2023-11-05 19:21:33
Sunny. Dry. Air +21…20С, highway +47…36С
The weekend in Sao Paulo was the sixth and final of 2023 in the Saturday sprint format. In Friday’s practice, Sainz showed the best time, Verstappen won the qualification.
On Saturday in the Sprint Shootout, Norris showed the fastest time, and Verstappen won the sprint again. Everyone complained about high tire wear, but the balance of power was approximately clear.
On Sunday it was just as hot as the day before. With asphalt temperatures exceeding 50 degrees and few fresh sets of tires left, the Pirelli factor once again came out on top.
Verstappen and Leclerc started the race from the first row of the starting field, Stroll and Alonso from the second, Hamilton and Norris from the third. Three drivers – Russell, Ocon and Gasly – lost two positions each for breaking the race director’s instructions – they were driving too slowly, trying to get behind the next car so they could attack freely.
Pirelli brought a “medium” three trains to the stage – C2, C3 and C4 in the roles of Hard, Medium and Soft. In the race, Sargent started on Medium, the rest chose Soft.
During the warm-up lap, Charles Leclerc crashed his car. Ferrari grabbed their heads, the driver complained of problems with hydraulics. The blow was strong, the Monegasque went into the safety zone.
At the start, Verstappen maintained his lead. Norris moved up to second place, Hamilton to third, but behind Albon and Hulkenberg touched before the first turn, Nico was sandwiched between Alex and Magnussen, then Albon touched Magnussen’s car. Piastri and Ricciardo also suffered a blow – a broken tire crashed into his car.
Magnussen and Albon got off. 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 on lap 2: Verstappen – Norris – Hamilton – Alonso – Stroll – Russell – Perez – Sainz – Ocon – Tsunoda.
The race management hung out red flags to get the track in order. The drivers returned to the pit lane.
The pause 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.
At the restart, Verstappen retained the lead. Hamilton attacked Norris and took the lead, but in the end lost two positions, letting Alonso pass. Perez and Russell passed Stroll. Gasly and Okon were ahead of Tsunoda.
Top ten on lap 5: Verstappen – Norris – Alonso – Hamilton – Russell – Perez – Stroll – Sainz – Gasly – Ocon.
Norris attacked Verstappen, but Max stayed ahead and was able to break 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 at Turn 10, allowing Bottas to pass.
On lap 18, Perez passed Hamilton for fourth place. Sargent changed the tires.
On the 19th lap, Hamilton and Bottas made a pit stop, on the 20th – Russell, on the 21st – Perez, returning to the track behind Hamilton.
On the 22nd lap Hulkenberg changed tires, on the 23rd – Stroll. Zhou left the race, stopping the car in the pits. Perez was ahead of Hamilton in the fight for seventh place and immediately pulled away – the difference in the speed of the cars was great.
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, Gasly overtook Sargent.
Top ten on lap 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 as the tires on 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 was coasting to cool the engine.
Top ten on 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, returning to the track second – after Norris.
On lap 57, Ricciardo changed tires.
In 58th, Russell stopped 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 fight for third place and on the 70th lap he was able to get ahead of the Spaniard, but the fight continued until the last meters and in the end Fernando was able to win back – they were separated by 53 thousandths.
Max Verstappen won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, scoring the 52nd victory of his career and 17th of the season. Lando Norris finished second, Fernando Alonso took third place on the podium.
In two weeks the fight will continue in Las Vegas!
Race results
Driver Team Time Speed Pit 1. M. Verstappen Red Bull 1:56:48.894 157.109 4 2. L. Norris McLaren +8.277 156.924 4 3. F. Alonso Aston Martin +34.155 156.347 4 4. C. Perez Red Bull +34.208 156.346 4 5. L. Stroll Aston Martin +40.845 156.199 4 6. K. Sainz Ferrari +50.188 155.992 4 7. P. Gasly Alpine +56.093 155.862 4 8. L. Hamilton Mercedes +62.959 155.713 4 9. Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri + 69.880 155.558 4 10. E. Ocon Alpine +1 lap 154.679 5 11. L. Sargent Williams +1 lap 154.319 4 12. N. Hulkenberg Haas +1 lap 154.237 4 13. D. Ricciardo AlphaTauri +1 lap 153.365 4 14. O. Piastri McLaren +2 laps 152.603 4
Best lap: Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:12.486 (61 laps, 214.005 km/h)
Reasons for the gatherings
Driver Team Laps Reason S.Leclerc Ferrari 0 accident K.Magnussen Haas F1 0 accident A.Albon Williams 0 accident G.Zhou Alfa Romeo 22 mechanical problems V.Bottas Alfa Romeo 39 power unit D.Russell Mercedes 57 cooling system
Championship position: Individual competition
Championship position: Constructors’ Championship
Команда
Мотор
Очки
=
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 AlphaTauri
Honda RBPT
21
=
9. Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake
Ferrari
16
=
10. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
Ferrari
12
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#Grand #Prix #Sao #Paulo #Verstappen #Norris #Alonso