Winners and losers from São Paulo Grand Prix include vintage Fernando Alonso, heartbroken Charles Leclerc

Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Recapping the winners and the losers from the São Paulo Grand Prix

In the end, it was the most thrilling battle of the day.

One that saw Fernando Alonso, the wily veteran, emerge victorious.

With Max Verstappen and Lando Norris pulling away from the field, as they did in Saturday’s F1 Sprint race, the biggest battle was for the final spot on the podium alongside them. Alonso and Sergio Pérez were the two drivers engaged in that fight, with the Aston Martin driver in the lead ahead of the Red Bull driver.

In the closing laps of the race, it seemed as if the pass from Pérez was inevitable. The RB19 has been the class of the field the entire year — as evidenced by Red Bull running away with the Constructors’ Championship and Verstappen doing the same in the Drivers’ — and with Pérez sticking within DRS range of Alonso, the overtake was coming.

And it did.

But it did not stick.

Because while Pérez managed to get by Alonso eventually, the Aston Martin veteran had one big move of his own left in him. Then on the final lap that move came, and Alonso was able to get by Pérez, and secure his eighth podium of the season.

By perhaps the smallest of margins:

Just how close was it?

This close:

“For me it was like 30 laps that I had the pressure from Checo,” said Alonso trackside after the race. “This is a phenomenal result for the team. We’ve been struggling for a couple of months … this is for everyone in the factory.”

“We’re still learning about he car,” added Alonso. “Happy for the result, and now to Vegas!”

It was a massive result for Alonso, and Aston Martin, at a moment where the team needed such a result. Their struggles in recent weeks had seen McLaren jump them in the standings, and it had not been since the Belgian Grand Prix back at the end of July that the team enjoyed a double-points result. But they accomplished that on Sunday, because while Alonso was fighting back to take third, teammate Lance Stroll was putting together a solid drive of his own, finishing in fifth place, his best finish since his fourth-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix back in April.

With just two races left and McLaren still in solid form, it might not be enough for Aston Martin to catch them in their battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ standings. But this was a day to remember for Aston Martin.

Loser: Charles Leclerc

Of all the Ferrari ways to experience heartbreak, this might have been the most Ferrari way imaginable.

Charles Leclerc was set up for a big day at the São Paulo Grand Prix, starting alongside Max Verstappen on the front row. There was a window for Leclerc, starting on the soft tires, to perhaps take the lead from Verstappen into the first turn and make this a true dogfight.

Plus, starting ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, there was a chance for Leclerc to push Ferrari even closer to the Silver Arrows in their fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship.

But he would not even see the start of the race.

Leclerc’s SF-23 suffered a hydraulics failure on the formation lap, and Leclerc found himself in the barrier, his day over before it could even begin.

“There was an engine thing that made me lock the rear wheels,” described Leclerc after his early exit.

What might make matters even more frustrating for Ferrari? This is perhaps yet another missed opportunity for the team. On an afternoon where Mercedes struggled — with Russell even being forced to retire from the Grand Prix — the Scuderia could have banked a big number of points in their fight for second. Carlos Sainz Jr. did his part, as his sixth-place finish (ahead of Hamilton in eighth) will see Ferrari inch four points closer to Mercedes in that battle.

But what could have been, what should have been for Ferrari, was not.

Winner: Lando Norris

“Couldn’t have gone much better, to be honest,” said Norris after the race. “A much better start at the beginning, to get from sixth to second.”

And what a start it was.

When Leclerc suffered his failure ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix, it opened up a spot on the grid for someone to exploit. That driver would be Norris. Despite starting in P6, behind Alonso, he boldly hugged the inside line after the start, and when Alonso slid ever-so-slightly to the right, Norris rocketed through on that inside line, putting himself into second place. Keep your eye on the right side here as Norris flies up the inside:

He would hold onto that position on the ensuing restart, and from there managed the race to perfection. While there were moments when the McLaren driver thought Verstappen would open the door to a fight for P1, the Red Bull driver kept closing the door, so Norris settled for a P2.

And his fifth podium in six races. Which saw Norris make a little bit of F1 history, as he tied Nick Heidfeld with the most podiums without a victory, at 13.

“A P2 is as good as we can get nowadays,” added Norris. “Max always seems to have an answer for anything.”

While that may be true, consider just how far Norris and McLaren have come. When I sat down with the driver back in April, Norris explained that simply finishing in the points was a realistic goal for the team.

Now? Now they are expecting podiums.

And Norris is delivering them.

Losers: Williams

A number of teams will be happy to see Interlagos in the rear-view mirror.

Williams is perhaps atop that list.

This was a weekend to forget for the team, who now need to worry about a late-season charge from AlphaTauri in the fight for seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship. After the F1 Sprint race saw Alexander Albon finish in P15, and rookie Logan Sargeant finish in P20, things were not much better for the team on Sunday.

For Albon, his day ended on the opening lap. Albon and Kevin Magnussen came together right after the start, and their big collision knocked both drivers out of the race on Lap 1.

“I had a great start; I think it was one of the strongest starts on the grid but after looking at the external cameras, the driver on the inside was a bit blindsided by the two cars on the right, so there wasn’t much I could do,” said Albon in the team’s post-race media report.

“With all the retired cars throughout the race and many out of place with damage from the crash, we really could’ve been on for points, so it’s disappointing when the championship fight is so tight,” continued Albon. “Today obviously wasn’t our day so we’ll look ahead to Vegas and try maximise where we can.”

As for Sargeant, this was a bittersweet result for the American rookie. He put in a solid effort, finishing in P11, but that left him outside of the points looking in, and he still has just the single point to show for his rookie campaign, which came back at the United States. Grand Prix.

