Sunny. Dry. Air +21…20С, highway +47…36С
The weekend in Sao Paulo was the sixth and last of 2023 in the Saturday sprint format. In Friday’s training, Sainz showed the best time, Verstappen won qualifying.
On Saturday in the Sprint Shootout, Norris showed the fastest time and Verstappen again won the sprint. Everyone complained about the high tire wear, but the balance of power was approximately clear.
Sunday was just as warm as the day before. With asphalt temperatures above 50 degrees and few fresh sets of tires, the Pirelli factor once again came out on top.
Verstappen and Leclerc started the race from the front row of the starting field, Stroll and Alonso from second, Hamilton and Norris from third. Three drivers – Russell, Ocon and Gasly – each lost two positions after violating the race director’s instructions. They drove too slowly and tried to get behind the next car so they could attack freely.
Pirelli brought three “medium” compositions to the stage – C2, C3 and C4 in the roles Hard, Medium and Soft. In the race, Sargent started on Medium, the rest opted for Soft.
During the warm-up lap, Charles Leclerc crashed his car. Ferrari grabbed their heads, the driver complained of problems with the hydraulics. The blow was powerful, the Monegasque went into the safety zone.
Verstappen retained his lead at the start. Norris moved up to second place, Hamilton to third place, but behind Albon and Hulkenberg they hit each other before the first corner, Nico was sandwiched between Alex and Magnussen, after which Albon hit Magnussen’s car. Piastri and Ricciardo also suffered a blow: a blown tire crashed into his car.
Magnussen and Albon got out. The safety car came out. Ricciardo and Piastri returned to the pits for repairs – and the FIA informed them that after the intervention, if they were ready to continue the race, they would have to start from the pit lane.
Top ten in round 2: Verstappen – Norris – Hamilton – Alonso – Stroll – Russell – Perez – Sainz – Ocon – Tsunoda.
The race management put up red flags to get the track in order. The drivers returned to the pit lane.
The break lasted 25 minutes, then a restart was announced. Piastri and Ricciardo entered the track and then returned to the pit lane to start from there. Piastri chose Medium, the rest started on Soft – mostly on rolled-in kits.
Verstappen retained the lead at the restart. Hamilton attacked Norris and took the lead, but ultimately lost two positions and allowed Alonso to pass. Perez and Russell passed Stroll. Gasly and Okon stayed ahead of Tsunoda.
Top ten in round 5: Verstappen – Norris – Alice – Hamilton – Russell – Perez – Stroll – Sainz – Gasly – Ocon.
Norris attacked Verstappen, but Max stayed ahead and was able to run away.
On lap 12, Bottas and Zhou passed Hulkenberg for 12th place.
On lap 13, Tsunoda passed Ocon for 11th place.
On lap 14, Perez passed Russell for fifth place. Ricciardo overtook Piastri.
On the 15th lap Ocon changed tires, on the 16th – Zhou.
Tsunoda made a mistake in Turn 10, allowing Bottas to pass.
On lap 18, Perez passed Hamilton for fourth place. Sargent replaced the tires.
On the 19th lap, Hamilton and Bottas made a pit stop, on the 20th – Russell, on the 21st – Perez, and returned to the track behind Hamilton.
On the 22nd lap Hulkenberg changed tires, on the 23rd – Walk. Zhou retired from the race and put the car in the pits. Perez was ahead of Hamilton in the battle for seventh place and immediately pulled away – the difference in speed between the cars was big.
On lap 25, Stroll passed Russell for ninth place.
On the 26th lap, Alonso and Piastri changed tires, on the 27th – Sainz, Gasly and Tsunoda, on the 28th – Verstappen, Norris and Ricciardo.
Sainz overtook Ocon, Found – Sargent.
Top ten in round 30: Verstappen – Norris – Alonso – Perez – Stroll – Hamilton – Russell – Sainz – Ocon – Bottas.
On lap 32, Gasly overtook Bottas for ninth place. Window changed tires.
On lap 35 Sainz passed Russell for seventh place.
On lap 36, Tsunoda passed Bottas for tenth place.
On the 37th lap, Sainz passed Hamilton when the tires of the Briton’s car lost their efficiency.
On the 40th lap, Bottas stopped the car in the pits and retired.
On lap 44, Gasly easily overtook Russell – George pulled out to cool the engine.
Top ten in lap 45: Verstappen – Norris – Alonso – Perez – Stroll – Sainz – Hamilton – Gasly – Russell – Tsunoda.
On the 46th lap Russell changed tires, on the 47th – Perez, Hamilton, Gasly and Hulkenberg, on the 48th – Alonso.
On lap 50, Ocon was asked to let Gasly pass, Pierre took the lead and overtook Hamilton.
On the 52nd lap, Sainz and Ocon made a pit stop, on the 53rd – Stroll, on the 54th – Piastri, on the 56th – Tsunoda, on the 57th – Verstappen, and returned to the track second – after Norris.
On lap 57 Ricciardo changed the tires.
In 58th place, Russell put the car in the pits and retired due to overheating.
On lap 60, Norris made a pit stop.
Perez put pressure on Alonso for a long time in the battle for third place, and on the 70th lap he was able to stay ahead of the Spaniard, but the fight continued until the last meters of the distance and in the end Fernando was able to win back – they were separated by 53 thousandths .
Max Verstappen won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and scored the 52nd victory of his career and the 17th of the season. Lando Norris finished second, Fernando Alonso took third place on the podium.
The fight continues in Lag Vegas in two weeks!
Race results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Pete |
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | – | 4 | |
| 2. L.Norris | McLaren | +8,277 | 4 | |
| 3. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +34.155 | 4 | |
| 4. C. Perez | Red Bull | +34.208 | 4 | |
| 5. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +40.845 | 4 | |
| 6. K.Sainz | Ferrari | +50.188 | 4 | |
| 7. P. Gasly | Alps | +56.093 | 4 | |
| 8. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +62.959 | 4 | |
| 9. Yu.Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +69.880 | 4 | |
| 10. E. Okon | Alps | +1 round | 5 | |
| 11. L. Sargent | Williams | +1 round | 4 | |
| 12. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | +1 round | 4 | |
| 13. D. Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | +1 round | 4 | |
| 14. O. Piastri | McLaren | +2 laps | 4 |
Best round: Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:12.486 (62nd lap)
Reasons for the meetings
| Pilot | Team | Kroogov | Cause |
| S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 0 | accident |
| K. Magnussen | Haas F1 | 0 | accident |
| A. Elbon | Williams | 0 | accident |
| G.Zhou | AlphaTauri | 22 | mechanical problems |
| V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 40 | PowerPoint |
| D. Russell | Mercedes | 58 | cooling system |
Championship Position: Individual Competition
Championship position: Constructors’ Championship
| Team | Engine | Glasses | |
| = | 1. Oracle Red Bull Racing | Honda RBPT | 782 |
| = | 2. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team | Mercedes | 382 |
| = | 3. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 362 |
| = | 4. McLaren F1 Team | Mercedes | 282 |
| = | 5. Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | Mercedes | 261 |
| = | 6. BWT Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 108 |
| = | 7. Williams Racing | Mercedes | 28 |
| = | 8. Scuderia Alpha Tauri | Honda RBPT | 21 |
| = | 9. Alfa Romeo F1 team stakes | Ferrari | 16 |
| = | 10. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 12 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
