In a season that developed into a legitimate title fight, controversy has filled the air like fireworks on New Year’s, with everything from rear wings to driving standards coming under scrutiny. While many efforts to discredit Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lack any real validity, it is generally agreed that his penalties in Mexico were warranted. Climbing into his RB20 at Interlagos on Sunday, Verstappen needed to respond decisively. Neither fans nor critics were prepared for how brilliant that response would be. Comparisons were quickly drawn to stand-out performances of the past, but even they don’t quite convey the full extent of the Dutchman’s achievement on a saturated afternoon in São Paolo.
Much has been said of Verstappen stretching the rules to their limits, but as the aborted start lights came on, he was crystal clear on what the rules are, while others seemed to have forgotten. ‘Forgetting’ isn’t typically a valid excuse for rule breaches.
His opening lap has been likened to Ayrton Senna’s at Donington in 1993; a fair comparison, with four cars overtaken in the wet on lap one. What sets Verstappen apart is when you consider that things get perilous back in the pack as everyone stacks up in the first braking zone, often resulting in the delicate carbon fibre sculptures of a front wing or two reduced to splintered fragments. Senna begun his charge from 4th; Verstappen from the 17th grid spot (net 15th on the road due to the absence of Stroll and Albon). Senna went around the outside of one car; Verstappen went around two. As the field ticked off the first of sixty-nine laps, the Red Bull was already lining up overtake number five, this time on Hamilton.
Passing Gasly, Alonso, Piastri, and Lawson soon after, the World Champion’s progress stalled in the train behind Tsunoda, having an excellent run in the RB. What followed could easily have been disastrous: with Norris, Russell, and others on fresh intermediates, if the deployment of the safety car for track conditions had continued to a green flag, Verstappen would have had to pit and been passed by all the cars queued up behind him. For a short while, it seemed all was lost. The good luck – an unfortunate term given the context – was the red flag brought out by Colopinto’s Williams. A red flag in F1 allows a tyre change while stationary, putting everyone on an equal footing.
Did Verstappen and the Alpines benefit? Sure. But the timing of both the beginning and end of the Virtual Safety Car in the Sprint race went against him, as did the red flag in Qualifying. Generally, I don’t get conspiratorial, but three questionable instances within twenty-four hours was stretching the limits of coincidence somewhat. With that in mind, Verstappen catching a break was hardly typical for the weekend.
From there on, he never put a foot wrong on a day where only himself, the two Alpines, and Tsunoda managed to avoid an incident in either qualifying or the race. While Ocon initially pulled away after the first restart, Max had begun taking large bites out of his lead before the second safety car. He made bold, clean overtakes, including the pass on Ocon for the lead, eventually crossing the line 19.5 seconds clear after lighting up the scoreboard with a string of fastest laps.
Other comparisons have been made to Hamilton’s Silverstone 2008 and São Paolo 2021 drives, both epic displays that cemented his own legacy. But neither quite has the against-the-odds nature of São Paolo 2024. At Silverstone, Hamilton showed himself to be in a class of one in the wet, but he started 4th and his climb to 1st included passing his team mate. São Paolo 2021 was a disciplined charge at a crucial moment, but the benefit of a fresh power unit, vastly superior machinery, and DRS does comparatively dampen the achievement just a fraction. Granted, Max had a fresh ICE element, but never once had the benefit of DRS, and the Red Bull was the fifth fastest car on the hard tyres in Mexico, so it’s unreasonable to claim a car advantage. Plus, he started 15th on the road, not 10th.
In the above examples, if somebody had been asked before the race if Hamilton could win, they’d probably have looked at the situation and said, “Sure, he’s got what he needs.” Nobody was that confident about Verstappen’s chances in Brazil this past Sunday. Put simply, he overcame more obstacles on his way to the chequered flag.
Other notable mentions: Senna, Monaco 1984; Senna, Portugal 1987; Hill, Japan 1994; Schumacher, Spain 1996; and Felipe Massa’s drive at Brazil in 2008 deserves acknowledgement. Everything I’ve mentioned belongs in the same category of supreme driving excellence, but none features quite the uphill battle that faced Verstappen as he lined up in the 17th grid slot at Interlagos.
While I admit to being a fan, I try to remain objective, wary that sports fandom sometimes strays into territory more akin to a cult. I was honest about Max’s Mexico penalties and the collision with Hamilton at Hungary, where he let impatience jeopardise his championship. And in the interests of objectivity, we should ask some further questions about that weekend. What if Verstappen had moved away incorrectly on an aborted start? What if Verstappen had slid off the track, then cut the corner to minimise his positions lost? What if Verstappen had been leading the Sprint and a dubiously-timed VSC came out just as his title rival was lining up for a pass?
We all know the answer: people would be calling for instant penalties, race bans, and the sacking of all officials. Comment sections would be teeming with raging Brits (I’m British, by the way), going beet red in the face as they hammer on their keyboards, making accusations of FIA favouritism and Red Bull cheating, with grammar and spelling comprehension that would cause Microsoft Word to implode. But as it was Norris doing those things… you could hear a mosquito belch in the ensuing silence.
Regardless, with the F1 train departing São Paolo bound for Las Vegas, what we just witnessed is rightfully being hailed as a performance for the history books. At Ayrton Senna’s home track, on a weekend where we celebrated the memory of the great Brazilian to mark the 30th anniversary of his passing, there was no better time and place for Verstappen to pull out a drive that Senna himself would surely have admired.
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