“A tricky one,” said Sargeant post-race: “We just missed pace today and didn’t have what we needed to fight with AlphaTauri. We really wanted to capitalise on a lot of cars going out, but we struggled with [tire] degradation and were not quick enough.”

If there is any solace for Williams, it will come via the calendar. The FW45 has struggled on some tracks this season, and Interlagos is now added to that list. But their challenger for the 2023 campaign has shown great straight-line speed, and the circuit at Las Vegas could be one that suits them very well.

They better hope it does, because the fight for seventh is not over yet.

Winner: Yuki Tsunoda

What a weekend for AlphaTauri and Yuki Tsunoda.

It did not get off to the best start for the team, as both Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo were knocked out in Q1 during qualifying on Friday. But Saturday was a much different story, as both drivers advanced to SQ3 and started the F1 Sprint race in a points position. While Ricciardo eventually came up short, Tsunoda finished in sixth place, adding three critical points to the team’s tally on the season.

Then, despite starting at the back of the field on Sunday in P16, he managed his race to perfection, finishing in ninth place to bring two more crucial points home for the team.

And perhaps more importantly, AlphaTauri will now bring some confidence to the track:

As the grid heads to Las Vegas, AlphaTauri is firmly in the fight for seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship. That seemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago, but look at how they have engaged in that fight over the past three races thanks to Formula1Points:

Sure, as noted above Las Vegas may play to the strengths of Williams and their FW45. But if you believe in momentum, it is firmly on AlphaTauri’s side.

Losers: Mercedes

It was clear almost all weekend long.

Mercedes just did not have the pace, or the tire management, that their competitors showed throughout the weekend.

They managed to bring home minor points in the F1 Sprint race on Saturday, with George Russell finishing fourth and Lewis Hamilton seventh, but there were concerns regarding how their issues would show up in a longer race. After the F1 Sprint race Saturday, Team Principal Toto Wolff raised some red flags:

“That was a difficult day,” admitted Wolff in the team’s post-race report Saturday.

“We pushed very hard at the beginning of the race, and we suffered from that in the later stages. The car was not balanced optimally, with the rear end not strong enough to live with the front,” added Wolff. “You’re having to drive the car on a knife’s edge but it’s almost impossible to do so. Both drivers were trying to hold on to the pace, but we didn’t give them a car to do that today. They were both subsequently sliding around a lot more than they would want and that killed the tyres. We need to go away this evening and work through what we can do to improve it for tomorrow. There are no easy fixes, but we will do everything that we can.”

Andrew Shovlin, the Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director, shared those concerns.

“We know that we’ve got what we’ve got in terms of the setup and that there are only a few tools to play with to make improvements. We therefore know that making a big step in performance for tomorrow is out of the question,” added Shovlin. “However, there are a few things we can use to balance the car and there’s clearly a bit to learn about how we use the tires across the stint. It might be a little cooler tomorrow and that could help; not so much that the tires will be in a drastically different operating window though. It’s therefore imperative we can make progress overnight if we’re to avoid another tough race on Sunday.”

They could not avoid that fate.

Both Russell and Hamilton were fighting early to stay in the points, but tire degradation issues saw both drivers lose pace on extended runs. At one point Mercedes advised Hamilton that it was okay to push on the set of tires he was using, but in worrying fashion the driver reported back that he already was pushing, and the pace was just not there.

Russell was also frustrated and at multiple points questioned the approach from the team. His day would end early, as the team had to retire his car due to a failure.

There was frustration all around.

“There’s no words for that,” an irritated Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “That car finished second last week and the week before and whatever we did to it was horrible. Lewis survived out there but George… I mean, I can only feel for the two driving such a miserable thing. So it shows how difficult the car is, it’s on a knife’s edge.

“We’ve got to develop that better for next year because you can’t be within seven days you’re finishing on the podium solid with this car, probably one of the two quickest cars and then you’re nowhere and finish eighth.”

Again, this goes down as a missed opportunity for the team. With Leclerc crashing on the formation lap, Mercedes had a chance to pull further ahead in the fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship.

Instead, both drivers finish behind Ferrari’s single driver on the track, Sainz, and the gap between the two teams is now just 20 points, as Ferrari picked up two points on Mercedes down in Brazil.

This fight may truly go down to the final lap of the season, and will be a big focus in Las Vegas.

“We’ll see what we can do in Las Vegas – totally different track – and Abu Dhabi. But performance today was… I’m lacking words,” concluded Wolff.

Winner: Max Verstappen

In some ways, it seems boring to name the winner of the São Paulo Grand Prix as one of the “Winners” of the race.

But there is nothing boring about what Max Verstappen is doing this season.

Sunday’s victory at Interlagos was Verstappen’s 17th win of the season, extending his own record of race wins in a single season he set last week at the Mexico City Grand Prix. But his win in Brazil was not notable for that reason alone. With the victory, Verstappen now has the best win percentage in a single season in F1 history, as noted by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after the race Sunday:

Verstappen has currently won 17 of the 20 grands prix this season, good for a win percentage of 85%. That well eclipses the mark of 75% sent by Alberto Ascari back in 1952, when he won six of the eight races that year. But what Lambiase was noting is that Verstappen is now guaranteed of topping that mark. Even if he does not win in both Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi — and frankly, given how he is performing how likely is that — Verstappen will have won 17 of 22 races.

Good for 77%, guaranteeing he is the new record holder in this category when the season is over.

Verstappen has now broken a record that has stood for over 70 years in the sport. The fact is, we are witnessing something special from Verstappen this year, week-in, week-out. He is closing in on one of the greatest seasons in F1 history, and that will be a massive storyline to watch at the Las Vegas Grand Prix next weekend.