since the pair vied for the world championship in 2021. Three years ago the British driver described his rival as dangerous and claimed he drove as if the rules did not apply to him. Verstappen, however, responded bullishly to critics of his driving, labelling them biased and annoying.

Verstappen’s driving has been under intense focus for the previous two rounds in Austin and Mexico where he was involved in controversial incidents with his world championship rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris. In Austin the world champion forced Norris wide, for which the British driver was penalised, although it was considered Verstappen had been carrying too much speed into the corner. Then in Mexico, Verstappen twice pushed Norris off and was penalised on both occasions.

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Max Verstappen’s ruthless streak on show in battle with Norris | Giles Richards

World champion is not only quick but he is clever and his aggression is on show once more

Two races and two flashpoints, the world championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris is in full flow. With the demonstrable full commitment of both protagonists, neither is leaving anything on the table for the final four races. Certainly the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday made clear Verstappen’s approach to securing his fourth title. He will be as ruthless as ever, perhaps because he is rattled like no time since Lewis Hamilton took him to the wire in 2021.

Norris and Verstappen had gone wheel to wheel at the previous round in Austin, with the Briton punished for going off track while trying to overtake the world champion. It was a decision many considered unfair in that Verstappen had deliberately been too hot into the corner and forced Norris off. There was disquiet and before Mexico a meeting with drivers and the FIA to discuss how to better define what are known as the driving guidelines, which govern what is legal in attacking and defending through a corner.

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‘Not fair, clean racing’: Norris hits out at Verstappen over penalties in Mexico

  • Briton said title leader ‘got what he had coming to him’
  • Verstappen finished sixth in Mexico after two penalties

Lando Norris has admitted he now expects Max Verstappen to come at him with potentially illegal driving moves after the pair went wheel to wheel at the Mexico City Grand Prix and that the Dutchman, who he said had not offered a “clean fight”, had deserved the penalties he was given.

Verstappen was twice penalised for what were deemed unacceptable moves, in both defence and attack, against Norris early in the race. The world championship leader was given two 10-second penalties for the incidents and subsequently finished sixth, with Norris second. Verstappen had been similarly aggressive at the last round in Austin and Norris was disappointed his title rival was choosing to drive in such an uncompromising fashion.

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Carlos Sainz wins the Mexican Grand Prix as Verstappen gets 20-second penalty – as it happened

Lando Norris came in second to close up the championship standings as Ferrari took their second victory in a week

It looks hot in Mexico City but is actually around 21 degrees. The Mercedes team are worried about the first turn, and think a one-stop strategy will be the way ahead today. It’s cool.

“Every start is different,” says Max Verstappen as he makes his way to his car. It’s rowdy in Mexico. “I don’t want to say we can win the race today."

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Sainz wins F1 Mexico City Grand Prix as Norris makes Verstappen pay penalty

  • Briton splits Ferraris to come second; Leclerc third
  • Verstappen trails in sixth after double penalty

Lando Norris might have been beaming by the end of the Mexico City Grand Prix but the British driver’s patience and temper is clearly being sorely tested by his world championship rival Max Verstappen in a title fight where the defending champion was looking very much like he is beginning to feel the pressure.

As Verstappen once more pushed the envelope of what is acceptable on track, this time Norris came out in front of the Dutchman but it was Carlos Sainz who took an impressive win for Ferrari at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

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Sainz takes pole at Mexico Grand Prix as Verstappen gets the jump on Norris

  • Norris trails Verstappen by 57 points in title fight
  • Dutchman second in qualifying, with British rival third

Max Verstappen edged out his title rival Lando Norris as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claimed pole position at the Mexico Grand Prix. Norris trails Verstappen by 57 points in the drivers’ championship with five races remaining and 146 points up for grabs and needs to start making major inroads into the Dutchman’s advantage.

McLaren failed in their bid to overturn Norris’s controversial penalty which demoted him behind Verstappen in Austin last weekend, a result the British driver labelled a “momentum killer” in his pursuit of a maiden title. And those hopes suffered a further blow as Norris could only finish third in qualifying for Sunday’s 71-lap race, a place behind his title rival and more than three-tenths off the pace of pole-sitter Sainz.

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Charles Leclerc: ‘I’m super excited to work with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari’

Level-headed F1 driver is teaming up with his childhood idol next season but before then there is plenty to achieve

There is a fascinating dichotomy at the heart of how Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc balances the exceptional demands of Formula One. It is more than simply being on it when the visor comes down and reveals why he is one of the sport’s most endearing and absorbing characters.

In a dominant victory at last week’s US Grand Prix, the 27-year-old Monegasque made it look easy. He is now in his seventh season, but when asked to consider his approach to F1, Leclerc pauses and thinks hard, perhaps aware his answer is not what many may expect in a sport that sells itself on its gladiatorial nature, the grand clashing of ego and attitude.

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Fernando Alonso: an F1 genius too often in wrong place at wrong time

The 43-year-old will be the first to race 400 grands prix but fearsome ambition has proved both asset and drawback

Fernando Alonso may not be in the title fight, indeed he will almost certainly not even be in the mix for a win at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, but the Spaniard will be making Formula One history nonetheless. The meeting will be his 400th, no driver has more, and behind them lies the story of an engrossing career: of exceptional talent and success and of promise lost for a driver who has always been nothing but compelling.

The Spaniard is 43 and this season at Aston Martin will be his 21st in F1 since he made his debut for Minardi in 2001. He has taken 32 wins and two world championships, in 2005 and 2006, and while he has come close since he has never secured another. When asked about reaching his 400th race Alonso’s response said it all about what really mattered.

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Lando Norris vows to make changes in race to beat Max Verstappen to F1 title

  • Briton trails F1 world champion by 57 points
  • Norris: ‘I still need to adapt a little bit more’

Lando Norris says he will make changes to his approach in his world championship battle with Max Verstappen.

The British driver was controversially demoted from third to fourth at the US Grand Prix in Austin last weekend after being handed a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage by running off the track to pass Verstappen in the closing stages – at the end of a thrilling battle between the title protagonists.

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Gaming the system? Verstappen incident shows overtake rules need urgent overhaul

As fallout from battle between Norris and Red Bull driver in Austin rumbles on, F1 must look again at guidelines

While the dust has yet to settle on the controversy over Max Verstappen’s defence against Lando Norris’s overtaking at the US Grand Prix last Sunday, the two drivers will go at it once more this weekend in Mexico. The issue raised by their battle in Austin remains highly contentious, however, and is in need of being addressed. If Formula One is to enjoy a championship fight between the two rivals, exploitation of flawed principles, confusion and subsequent accusations of inconsistency in stewarding will not do it any favours.

For the closing 10 laps in Texas, Verstappen and Norris, now separated by 57 points in the title fight with five races remaining, enjoyed a gripping head-to-head at the Circuit of the Americas.

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