In the arms of his mechanics, Lando Norris enjoyed the end of a perfect weekend in Brazil. Despite his once again flawless performance, the British McLaren driver didn’t want to know anything about winning his first Formula 1 title, which was becoming increasingly likely. “I don’t even think about it. Everything can change very quickly, so I concentrate on myself and ignore everything else,” said Norris, who didn’t let himself be disturbed by a crazy race to catch up from world champion Max Verstappen. One day after his sprint victory, the 25-year-old Norris also won the Grand Prix in São Paulo and made the next triumph much more difficult for the defending champion. After starting from the pit lane, Verstappen sensationally took third place behind Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes on the traditional Red Bull circuit. With only three rounds of the season remaining, the 28-year-old Dutchman is already 49 points behind in third place in the overall standings. Verstappen surprises himselfDespite Verstappen’s crazy ride almost to the top, almost everything indicates that the remaining races in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi are only about which McLaren driver becomes world champion. Australian Oscar Piastri, who finished fifth in Brazil, is now 24 points behind Norris in second place. A maximum of 83 points are still up for grabs until the end of the season next month. “I didn’t expect to finish on the podium here from the pit lane. This is an incredible result, I’m very proud of the team,” said Verstappen about his personal happy ending. “We had strong pace.” This also worried Norris: “When you see how fast Max was today, it’s disappointing that we weren’t faster.” Verstappen was just over ten seconds behind at the finish for Norris’ seventh win of the season. Norris defended first place on the grid without any effort. However, the 25-year-old was only able to set pace for one lap before the safety car came onto the track. The Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto crashed directly into the track wall at his home race in the Sauber because Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll rammed him off the track. Shortly afterwards, record world champion Hamilton drove off the front wing of his Ferrari after a driving error, and the 40-year-old was passed far back. At the end of the field, the Brit met Verstappen. He only finished 16th in qualifying on Saturday after major set-up problems and then decided to convert the car. Because of the rule violation, he was only allowed to start from the pit lane behind the field. The four-time champion wanted to quickly fight his way forward with new technology – and was quickly slowed down again at the restart. After a daring maneuver at the end of the home straight, Piastri touched Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, which in turn pushed Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari off the track. Leclerc lost a tire and retired. When the race continued after the break, Norris pulled ahead of Piastri, who was now in second place. However, Piastri received a ten-second penalty for the crash he was responsible for. Verstappen used the phase to change tires early and then picked up the pace. A year ago at Interlagos he had already ensured one of the most impressive drives in Formula 1 history with a comeback from 17th place on the grid to victory in a crazy rainy race. In dry conditions this time, Verstappen was already fifth after 21 of 71 laps and was no longer 20 seconds behind the leader Norris. More on the topic The Brit showed a flawless performance and managed his lead without any major problems. Verstappen still raced closer and closer and suddenly only had George Russell’s Mercedes and Piastri and Norris in the McLaren in front of him. He only briefly overtook Norris with 40 laps to go after he changed the tires. The old order was quickly restored at the top. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg settled into midfield. The Rhinelander was in ninth place halfway through the race and had his sights set on the next World Championship points. In the fourth-to-last race of the season, he crossed the finish line in ninth place in the Sauber. With 30 laps to go, Hamilton also had to park his Ferrari, leaving the Scuderia without any points and having a frustrating Sunday. Meanwhile, after further pit stops from the competition, Verstappen took the lead for the first time after two thirds of the Grand Prix. The former long-term winner also needed new tires and was fourth before the final ten laps. The fans cheered loudly when Verstappen overtook Russell in the thrilling finale to actually secure a place on the podium.
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