After the Las Vegas GP on Nov. 23, there are races in Qatar (Dec. 1) and Abu Dhabi (Dec. 8), with a combined total of 86 points available.
The two Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, completed the podium. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started the race with a long shot at the drivers’ title, finished fifth.
F1 governing body FIA had rescheduled the qualifying session for 7:30 a.m. local time (1030 GMT) Sunday after heavy rain on Saturday. The start of the Grand Prix was brought forward from 2 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), while many in the paddock still wondered whether the drivers would take their cockpits at all during the morning.
The tense race under rain in Sao Paulo had an aborted start when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll went off on the formation lap. Norris could not hold his first position in the first turn, losing it to Russell. The McLaren driver struggled until the end of the race to find his line under the rain, which Verstappen clearly managed to do from the start, finding grip where others couldn’t in the inside of the track.
The big boost for Verstappen, and possibly a key moment in the drivers’ championship, came when Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg spun off in the 27th of 69 laps. A virtual safety car came in and many drivers chose to go to their pit lanes but Verstappen, Ocon and Gasly opted not to stop and the gamble paid off.
Five laps later, to the huge disappointment of about 10,000 Argentinian fans at Interlagos, Williams driver Franco Colapinto crashed. That meant a red flag, only minutes after leaders Russell and Norris had pitted. Ocon, Verstappen and Gasly changed their tires without losing their places, putting Norris under even bigger pressure to deliver.
