by Jody Scheckter at 5:10 pm, Nov 3
In what was one of the craziest and most unpredictable F1 races in a long time, Max Verstappen managed to convert a 17th place starting grid position into an improbable win at the Brazilian Grand Prix. After a sprint race that mostly went to form, race qualifying was rained out on Saturday and pushed to early Sunday morning. However, weather conditions remained poor and qualifying was marred by five red flags when multiple drivers crashed out due to the slippery surface. Alex Albon's car was too damaged to be repaired in time for the race that was run only three hours later. The race start itself was further affected by an off by Lance Stroll on the formation lap, which was just the first of many incidents that brought out yellow flags, virtual safety car and full safety car periods, and eventually a red flag. By that time Verstappen had worked his way through the field, into an Alpine sandwich between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who had qualified 4th and was gifted the race lead when Lando Norris and George Russell mistimed a virtual safety car period and pitted just as it was ending. After the restart, Verstappen soon made it past Ocon, and positions mostly stabilized from that point onward, with both Alpine drivers eventually standing on the podium. The final results were only confirmed after various incidents had been investigated after the race, with Mercedes and Norris receiving fines, as opposed to race penalties, for various breaches of rules. The FF1 round win is shared by five participants: Chuck Calrissian , curley , David D , Prost! and Slater Sn , whose strategy to pick the top six in-form drivers will have yielded less points than they will have hoped, but closes the gap at the top of the standings nevertheless. Unusually, it should be noted, no participant picked one of the podium drivers, perhaps further accentuating the surprising result for Esteban Ocon.1 Max V stays in first overall, but gives up 18 points on his lead, with curley and Slater Sn staying in second and third. With picks getting scarce, we resume in three weeks with another back-to-back-to-back set of races in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to end the season. Chances are it will not rain again, which might make picking drivers less stressful!
Las Vegas Grand Prix 23 NovFORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2024 Las Vegas, United States
Race Distance: 50 laps, 305.880 km The Las Vegas Grand Prix was added last year and was notable, not just for the spectacle of the Vegas Strip venues lining the course, but mostly for a the major track issues during practice that caused long delays for repairs, and resulted in late, late night practice in front of empty stands. The race itself, however, turned out to be very exciting, in large part due to the lack of grip on the new surface. Hopefully the event will go smoother this year.