MOTORSPORT: Verstappen wins in Brazil

Max Verstappen has extended his single-season Formula 1 win record with victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix, his 17th success of season 2023.

Behind him, Lando Norris (McLaren) finished second for the seventh time in his career, while Fernando Alonso got the better of Sergio Perez (Red Bull) following a breathtaking final lap battle to claim third, as Aston Martin returned to the podium for the first time since Zandvoort.

"The starts were very important today, both of them were very good," said Verstappen.

"Then, after that, the whole race was about the management of the tyres.

"It all looked quite good, but with the high [degradation] around here, you were constantly correcting the car, so your focus always needed to be there, but luckily it worked out great today."

The action teed off in the Sprint Shootout when Esteban Ocon (Alpine) suffered a hefty shunt after contact with Alonso, although both cars were repaired for the start of the Sprint race.

From second on the Sprint grid, Verstappen leapt past polesitter Norris on the run to the first corner and never looked back.

Elsewhere, there was plenty of close racing, with Norris finishing second from Perez, with the top five rounded out by George Russell (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

Meanwhile, the Aussie contingent of Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) finished ninth and 10th, with Piastri rebounding from a first lap off.

There was drama on the way to the grid of the Grand Prix, with Leclerc’s Ferrari suffering a mechanical failure, which spun the car into a tyre wall and a non-start.

The drama continued when the lights extinguished, with Alex Albon (Williams) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) tangling before turn one, with the red flag waved to necessitate barrier repairs.

Collected in the fracas were Piastri and Ricciardo, who both suffered rear wing damage, but were able to restart from the pit lane a lap down following repairs.

Verstappen repeated his quick getaway at the second attempt, leading Norris and Alonso.

By lap eight of 71, Norris was all over Verstappen, before the Dutchman found his stride.

With second place on the line in the world driver’s championship, Perez engaged in a battle with both Mercedes pilots, and fought hard to get the better of Russell before passing Hamilton for fourth on lap 18, with the Brit stopping on the next circuit.

Hamilton temporarily moved ahead with thanks to an undercut advantage, but Perez regained the position on lap 23.

In the end, Mercedes suffered a woeful race, with Hamilton struggling for pace and Russell retiring with an overheating powerplant, joining the Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu as mechanically induced non-finishers.

The race simmered along until Perez made it past Alonso at the commencement of the penultimate lap, before the double world champ swept back through, holding on to third by only 0.053sec at the chequered flag.

Out front, it was a fifth straight win for Verstappen by 8sec from Norris, who secured his seventh podium of the season and fifth in six races.

Behind Perez in fifth was a resurgent Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), then Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Ocon, while Ricciardo and Piastri were the last classified finishers in 13th and 14th.

Formula 1 takes a week off before returning with the highly anticipated inaugural race down the Las Vegas strip, which is scheduled for a race start at 7:00pm AEDT on Sunday, November 19.

2023 Brazilian Grand Prix results:

2023 Formula 1 championship standings: