Verstappen masterclass puts F1 title fight to bed
The battle for the 2024 Formula One Drivers’ Championship is all but over after Max Verstappen delivered one of the greatest performances in the sport’s history in a rain-soaked Sao Paulo Grand Prix, leaving his closest challenger, Lando Norris, 62 points behind with only three races to go.
The Dutchman climbed from 17th on the grid to claim victory, whilst Norris, starting from pole position, could only manage sixth place, meaning that Verstappen will be world champion after the next race in Las Vegas if he finishes ahead of Norris.
This was Verstappen’s first win since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, and he was understandably elated as he crossed the finish line, a world away from the anger he had been feeling just hours earlier, after an unfortunately timed red flag in the second part of qualifying condemned him to starting towards the back of the grid. However, with two drivers ahead of him unable to start the race, and five overtakes in his first tour of the circuit, by the end of lap one the Dutchman was already in a points scoring position.
More overtakes followed, reaching fifth place by lap 27, when luck began to turn his way. An off from Nico Hulkenberg caused a virtual safety car, motivating Norris and race leader George Russell to pit, placing them behind Verstappen in second, and the two Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, in first and third respectively, all of whom had chosen to remain on track in the hope that a red flag would provide them with a “free” pit stop. This ended up being the right decision, as a heavy shunt from Franco Colapinto led to the race being suspended, vaulting Ocon into the net race lead, with Verstappen in second, whilst Norris fell to fourth place.
Ocon remained in the lead at the restart, and Verstappen held on to second, whilst Norris went off track at turn four, causing him to drop to fifth place, however the race was neutralised again only a few laps later, after Carlos Sainz found the barriers at turn eight.
Verstappen made the most of this, overtaking Ocon at the restart and subsequently driving into the distance, whereas Norris slid off-track again, and fell to seventh. By the time the chequered flag flew 26 laps later, Verstappen had built an almost 20 second lead over the pack and secured the fastest lap of the race, whereas Norris had only gained a single position, one that was given to him when McLaren ordered his teammate, Oscar Piastri, to let him past.
Verstappen was joined on the podium by both Ocon and Gasly, catapulting Alpine from ninth to sixth in the Constructors’ championship. The French team’s double podium is arguably the most shocking result of the season; however, it is testament to Verstappen’s brilliance that it is not the biggest talking point of the weekend.
This was a performance that will surely be remembered for decades to come. With championship momentum swinging away from him, and in the midst of his longest victory drought since 2020, the Dutchman silenced his doubters and put all talk of a title battle to bed. This is only the fifth time in F1 history that a race’s victor started from lower than 16th on the grid, with pundits, team principals and drivers comparing it to some of the most awe-inspiring drives of history, including Lewis Hamilton’s dominant victory at the 2008 British Grand Prix, and Ayrton Senna’s famous performance at Donington in 1993.
To be compared to two of the greatest drivers in history is no mean feat, but it is truly deserved praise for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is only 27 years old and is already on the verge of becoming a four-time-world champion, five years younger than Hamilton was when he claimed his fourth title, and he already has the second most Formula One race victories of all time.
But he still had his haters, who would claim that his success was solely due to his car, or that he was incapable of racing wheel-to-wheel. But now there will be no doubters. Surely this was the performance that let everyone know that Max Verstappen is one of the greatest drivers Formula One has ever seen.
Words by Daniel Bloomfield
