Riding high on the news that São Paulo will have Formula One visiting its iconic Interlagos circuit until 2030, it is time for what will be another thrilling grand prix at this 4.3km rollercoaster. Tune in on The Roar from 4am (AEDT) for live blog coverage and lap-by-lap updates.
The São Paulo Grand Prix is always known for exciting races, including championship deciders like 15 years ago when Paulista Felipe Massa was cruelly denied the title on the final lap while Lewis Hamilton claimed his first.
Twelve months ago, this was the scene of Mercedes’ one and only win in 2022 and their last in Formula One. George Russell stitching together an emphatic weekend on that occasion to win the Sprint and his first grand prix.
Max Verstappen though sealed pole position on Friday for the 71-lap race ahead, three-tenths quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and a surprise performance from Aston Martin to see their cars occupy the second row – led by Lance Stroll.
Grid penalties were handed out to Russell and both Alpine drivers for impeding, with the trio all given two-place drops. Reigning race winner Russell will now start the race from eighth.
Mercedes have won the last two races here, including the emphatic 2021 win from the rear of the grid for Hamilton via the Sprint. It has been thought that if the Silver Arrows were to win a race in 2023, it would be here.
Friday practice saw drivers struggle with overheating on their hard compound tyres, as well as in the Sprint on the softs where tyre management dominated proceedings. With clear weather ahead, a minimum two-stop race should be expected.
The 24-lap Sprint confirmed Red Bull’s pace supremacy with Sergio Perez featuring in the top three, behind winner Verstappen. The order behind them though is what will be intriguing to see in the grand prix.
McLaren, courtesy of Lando Norris’ second in the Sprint, are the ones to watch but will have to work their way up the top ten. Mercedes with the benefit of track position ahead, seem a surety to get ahead of Aston Martin. But after their recent struggles and now in with a sniff of a podium – it would be a wasted opportunity if Stroll and Alonso didn’t go for it.
Even though Verstappen continues to chase and break records, Brazil is the sort of race where anything can happen and the unpredictable is fascinating.
Lights out: 4am (AEDT)
Venue: Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Brazil
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports
Grid
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 3. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 6. Lando Norris (McLaren), 7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 8. George Russell (Mercedes), 9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 11. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), 12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 13. Alexander Albon (Williams), 14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 15. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 16. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 17. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), 18. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 19. Logan Sargeant (Williams), 20. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Well that then wrap's up this live blog of the São Paulo Grand Prix. Thanks again for tuning in here on The Roar as always. A weekend off then after this Americas triple header before F1 heads to Las Vegas, with the Saturday race over there going to be on at 5pm AEDT Sunday November 19. Nothing like prime time coverage! Until then, thank you for tuning in and bye for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 524 - Max Verstappen 258 - Sergio Perez 226 - Lewis Hamilton 198 - Fernando Alonso 195 - Lando Norris 192 - Carlos Sainz 170 - Charles Leclerc 156 - George Russell 87 -- Oscar Piastri 63 -- Lance Stroll 62 -- Pierre Gasly 46 -- Esteban Ocon 27 -- Alexander Albon 13 -- Yuki Tsunoda 10 -- Valterri Bottas 9 --- Nico Hülkenberg 6 --- Daniel Ricciardo 6 --- Zhou Guanyu 3 --- Kevin Magnussen 2 --- Liam Lawson 1 --- Logan Sargeant 0 --- Nyck De Vries
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 782 - Red Bull Racing 382 - Mercedes AMG 362 - Ferrari 282 - McLaren Mercedes 261 - Aston Martin Racing 108 - Alpine 28 -- Williams Mercedes 21 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 16 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 12 -- Haas Ferrari
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A last lap thriller may have decided the podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix, but it was another guaranteed Max Verstappen victory from pole – as the reigning world champion surpassed the great Alain Prost’s record with 52 wins. Fernando Alonso retook third on the final lap, after losing it a lap earlier to Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez. Their battle in the dying stages of the race intriguing, as the Spaniard pipped the Red Bull to the line. Verstappen led away from the start, as Lando Norris made a cracking off from the line to go from sixth to second. Though there was drama in the mid-field, which brought out the red flag early on. Alexander Albon made contact with Nico Hülkenberg, before collecting the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen going into Turn 1. Both the Williams and Magnussen were wiped out, while Oscar Piastri’s rear-wing took a whack from a rogue wheel and Daniel Ricciardo also sustaining damage to his AlphaTauri. Under the red flag, both Aussies had their cars repaired and were able to rejoin the race – albeit from