The highlight or at least the most exciting of this Grand Prix was in the cars of Alonso and Pérez, who until the last lap fought for a place on the podium. Finally, the Spanish driver took third position by 50 thousandths of a second.
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One of the most traditional races on the Formula 1 world circuit began with Max Verstappen as world champion and leading, once again, the starting grid. During the weekend, the Sprint race was also held, which was won by the Dutchman and Red Bull driver.
The fight for second places in both the general classification of drivers and constructors does not stop with only one Grand Prix missing in this 2023 edition. The Mexican Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, from Red Bull, has not been able to find consistency since the first races of this season, while Lewis Hamilton, the British Mercedes driver, has been surpassing Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso in positions, who had a better start than him.
On the constructors’ side, the battle for second place on the podium continues to be fought in each race with Ferrari, Mercedes, Mclaren and Aston Martin. Each point is vital for the teams that can no longer catch up with Red Bull, but that dream of taking the next best position in this table.
Interlagos: between incidents and the fight for the podium between Alonso and ‘Checo’
The race had not started when, on the formation lap, the Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, had an incident in which his car completely alone spun and ended up against the barriers. The Monegasque driver’s gesture only showed disappointment at the little luck he has had during this end of the season. Ferrari would not score points in one of its cars.
For Verstappen, the start was much easier as he would have no pressure, because Leclerc had qualified with the second fastest time, but the abandonment left the Red Bull driver without company by his side. At the start of the race, Mclaren’s Lando Norris continued to demonstrate the great moment his team is going through and he as the main protagonist of his car. The Belgian got between the Mercedes and Aston Martín cars and took second position.
Without having finished the first lap, the cars of Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon ended up completely destroyed after a crash and there was a red flag. The restart of the race took more than 30 minutes. From then on, the teams’ management was based on strategy and caution when changing tires.
Verstappen and Norris had an unbeatable performance for them, while for Mercedes and Ferrari it was not a good afternoon, as George Russel had to abandon the race and stop scoring points in one of his cars. Hamilton, at different times during the race, questioned his team’s strategy of not entering the ‘Pits’ twice.
“Very happy, he had a very good race pace. It was a nice surprise at the start to move into second position. It was a tough race due to the wind conditions, but I am very happy with the result,” said Norris, after climbing back onto the podium in second place.
The highlight or at least the most exciting of this Grand Prix was in the cars of Alonso and Pérez, who until the last lap fought for a place on the podium. Finally, the Spanish driver took the position by 50 thousandths of a second.
“I had a lot of pressure from ‘Checo’ in the last laps, but here I am and he went a little too far on lap number 1 and I thought I could go for him on lap number 4 and we fought until the last lap. It is a good result for me and for the team, we continue to learn from the car and experience different things,” said Alonso, after finishing the race.
“In the end, I had very little battery to defend myself. Alonso made the maneuver for me in turn 4 and I no longer had time. Fourth place is good for me, to continue protecting second place in the championship. Having fought that position with Hamilton at the beginning hurt us. It is good to be back and of course add those points that were rescued,” Sergio Pérez told the press.
The fight for positions
Second place in the general drivers’ table seems to have already been defined in favor of Red Bull’s Pérez, to lose it he would have to stop adding to the two missing Awards. This is how the positions and points were:
For its part, the general table of constructors can still give us some action in the remainder of the season:
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