Max Verstappen won his first race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June with a career-defining drive in Sau Paulo, coming from 17th on the grid to take victory in mixed conditions.
Alpine scored a shock double-podium, their first since 2013 due to a fortunate red flag, courtesy of Franco Colapinto’s crash under the safety car.
From crashes to disqualifications, here is how we rated the drivers following the hectic race.
Driver ratings
- Max Verstappen – 9.5
Just when you thought the three-time world champion had already showcased his talent to the very limit in past triumphs, Verstappen went one-better than his Brazilian wet-weather masterclass in 2016 this weekend.
After being caught out by Lance Stroll’s crash in qualifying and serving a five-place grid penalty for a new internal combustion engine (ICE), the Dutchman started 17th.
With title rival Norris on pole, the odds were against Verstappen, but effortless overtaking when others could barely keep within a second of the car in front highlighted the world-champions superior capability.
Winning track position due to a gamble under the red flag, Verstappen dove past Esteban Ocon into turn one to take the lead and never looked back, winning by a margin of almost 20 seconds on an utterly glorious day for himself and Red Bull.
- Esteban Ocon – 9.5
In a weekend where Verstappen will quite rightly earn the majority of the plaudits, an utterly ridiculous performance from Esteban Ocon can not go under the radar.
From the minute the rain fell, Ocon looked in constant contention for pole-position, qualifying fourth in the car that came into the weekend ninth in the standings.
Staying out under the VSC, Ocon earned track position under the red flag and led comfortably until a second safety car was called, after which a poor restart allowed Verstappen to overtake.
However, the Frenchman was quicker than his teammate behind and came home to claim his fourth career podium.
- Pierre Gasly – 9
In an equally impressive feat, Gasly completed a double Alpine podium in a dreamlike weekend for the French constructor.
Starting 15th after a poor qualifying, Gasly made his way through the pack during the race and like his teammate, opted to stay out under the first safety car.
This eventually proved to be the correct call, putting Gasly third on the road, a position he defended from George Russell for the final portion of the Grand Prix.
A less than impressive qualifying is the only thing that drops him slightly below his teammate in the rankings.
Through no fault of his own, the 2024 Sau Paulo Grand Prix feels like a race win that potentially escaped George Russell.
Qualifying second, the Mercedes driver took the lead at the start into turn-one and proceeded to lead until the VSC, with the team calling him in to bolt on a new set of intermediate tyres.
This dropped him behind the leading three, who maintained their advantage due to the red flag.
Unable to make inroads on the two Alpine’s in front, a likely race-win turned into fourth place and a frustrating missed opportunity for Russell and Mercedes.
- Charles Leclerc – 6
A quiet weekend from Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, as the Monegasque driver kept out of trouble all weekend to come home fifth.
The Scuderia lacked the pace on display in Austin and Mexico, with Leclerc looking off the pace of Verstappen, the two Alpine’s and Russell.
- Lando Norris – 4
The nightmare race that Lando Norris did not need, with a maiden first-championship now firmly off the table.
Losing the lead to Russell at the start, Norris trailed until the VSC and then lost track position to title rival Verstappen.
Multiple wide moments upon the restart following the red flag demoted him below Leclerc and teammate Oscar Piastri, who subsequently got out of Norris’ way.
A Sunday that started with much promise, the 2024 Sau Paulo Grand Prix spells the end of the McLaren drivers title charge, in disappointing fashion.
- Yuki Tsunoda – 7.5
Qualifying a career-best third, Tsunoda held that position for the opening portion of the race, until Ocon overtook just before the VSC.
After the pit-stops, Tsnuoda had lost ground to those who stayed out and couldn’t overtake to make up any positions.
Seventh place was still a good haul of points for the Japanese driver, but a mesmerising quali promised even more.
- Oscar Piastri – 4
Like his teammate, a series of errors cost Oscar Piastri dearly on a weekend where the Aussie looked endlessly quick.
Going wide on his final run in qualifying, Piastri started eighth and was off the pace, unable to defend from a charging Verstappen in the early stages of the race.