the pit-lane, which put them a lap down. Charles Leclerc couldn’t rejoin the race, after a hydraulics failure saw him crash on the formation lap. The race restarted on Lap 4, as Verstappen got away again from Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Alonso immediately got the run on his former teammate into Turn 4, the beginning of Mercedes’ difficult afternoon got underway. Hamilton had a queue of cars behind him, led by his teammate George Russell – as the seven-time world champion sought to manage his tyres in that phase of the race. Lap 26 saw Alonso make his first stop from third for the mediums, with Verstappen and Norris coming in on Lap 28. The switch to the mediums for both Mercedes drivers didn’t help their pace, as Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari dispatched them in quick succession. Russell bemoaned not being allowed to pass his teammate, but neither Mercedes had the pace to move forward. While the Briton ended up retiring on Lap 59, with a potential power-unit problem. Perez and Hamilton were in for their second stops on Lap 47, with Alonso in on the following lap. The undercut brought the Red Bull back within a sniff of the Aston Martin for the final stint. Verstappen pitted again on Lap 57, while Norris stayed out till Lap 60 with enough of a gap to third but also gambling on a late Safety Car which could have brought him the lead. Double points for Aston Martin in the end, with Lance Stroll’s best finish of the season since Australia coming with fifth. The same for Alpine with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly rebounding from grid penalties to tenth and seventh respectively. The sole Ferrari of Sainz was sixth, with Yuki Tsunoda continuing the points run for AlphaTauri with another top ten finish. The same couldn’t be said for Alfa Romeo, who ended with a double mechanical retirement.
andrew
Roar Rookie
I'd like to know what bonus Red Bull will reward Max with for another outstanding year. Most wins in a year as well as another world title, what a driver. Unfortunate for Oscar and Dan but McLaren's doing well with Lando setting the fastest lap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Mark Webber VERSTAPPEN - "The starts were very important today and both of them were very good." "It all looked quite good and your focus needed to be there." NORRIS - "Very good, couldn't have gone any better." "The second start I was a bit aggressive." "Max always seemed to have an answer for anything." ALONSO - "For me it was like 30-laps I had the pressure from Checo." "This is a phenomenal result for the team." "We are still learning about the car, we be experimenting for next year."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 71-LAP SÃO PAULO GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen 2 L. Norris (Fastest Lap) 3 F. Alonso 4 S. Perez 5 L. Stroll 6 C. Sainz 7 P. Gasly 8 L. Hamilton 9 Y. Tsunoda 10 E. Ocon 11 L. Sargeant 12 N. Hülkenberg 13 D. Ricciardo 14 O. Piastri RET G. Russell RET V. Bottas RET G. Zhou RET K. Magnussen RET A. Albon DNS C. Leclerc
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE SÃO PAULO GRAND PRIX! The three-time world champion wins his 52nd career race, which moves him ahead of the great Alain Prost in terms of all-time wins in Formula One. Another runner's up position for Lando Norris, who went from sixth to second on the opening lap. And Fernando Alonso! Retakes third on the last lap to deny Sergio Perez in what was a great battle.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 71/71: Alonso has the run with DRS down the pit-straight and hasn't fallen away from Perez. He gets the run down to Turn 4 and retakes third from the Red Bull - sensational stuff on the final lap!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 70/71: And at last! Perez has made the move and made it stick on Alonso for third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/71: Sainz reporting something wrong with his Ferrari. He the sole running car as well from the Scuderia.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 68/71: The gap still the same between Alonso and Perez as the laps count down.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 67/71: A lion-like defence from Alonso still, as Perez's lap times begin to dwindle a bit.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/71: 8.5-second lead for Verstappen over Norris.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/71: It seems to be a carbon copy each lap with no change between the Aston Martin and Red Bull.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 64/71: The field seems pretty spread out then except for Alonso and Perez who are still within a second of each other.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/71: VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI GAS HAM TSU OCO SAR HÜL RIC PIA is the order of the field, as we've lost a quarter of the grid throughout this race. Russell, Bottas, Zhou, Magnussen, Leclerc and Albon are out.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/71: Alonso doing a mighty job in his defence and it looks like he isn't breaking a sweat, as he keeps third ahead of the Red Bull of Perez.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 61/71: Perez still close, but close enough as Alonso is pretty much negating any offensive from the Red Bull.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 60/71: Norris pits then having gone 32-laps on that set of mediums. They have Alonso covered, so leaving him out for some extra laps would have been in case a Safety Car came out that would've played into their favour.