Sao Paulo GP: Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris as Fernando Alonso pips Sergio Perez to third at Interlagos

Max Verstappen took his second win in Brazil after overcoming an early charge from Lando Norris, who was the Red Bull driver’s closest challenger again; Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez had an epic battle which ended in a photo finish in favour of the Aston Martin driver

Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris for a second day running with a dominant victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as Fernando Alonso snatched a podium from Sergio Perez on the last lap of the race.

Verstappen led from start to finish after a chaotic opening part of the race where Charles Leclerc crashed on the formation lap and the Grand Prix was red flagged due to a collision between Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen at the first corner.

The Dutchman’s 17th win of the 2023 season was also his 52nd in Formula 1, which moves him ahead of Alain Prost to go fourth in the all-time Grand Prix winners’ list – only Sebastian Vettel (53), Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103) have more.

Alonso was back on the podium for the first time since the Dutch Grand Prix in August and delivered a defensive masterclass against Perez in a thrilling duel in the final 15 laps.

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Fernando Alonso just pips Sergio Perez to a podium spot after an epic battle in the final stages of the race.

Perez was in Alonso’s DRS for several laps and eventually overtook the Aston Martin driver on the penultimate lap. However, Alonso didn’t give up and got back ahead on the last lap going into Turn Four and held off Perez by 0.053s in a photo finish.

Lance Stroll took fifth in Aston Martin’s best result since the early part of the season, with Carlos Sainz in sixth and Pierre Gasly seventh.

Mercedes had a dismal day as Lewis Hamilton finished down in eighth and George Russell retired from a low points position. Yuki Tsunoda recovered from 16th on the grid to take ninth and Esteban Ocon was in 10th.

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Charles Leclerc loses his hydraulics and crashes out on the formation lap of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Sao Paulo GP result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
5) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
9) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
10) Esteban Ocon, Alpine

Misery for Mercedes

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Carlos Sainz makes quick work of overtaking both Mercedes during the Sao Paulo GP.

All was looking well for Hamilton when the red flag was called as he was in third, with Mercedes team-mate Russell in sixth.

Alonso immediately pounced on Hamilton on the restart with a bold move down the inside into Turn Four and Perez was also through before the first round of pit stops.

A frustrated Russell felt he was faster than Hamilton as the pair ran nose to tail for most of the first half of the race, but both drivers began to struggle on the mediums during the second stint, so were overtaken by Sainz and Gasly.

Hamilton eventually finished in eighth and was 63 seconds behind race-winner Verstappen, while Russell retired with 14 laps remaining.

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Fernando Alonso overtakes Lewis Hamilton to move into third place at the restart of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

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