Handed a 10-second penalty for contact with Liam Lawson, the McLaren was demoted to eight post-race, behind Tsnuoda, to compound a dreadful Grand Prix for the Woking-based team.
- Liam Lawson – 7
Like his teammate Tsunoda, Lawson qualified a career-high fifth but contact with Piastri and getting caught out by the red flag limited the Kiwi’s progress in the race.
The RB driver experienced a fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, fending off his experienced competitors to add two more points to his tally for the season.
- Lewis Hamilton – 4
Lewis Hamilton’s final Brazilian Grand Prix with Mercedes was certainly one to forget, complaining about the cars ride all weekend.
Lacking immensely in pace compared to his teammate, who was fighting for the win, Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 and spent most of the race battling with Franco Colapinto and Oli Bearman.
The seven-time world champion will be hoping for a better experience during his final three races with the Silver Arrows.
- Sergio Perez – 4
With time running out for Sergio Perez to keep his Red Bull seat, the Sau Paulo Grand Prix wasn’t the race the Mexican needed.
When running in clean air, Perez looked reasonably quick, but a Q2 exit meant that the 34-year-old had to fight through the pack.
However, unlike his teammate Verstappen, Perez couldn’t overtake and spent the final stages battling with Hamilton and Lawson, ultimately losing out to both.
- Oli Bearman – 4.5
Oli Bearman was called in to replace Kevin Magnussen for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix due to the Dane suffering with illness and looked extremely quick in dry conditions.
However, when running in the wet for the first time in an F1 car, the Haas driver looked understandably more cautious, spinning out and driving into the back of Colapinto.
This earned Bearman a ten-second penalty, removing any opportunity to score points, but 12th place wasn’t an awful return considering the circumstances.
- Valtteri Bottas – 7
A best-case scenario finish for Valtteri Bottas, beating his teammate and Fernando Alonso on a weekend where the Sauber wasn’t actually the slowest car.
The 10-time Grand Prix winner qualified 11th, extremely close to Q3, a sterling effort from the Finn.
- Fernando Alonso – 5
Potentially Fernando Alonso’s most depressing race-weekend with Aston Martin, where 15th was the absolute maximum the Spaniard could achieve.
The Silverstone-based team had the slowest car all weekend but showed decent pace in qualifying as both cars got into Q3.
However, both Alonso and Stroll crashed whilst pushing the limits, and were absolutely nowhere over a full race distance.
- Zhou Guanyu – 4
Slowest of the finishing runners, Zhou Guanyu kept the car on track but couldn’t match his teammates pace in both qualifying and the race.
DNF: Carlos Sainz – 2
In sharp contrast to his win seven days previous in Mexico, Carlos Sainz had a terrible weekend in Brazil.
Crashing in both qualifying and the race, the Spaniard will be glad to put the Sao Paulo Grand Prix behind him.
DNF: Franco Colapinto – 2
Like Sainz, Colapinto crashed in both qualifying and the race, setting up the red flag that allowed Verstappen and the two Alpine’s to capatalise.
With team principal James Vowles commenting on Williams’ lack of spare parts, this isn’t the race Colapinto needed in search of a 2025 seat.
DNS: Lance Stroll – 2
Lance Stroll looked quick in qualifying, making it through to Q3, however the Canadian was unable to set a time after crashing at the end of Q2.
Then, on the formation lap, Stroll span and proceeded to drive into a gravel trap, beaching his car and aborting the start.
DNS: Alex Albon – 5
Alex Albon was another who looked brilliantly fast in the wet, ending the first runs of Q3 in second-place.
Pushing for a first pole-position in F1, the Thai driver crashed at turn-one with a heavy impact, wrecking his car beyond repair, therefore ruling him out of the race later that day.
DSQ: Nico Hulkenberg – 3
Nico Hulkenberg had decent pace throughout qualifying and the early stages of the race but spun out to cause the VSC.
Aided by outside assistance to get going again, Hulkenberg was disqualified under the red flag, promptly ending his weekend.
