Brazil Grand Prix – three things we learned

Max Verstappen proved that he has not only the talent and determination to claim a fourth drivers’ world championship, but also the individual virtuosity to perform beyond the potential of his Red Bull car.

While others, notably McLaren’s pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, revealed their inexperience and vulnerability in the most difficult conditions during Sunday’s spectacular rain-hit Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the 27-year-old Dutchman proved to be imperious.

AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from a dramatic day at Interlagos:

Virtuoso Verstappen

In Formula One there are days when the conditions dictate the unfolding of events and only the greatest of drivers can cope and not only survive but demonstrate their supreme talent. Sunday was one such day.

Verstappen was without a win in 10 races and his Red Bull car, though much improved, was no match for McLaren and pole-sitter Lando Norris.

He qualified a frustrated 12th and faced a five-place grid penalty and reacted with a controlled rage that carried him from 17th to one of his most memorable triumphs.

It was a drive of majestic purity, perfectly executed by team and driver, fuelled by fury and a desire to respond to his critics, perceived to be British, who had slammed his wild driving in Mexico where he collected two 10-second penalties.

And in choosing a strategy that depended on a red-flag stoppage, which always seemed inevitable, it gave him the ideal opportunity to take advantage of Norris’s more cautious approach as his first set of intermediate tyres deteriorated in the rain.

In heavy rain, fortune favours the bravest and best as Verstappen demonstrated, his skill supporting the belief that a wet track gives greater value to a driver than a car’s performance.

Significantly, when the rain intensified and both Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell pitted, Verstappen and the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly stayed out.

Norris declared it a gamble but it was a calculated call by the Red Bull team who knew that their champion could handle the worsening conditions that were likely to deliver a stoppage.

It came when Williams’ Franco Colapinto crashed and thus the ultimate podium finishers took advantage with a ‘free pit stop’ that decided the outcome of race and maybe the championship.

Siege mentality triumphs for Red Bull –

Norris’s defeat, his loss of straight-line speed and ability to stay on track, came from a cool and dispassionate approach that was no match on the day for the controlled hurricane of a near-faultless Verstappen.

After the key red flag delay, Verstappen soon swept into the lead while Norris skidded off track and lost two places. Norris put it down to luck but it was a classic strategic call in a magnificent race.

“Of course, I was very frustrated with qualifying,” said Verstappen, who failed to make Q3 because of an ill-timed red flag. “So, we tried to just use it as a good motivation in the race and luckily we had a great start and from there onwards, the car was perfect. I hoped for points, but this is crazy.”

Passport to peace

Verstappen’s victory gives him a chance to lift the title in ‘Sin City’ at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and it also calmed growing international tensions between the Dutchman’s media corps and his British critics.

It gave him a chance, too, to rub a little salt into the wounds after Norris’s crushing defeat.

“I have a quick question here,” he told a post-race news conference. 

“I mean, I appreciate all of you being here, but I don’t see any British press? Did they have to run to the airport? Or do they not know where the conference is?”

He had previously suggested his European passport was the wrong one to use in a paddock heavily populated by Britons following comments by former drivers including 1996 world champion Damon Hill.

A peaceful conclusion to a memorable season is now in prospect.