Tense competition

The tense race in the Sao Paulo rain had an aborted start, when Aston Martin's Lance Stroll went off on the formation lap. Norris could not hold his lead position in the first turn, losing it to Mercedes' George Russell. The McLaren driver struggled until the end of the race to find his line under the rain, which Verstappen clearly managed to do from the start, finding grip where others couldn't on the inside of the track.

The big boost for Verstappen, and possibly a key moment in the drivers' championship, came when Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg spun off in the 27th lap.

A virtual safety car came in, and many drivers chose to go to their pit lanes. Verstappen, Ocon and Pierre Gasly chose not to stop.

Earlier, in the most emotional moment of the weekend at Interlagos, many fans in the stands cried when British driver Lewis Hamilton drove the late Ayrton Senna's title-winning car ahead of the race. The seven-time champion took some laps in the historic McLaren MP4/5B that Senna drove during his 1990 title campaign, in which he beat Ferrari's Alain Prost.

Las Vegas hosts the next race on Nov 23.

Agencies