Max Verstappen dealt a fatal blow to Lando Norris’s world championship hopes by racing from 17th on the grid to win a rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix in a performance for the ages.
A poor qualifying display and engine penalty meant Verstappen started Sunday’s round with only three cars behind him.
But Verstappen assumed the lead of the race on lap 43 of 69 and never looked back in the treacherous conditions to claim a remarkable win that edges him ever closer to a fourth consecutive title.
Verstappen becomes the first driver since Kimi Raikkonen 19 years ago to win a race from as far back on the grid, taking the chequered flag an extraordinary 19.4 seconds clear of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who were a surprise second and third for Alpine.
George Russell was fourth, one spot ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Norris, who started from pole position, finished only sixth on a desperately disappointing afternoon for him in Sao Paulo.
The British driver, who ran off the road twice, is now 62 points behind Verstappen with only 86 points available over the concluding three rounds.
It means Verstappen will wrap up the title at the next race in Las Vegas on November 24 if he finishes ahead of his rival.
A wild and wacky day at the races started when Lance Stroll crashed on the formation lap. The start was aborted but Norris then led the cars away for a second formation lap when he should not have. Norris faces a stewards’ investigation for the misstep.
The start was pushed back to 12:47pm local time to deal with Stroll’s beached Aston Martin and when the lights eventually went out, Norris’ torrid first-lap woes continued after second-placed Russell usurped him at the opening bend.
Norris appeared to be treading through treacle to allow Russell to cruise by. The McLaren man has now failed to convert seven of his eight poles into an opening-lap advantage.
Further back and Verstappen was on the move. By the end of the first lap he was 11th, passing three drivers at a scintillating opening corner and then sweeping ahead of Hamilton into the first corner on the next lap to take 10th.
On lap five, he was up to eighth after moving clear of Gasly and Fernando Alonso before Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri offered a poor defence to allow Verstappen to breeze past for seventh.
Liam Lawson became Verstappen’s next victim and, when the Dutch driver was in clear air, he was lapping one second quicker than anybody else.
Verstappen’s progress was halted by Leclerc but the Ferrari driver stopped on lap 24 to promote the triple world champion to fifth.
The rain was now intensifying and Nico Hulkenberg’s spin led to a Virtual Safety Car period. In came Russell and Norris for a fresh set of intermediate tyres on lap 28 with Ocon assuming the lead and Verstappen now second.
Norris made the move on Russell on the run down to turn four for fourth before the safety car was deployed.
Moments later, Franco Colapinto was in the wall and race director Niels Wittich stopped the race. The red flag would allow Verstappen to take on a new set of tyres and the news was welcomed like a bad smell at McLaren and Mercedes.
“I guess everyone can change tyres for free now,” said Norris. “They can,” came the depressing response from his race engineer, Will Joseph. Over at Mercedes, Russell was furious.
“F,” he screamed. “I f*** said we should have stayed out.”
A 25-minute delay followed, ahead of a rolling start. Ocon retained the lead from Verstappen and Gasly before Norris surrendered fourth place to Russell when he ran off the road at the third corner.
Then, Carlos Sainz, who crashed out of qualifying earlier on Sunday, was back in the wars, thudding the barriers at turn eight on lap 40 to lead to a second safety car.
The race resumed on lap 43 and Verstappen nailed Ocon into the opening bend for the lead.
Behind, Norris was off the race track again. The British driver dropped behind Leclerc and Piastri and he was suddenly seventh. Was that the moment the world championship was lost?
On lap 46, Piastri was ordered out of Norris’s way but the 24-year-old could offer little impression on Leclerc ahead to cross the line a remarkable half minute behind Verstappen.
