Max Verstappen could make a statement about winning his fourth title at Interlagos. Whereas before the Grands Prix it looked like Lando Norris could close to gap to his rival, in the end, the opposite of that happened. The Dutchman also believes this Grand Prix marked an important moment in the title battle.
While Norris could start from pole position in Sao Paulo, Max Verstappen got relegated to P17 after a five-second penalty and getting eliminated in Q2. After the start, the Dutchman could make up many places, while the Briton lost the lead in to George Russell.
While Norris pitted with Russell under a VSC, Verstappen stayed out, even as the heavy rain caused the Safety Car to make an appearance. As Franco Colapinto was catching up to the pack at that moment, he crashed his Williams. The red flag was waved, and Verstappen got a 'free' pit stop. After that, the Red Bull driver did not look back, while Norris finished in P6.
Crucial moment in championship for Verstappen
According to Verstappen, this was a crucial moment in the championship battle. "This was now. Of course looking at it, it was incredibly important because in a way I was expecting to lose points today. So from now, I just want clean races to the end. I am not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever. I just want clean races," the driver who won his eighth Grand Prix in 2024 shared.
This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut
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Coincidence that in what could be a WDC defining race a Williams bins it? ?
The stewards were trying very hard not to throw a red flag which would give Max a 'free pit stop' to replace his ageing tyres, compared to Lando, so were resisting red-flagging the session, but when Colapinto crashed heavily and had debris blocking the track, they had no choice but to red flag the session.
It was a veiled attempt at humour and Abu Dhabi '21 which should have had the red put out.
Waiting for the dry race to see if McLaren were really using water trick to cool off their tyres.
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