2023-11-04 19:08:00
(Motorsport-Total.com) – Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the F1 sprint in Sao Paulo ahead of pole setter Lando Norris (McLaren) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull). In an entertaining and battle-filled race over 24 laps, the reigning world champion was ultimately never in danger and in the end his lead was 4.3 seconds.
© Motorsport Images
Max Verstappen took the lead at the start and didn’t relinquish it afterwards Zoom Download
Fourth was George Russell (Mercedes/+25.9), fifth was Charles Leclerc (Ferrari/+28.6), sixth was Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri/+29.2), seventh was Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes/+34.7) and eighth Carlos Sainz (Ferrari/+35.1).
In the F1 sprint, points are only awarded for the top 8 and not for the top 10, so Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri/+35.3) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren/+38.2), who fought an Australian duel over several laps , came away empty-handed. As did the Aston Martin duo Alonso-Stroll, who seemed to get faster and faster towards the end of the distance.
Nico Hülkenberg tried an alternative strategy with his Haas, but it didn’t work out as expected. He was temporarily ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen (16th). But in the end the German crossed the finish line in 18th place. A disappointment.
On the subject: Result F1 Sprint F1 live ticker: Saturday in Sao Paulo F1 live stream: The F1 sprint in analysis Info: Live broadcast on TV on Sky (ADVERTISING)
Who were the winners of the start?
First of all, there was a loser: Pole setter Norris only came back from the first lap in third place. He lost the lead to Verstappen in the first corner and was overtaken by Russell later in the lap.
Verstappen “didn’t have the best start off the line. But the second phase was really good,” as the eventual winner analyzed. Norris says: “I actually didn’t do too badly. But then I was probably a bit too conservative. It’s not that I had wheelspin. I just played it too safe.”
Mercedes was the big winner at the start, with two positions gained by Russell and one by Hamilton. The seven-time world champion performed an ambitious overtaking maneuver on the outside of Turn 4 against Perez, which brought him into fourth place.
At least until lap 4, when Perez passed Hamilton again in front of the Senna-S. Hamilton’s counterattack at Turn 4, in which Leclerc suddenly tried to intervene from behind (unsuccessfully), did not work.
Also interesting: the two AlphaTauri drivers, who were the only drivers in the top field with brand new soft tires, each lost one position to the Ferraris.
Was the race decided after the starting phase?
The first phase of the F1 sprint over 24 laps offered the finest entertainment. On lap 5, for example, Norris passed Russell again and prepared to at least put Verstappen under pressure. Norris, now second again, was 1.5 seconds behind Verstappen at the time.
And was somewhat tense. His race engineer radioed him: “Just so you know, Russell and Perez are fighting behind you.” To which Norris replied: “It’s okay, man. Let me focus. I can see that.”
The next overtaking maneuver was on lap 8, when Perez initially passed Russell in front of the Senna-S in the fight for third place, but was immediately countered again at turn 4. Two laps later, Perez was finally over – and was able to shake off Russell straight away from the DRS second.
Nevertheless, Perez was not satisfied after the race: “I had a terrible start and lost a place to George. Then in turn 4 I lost another place to Lewis. After that I had to fight and I had to push my tires harder. That’s what I got in the end paid the price.”
On lap 12 the focus shifted to the duel between Ferrari and AlphaTauri. Ricciardo briefly passed Sainz with a courageous maneuver in the Senna-S, but was not able to hold the position for long.
On lap 14 the game was repeated: Ricciardo passed Sainz again in the Senna-S, but the Ferrari driver was able to outrun him again at turn 4. This time things got even worse: Ricciardo strayed from the ideal line in the infield, lost a position to Piastri and was suddenly only tenth. At least temporarily.
What was going on at Mercedes?
Both Russell and Hamilton got off to an excellent start in the F1 sprint, but paid the price for their aggressive initial pace in the finish. Hamilton first had to let Leclerc and then Tsunoda pass and desperately asked his race engineer: “How much longer?” In the end he almost fell behind Sainz.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says: “Today everything went against us. The balance wasn’t ideal. Then you start slipping and that kills the tires. Exactly what happened to George in Mexico. Our rear is simply too weak. “
What was going on with Hülkenberg?
The Haas is considered a “tire eater”, even after the most recent updates. And because the asphalt temperature climbed to over 45 degrees, the Haas engineers thought it would be a good idea to use medium tires instead of soft tires. Of course, this meant a speed disadvantage, especially in the first few laps.
At the start of the seventh lap, Hülkenberg, who had started twelfth, was only in 16th position, two seconds behind Magnussen, who was 13th at the time. On lap 11, Magnussen was only 16th and Hülkenberg 17th. It was already clear that the strategy was probably a bad decision.
Around that phase of the race, Magnussen was radioed: “You’ll be surprised to hear that we’re noticing severe overheating of the surface of your rear tires. We think it might help if you manage the tires through turns 6 to 11.”
Hülkenberg was briefly ahead of Magnussen in the final phase of the race. In the end, the German came 18th, two positions and 3.8 seconds behind his Danish teammate.
Where can you watch the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on TV?
Die-hard Formula 1 fans already know this: the day always ends on the Formula1.de YouTube channel on the race weekend. The rises there at midnight (Saturday) or 11:00 p.m. (Sunday). daily F1 show with host Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll, who summarize and classify the information from the ten-person motorsport network team on site in Interlagos and continue to analyze it even after the TV stations have long since stopped broadcasting their live broadcasts. (Subscribe to the channel now for free!)
This time, the main race on Sunday (start at 6:00 p.m., preliminary reports from 4:30 p.m.) can be seen by German fans not only on pay TV, but also on free channels. Sky broadcasts, for example on YouTube the usual commentary with Sascha Roos and Ralf Schumacher as well as on TikTok an alternative signal in 9:16 format with Joe Signon and Sophia Flörsch.
If you want to see all sessions in Brazil live (Formula 1 on TV: Click here for the broadcast times!), you don’t necessarily need a Sky subscription. Those who decide at short notice can also find what they are looking for on the streaming service WOW, where you can watch Formula 1 live on Sky, even without the need for a receiver or a conventional Sky subscription. (ADVERTISEMENT: Get WOW now and stream all sessions live!)
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