Max Verstappen wins 17th race of season

Verstappen controlled the race, despite a restart following a shunt at Turn 1 at the original start that required barrier repairs.

Verstappen fended off an early attack from McLaren’s Lando Norris while he was protecting his tyres but then pulled well clear.

Fernando Alonso drove a brilliant race to finish third for Aston Martin, fending off Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to the finish line by 0.053s.

2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix results

How the 2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix unfolded

Polesitter Verstappen led the charge to Turn 1, aided by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashing on the warm-up lap due to a hydraulic failure so he was alone on the front row, to head Norris, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and the slow-starting Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll.

The safety car was called almost immediately to recover the crashed cars of Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Alex Albon (Williams), the latter hitting both Haases on his way to the barriers. Oscar Piastri’s McLaren was also hit by Magnussen’s spinning car, while Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri was hit by Albon’s flying left-rear tyre – and both lost a lap while repairs were made. A red flag was required to repair the barriers.

After a 30-minute delay, the race was resumed with a standing start – Verstappen on pole, ahead of Norris, Hamilton, Alonso and Stroll.

Verstappen kept his pole advantage into Turn 1 from Norris, as Alonso passed Hamilton – who had locked-up into Turn 1 – into Descida do Lago to pick up third. George Russell ran fifth in the second Mercedes, ahead of Perez, as Stroll fell back to seventh.

Norris attacked Verstappen when DRS was enabled, which prompted Verstappen to stop protecting his tyres in the high-speed corners and quickly pulled 2s out of reach.

Hamilton led a DRS train of team-mate Russell, Perez, Stroll, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).

Perez passed Russell for fifth at Turn 1 on lap 14, and repelled Russell’s efforts to regain the spot a few corners later. Perez then picked off Hamilton four laps later at the same spot to snatch fourth.

Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap 19, swapping to mediums, followed by Russell a tour later.

Perez stopped on lap 21 but had been undercut by Hamilton and rejoined behind him. Perez attacked again on lap 23 and swept past Hamilton at Descida do Lago.

Verstappen was 3.4s clear before he pitted along with Norris on lap 28 and they rejoined 4.7s apart, Verstappen then extending his advantage after their stops to lead by over 5s at the midway point.

Russell caught Hamilton, but couldn’t pass him, so Sainz swept past Russell at half distance to pick up seventh. He then DRS-ed overtook Hamilton on lap 37 to take sixth.

Russell fell back to ninth behind Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, which triggered the second round of pitstops for more soft tyres on lap 46, with Perez then attempting to undercut Alonso for third. Alonso reacted and rejoined 3.8s clear of Perez.

Verstappen pitted for his final stop with 15 laps to go, reeling off the remaining laps to win by 8s from Norris. Alonso drove superbly to hold Perez at bay for the final spot on the podium by just 0.053s after they traded overtakes in the closing stages.

Stroll suffered a slow second stop but held off Sainz for fifth, ahead of Gasly and Hamilton. Yuki Tsunoda was ninth for AlphaTauri from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

Russell retired with a dozen laps remaining due to an imminent power unit failure.

2023 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix fastest laps