The Saturday sprint was choc-full of overtakes, and fewer laps meant there was no need for pit stop strategies. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen sneaked past the McLaren of Lando Norris before the first turn and was able to keep his lead for the entire sprint race. The Mercedes drivers started strong, but their tyres fell off a cliff midway and ended up behind the Red Bulls and Lando Norris, instead of challenging the podium.

On Sunday, Verstappen sprinted off the start line and while Norris initially challenged him, he was able to keep his lead over the British driver for the entirety of the race to secure his record 17th win of the season. Fernando Alonso  had a superb battle with Sergio Perez, which went down to the line for the final place of the podium.

Charles Leclerc had terrible luck as his Ferrari SF-23 lost hydraulics and crashed in formation lap, resulting in his retirement. The race started with a literal bang, as Williams driver Alex Albon and Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen crashed, with debris flying all over. Some of it even struck Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri. 

Norris was able to capitalise on the crash, and was able to drive from sixth to second. It was impressive enough to warrant the Driver of the Day award for the second consecutive race!

Perez and Alonso’s fight was absolutely scintillating, with the two using all their might to pass each other, but it was Alonso who secured the final podium position, ahead of Perez at the finish line by just 0.053 seconds!

The Brazilian Grand Prix has given weekend long action, but the next race at Las Vegas is an unknown variable. This is where teams lower down the order might be able to surprise others and perform better than others. The next race in two weeks holds the answers to our questions.

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The race started off in chaotic fashion as both the Red Bull drivers sandwiched the pole sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, which ended with Perez vaulting over Leclerc’s front left wheel and damaging his RB19 beyond repair and retiring from the race.

While the opening stint of the race was relatively straightforward, in lap 32, a spanner was added to the mix as Kevin Magnussen of Haas who was having a race to forget with his VF-23, suffered a massive crash on lap 32. While Magnussen was unhurt, the crash necessitated a red flag and race restart

The restart ended up with Verstappen shooting off into the distance yet again out of the reach of others. While everyone was able to have a decent start, McLaren’s Lando Norris dropped  from 10th to 14th in the matter of just two corners. But the race pace of the MCL60 in the hands of Norris was such that he gained multiple positions to finish fifth in the race, earning him the Driver of the Day award. Another close shoutout has to go to Daniel Ricciardo qualifying a sensational fourth in the AlphaTauri and then finishing seventh and close to usurping the Mercedes of George Russell to sixth. 

Max Verstappen has dominated on all sorts of race tracks this season. From the street track of Monaco next to the sea, to the Autodromo Hermanos race track, which is a whopping 2,238 metres above sea level! His 16th win of the season breaks his own all-time record of 15 wins in a season from 2022. The podium finish for Hamilton has closed the gap for the second position in the Driver’s Championship to Perez to just 20 points. Also, Ricciardo’s strong finish has catapulted AlphaTauri to eighth in the constructors standings after being dead last with just three more rounds to go.

Will Verstappen’s form  continue in Brazil? Will Ricciardo continue his resurgent form? Autódromo de Interlagos holds the answers! 

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But even as the dust settled on the track, it was announced that Lewis Hamilton had been disqualified from the race, along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc- who finished sixth in the race, for a technical breach. They were disqualified because of excessive plank wear, which goes against the rules set in Article 3.5.9 e of the 2023 Formula One Technical Regulations. That means Norris is now bumped up to second position, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz promoted to third.

The start of the race was as action-packed as it could get. Norris got a great run from second position to take the lead, Leclerc battling with his teammate Sainz for second position, while Hamilton had a big scruff with Verstappen looking to overtake him at turn one.

Piastri was able to charge up the field to gain a whopping four positions even before the first lap ended! But a contact with Ocon damaged Piastri’s side pod and later resulted in both drivers retiring early from the race.

Hamilton’s Mercedes showed great pace the whole race, with overtakes done on both Ferraris in a span of three laps. Verstappen on the other hand seemed to have his hands full with the car. While he did have good race pace, he also had brake issues which meant he had to be extra careful in his driving. 

Norris was able to keep his lead for nearly half the race, being able to show great pace at the start of each tyre stint, but high degradation meant he could not keep the pace for long. Verstappen was able to overtake him at lap 28 and from then on, Norris was unable to match the Red Bull’s pace.

Further down the order, even though Fernando Alonso started the race from P17, he was able to overtake others to get to tenth position. But all that was short-lived, as he had to retire from the race at lap 51 because of loss of floor performance. This has been a weekend to forget for Aston Martin, salvaged only by Lance Stroll’s P9 which was upgraded to P7 due to the aforementioned disqualifications.

The disqualifications also meant that Alexander Albon got P9, with his Williams teammate Logan Sargeant scoring his maiden point in 10th position, that too on home soil.

The drivers championship seems to be heating up for P2 and P3 as a disqualification for Hamilton sees Sergio Perez extend his lead, and Alonso’s DNF sees Sainz and Norris closer to him than Alonso would like. In less than a week’s time, Formula One will be heading to Mexico for the Mexican Grand Prix scheduled to be held at the  Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

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How the race transpired

The race weekend was anything but straightforward as extreme heat, excessive tyre wear as well as tyre safety concerns thanks to the kerbs on the Lusail International Circuit meant the FIA mandated a three-stop race stint distances not going beyond 18 laps. That wasn’t the end of it as a chaotic start meant the two Mercedes of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell made contact into the first corner, wiping out the former, while the latter was forced into an early pitstop, dropping him down to 18th and last of the field. 

Nevertheless, Russell scythed his way through the field to finish a commendable fourth in the end. Meanwhile up front, Verstappen had things under control with Piastri closely shadowing the Dutchman. Lando Norris managed to claw his way up to the podium, finishing third after starting 10th on the grid. 

Now that the drivers’ title is all wrapped up, the fight is on for second position as Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez sits 30 points ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. In the constructors’ standings, McLaren are rapidly catching up to Aston Martin for fourth place in the standings with the former just 11 points behind thanks to their recent double podium finish. Next up is the 2023 Formula One United States Grand Prix which is set to take place between October 20-22. 

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