Max Verstappen wins wild race

Verstappen beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to a 5-second penalty.

Verstappen overtook Leclerc in the first corner, much to the pole winner’s ire, and was handed a 5s penalty, but kept his pace at the front in the early stages.

Leclerc passed Verstappen just before his first pitstop, while Perez made his way through the field after an early pitstop to change his front wing after a first-corner collision.

The race was interrupted by McLaren’s Lando Norris losing heavily on lap three, and Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell collided after half a distance.

Perez and Leclerc swapped places as Verstappen caught them. Verstappen passed both to take 18th^Th The win of the season. Perez took second when Leclerc ran wide, but Leclerc passed him on the final lap to deny Red Bull a 1-2.

2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix Results

How the 2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix unfolded

Polesitter Leclerc was unable to maintain his advantage in the short sprint to Turn 1, Verstappen pushed him wide at Turn 1 to take the lead. Minutes later, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz both spun, and Perez needed a new front wing on his Red Bull, as did Alonso after Valtteri Bottas (from whom Alfa Romeo pushed) was nerfed in the run-off. behind Perez). Sains slipped to 17^Th.

Russell finished third ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Alex Alban (Williams). Logan Sergeant (Williams) passed Kevin Magnussen (Haas) at the strip on the opening lap for sixth, just before a virtual safety car picked up the debris.

The race went green again on the third lap, with Verstappen running 1.8s ahead of Leclerc, but it wasn’t until 12th that Norris crashed out, his left-rear wheel failing, missing his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. This resulted in a safe car period, during which Sainz and Lance Stroll (Aston) took a ‘free’ pitstop for harder tyres.

The race resumed on lap seven, with Verstappen getting the jump on Leclerc – who complained he had overslowed his Red Bull before jumping on the gas – ahead of the pair of Russell, Gasley and Williams. Verstappen was then given a 5 second penalty for pushing Leclerc off the track.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took seventh from Magnussen, and Piastre followed suit after finishing eighth on lap 11. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who was on the same hard tires as Piastre, then overtook Magnusson for ninth. O’Conn, Piastre and Hamilton passed Sargent on lap 15.

Leclerc entered Verstappen’s TRS range a third of the distance ahead, and Russell was the first leader to pit on lap 16.

Leclerc TRS-ed Verstappen at Turn 14 on lap 17, with Verstappen making his first stop and picking up a 5s penalty. Leclerc ran longer on his medium tires.

Verstappen moved up to ninth behind Russell. Hamilton and Piastre collided wheels, sending both to the pits due to punctures.

Leclerc stopped on lap 22, moving Perez into the lead and Stroll into second. Sainz and Alonso were next ahead of Russell and Verstappen.

Russell TRS-ed past Alonso, as did Verstappen under braking at Turn 1. Both Russell and Verstappen quickly caught up to Sainz as he advanced down the strip by half a distance.

Leclerc passed Stroll for second just as Verstappen and Russell collided as the Dutchman finished fourth and needed a second safety car to clear debris from his front wing. Russell was given a 5 second penalty for causing the collision.

Perez, Stroll, Verstappen, Russell, Sainz and Alonso all took second pitstops, with Verstappen not changing his front wing and gaining a place from a late Stroll.

The race was green again on lap 29, with Leclerc leading Perez, Gasly, Piastre, Verstappen, Ocon, Stroll, Alban and Russell. By Turn 5 Piastre passed Gasley for third.

Perez overtook Leclerc at Turn 14 with 17 laps to go, Verstappen passed Gasley for fourth and Piastre for third. Causley and Ocon finished fifth, before Ocon made it through, despite the team telling them to keep the position.

Leclerc took the lead with a daring lunge on lap 36, just as Verstappen caught them at Turn 14. Verstappen passed Perez and chased down Leclerc for the win.

Verstappen overtook Leclerc with 12 laps to go. Leclerc surrendered the runner-up spot to Perez with seven laps to go.

Verstappen dropped back to help Perez, but Leclerc took second place from Perez.

The penalized Russell finished fourth ahead of Ogan, Stroll and Sainz – but dropped to eighth due to his added 5s.

2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix Fastest Laps