Red Bull Racing F1 driver
Max Verstappen won the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Race at Interlagos Circuit.
Starting from second position on the grid, Max Verstappen overtook Norris going into the first corner and kept his position for the rest of the race.
His teammate
Sergio Perez, starting from third place, kept his position finishing where he started, but he first had to fight back two
Mercedes drivers,
George Russell, and
Lewis Hamilton, by which he got overtaken right after the race started.
After the first two laps, Mercedes drivers seemingly lost their pace. Russell finished in P4, and Lewis Hamilton fell down to P7.
Lando Norris managed to put his McLaren on the pole in the Sprint Shootout but lost the place to Verstappen before the first corner and could not catch up.
Even though Norris showed a decent pace, putting some pressure on Verstappen in front, his teammate
Oscar Piastri struggled and finished where he started, in P10.
Ferrari drivers
Carlos Sainz and
Charles Leclerc moved up a couple of positions, achieving some points, but did not have the best starting positions after the
unsuccessful Sprint Shootout, so it was only P5 and P8.
Yuki Tsunoda achieved yet another great result for
AlphaTauri. He finished P6 and collected three valuable points for the team.
Daniel Ricciardo almost had the P8 but could not overtake Sainz and finished in P9.
Aston Martin team showed very promising speed when
Fernando Alonso and
Lance Stroll climbed up the grid from starting positions P15 and P17 to finish in P11 and P12 in a matter of 24 laps.
Pierre Gasly finished in P13, where he started.
Alpine teammate
Esteban Ocon, who had a
big crash in the Sprint Shootout, gained two positions to finish in P14.
Haas drivers
Kevin Magnussen and
Nico Hulkenberg were two of the only three drivers on the grid going on medium compound tires, which turned out not to be the optimal strategy.
As a consequence, the driver duo fell down the order from original P11 and P12 to P16 and P18. One of the drivers who profited on the slow pace of the Haases was
Alex Albon.
The
Williams driver started from the 19th place on the grid and finished in P15. His teammate,
Logan Sargeant, was the third driver on medium tires and finished last.
Alfa Romeo drivers might also not be as hopeful going into Sunday's race.
Valtteri Bottas who started from P14, finished in 19th place, and
Zhou Guanyu finished P17.
2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Race Results:
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
1. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 30:07.209 | 8 |
2. | Lando Norris | Lando Norris | +4.287s | 7 |
3. | Sergio Perez | Sergio Perez | +13.617s | 6 |
4. | George Russell | Mercedes | +25.879s | 5 |
5. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +28.560s | 4 |
6. | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +29.210s | 3 |
7. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +34.726s | 2 |
8. | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +35.106s | 1 |
9. | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | +35.303s | 0 |
10. | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +38.219s | 0 |
11. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +39.061s | 0 |
12. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +39.478s | 0 |
13. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +40.621s | 0 |
14. | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +42.848s | 0 |
15. | Alex Albon | Williams | +43.394s | 0 |
16. | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +56.507s | 0 |
17. | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +58.723s | 0 |
18. | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +60.330s | 0 |
19. | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +60.749s | 0 |
20. | Logan Sargeant | Williams | +60.945s | 0 |