Who was going to tell Max Verstappen that the same car with which he won four of the first five races of this Formula 1 World Championship, and seven of the first 10, would lead him to go through a drought of more than three months that could not be He broke until this Sunday, in Interlagos, where the current champion once again showed that he is the best driver of his time, with a memorable performance. The Dutchman’s weekend in Brazil was ruined as a result of a penalty for uncorking an engine and the bad performance he had in qualifying, two events that banished him to 17th place on the grid. A stick if we take into account that Lando Norris, with whom he has been battling for some time in an exchange of blows, signed his seventh pole of the year. With everything against him and on a dog day in São Paulo, Mad Max found a corridor and threw himself down it like a man possessed to end up claiming his eighth victory of the course, the first since that one at the end of June, in Montmeló, and probably the most important of all. In a Grand Prix altered by the storm, the three-time world champion had one of his best Sundays to send a message that his direct rival for the crown, the British driver from McLaren, sixth under the checkered flag, took on the whole chin.
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly signed the first double on the podium for Alpine, which is still Renault, since Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella finished first and third in Suzuka (Japan), in 2006. This time, Alonso crossed the finished 14th and Carlos Sainz did not finish as a result of one of the multiple accidents (lap 39) caused by the rain, which left the track practically impassable for all the cars except one.
Verstappen is a unique competitive animal. Someone capable of gaining seven positions in the first lap to cement a historic comeback. While it is true that the neutralization caused by Franco Colapinto’s crash (lap 32) worked in his favor, no one was able to overtake as much and as well as him. A victory that leaves him 62 points ahead of Norris with only three events left to be held.
In Mexico, last Sunday, Mad Max crossed the finish line sixth, 59 and a half seconds behind Sainz, the race winner. If this Monday he no longer thinks about it, it is because of the display of power he pulled out of his hat at Interlagos, where he did not fail when everyone else did and where he was facing directly towards his fourth title.
