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Verstappen debriefs on his stunning win in Brazil: 'Car had a nice balance'
Max Verstappen's 62nd victory in the world of Formula 1 was arguably the greatest of his career. He navigated his way through the grid sublimely, working his way all the way from P17 all the way to the front in the torrential rain to master the conditions and win the Brazilian Grand Prix. In that dominance, he set 17 fastest laps throughout the Grand Prix, with no one able to get anywhere close to him throughout the race.
A poorly-timed red flag meant the Dutchman was unable to make it out of Q2 in qualifying, and his five-place grid penalty for an engine change meant he could only start from 17th on the grid, while title rival Lando Norris started on pole.
However, while Norris faltered, Verstappen excelled, showing why he is the most talented driver on the grid, and why he deserves to win the drivers' title in 2024 and make it a fourth consecutive title. Norris slipped from pole to P6, gifting Verstappen the chance to all but end the title battle between the two of them.
Verstappen with one of the all-time drives in F1 when it matters
"When I went past Esteban [Ocon] in the first corner!" The Dutchman continued by saying: "Before that, the base was there. I was just trying to build it up slowly because after the red flag, in the restart, Esteban was very fast. Then just when the safety card came out, I was starting to catch him a bit. But then the tyres were again very cold."
However, a safety car that came out due to Carlos Sainz's crash into the barrier gave Verstappen the opportunity to close the gap to Ocon and overtake the Frenchman: "Then the restart, I got by. And from there onwards, I just tried to look after the tyres because you never know what was going to happen to the end. The wear is always very high around here."
For the first time in a long while, the RB20 finally looked in real control, something that has been missing often during this season: "I felt good. The car was having a nice balance. Just had to be concentrated to not make any mistakes because the surface was still slippery," Verstappen concluded.
This article was created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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