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Formula 1 Brazilian GP

F1 Brazilian GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race

Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen will start from pole position as he looks to complete a weekend double after winning Saturday's sprint race.

Aston Martin pairing Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso locked out the second row but in the battle for second in the drivers' standings, Lewis Hamilton enters the grand prix in a preferable position over rival Sergio Perez - starting fifth to the Mexican's ninth. 

The Brazilian GP gets under way at 5pm GMT.

By: Sam Hall, Megan White, Pablo Elizalde

Stopped
Summary
  • Verstappen takes his 17th win of 2023 ahead of Norris as Alonso passes Perez to secure third
  • Russell asked to retire his car on lap 58 while running ninth
  • Piastri retired before the red flag, but McLaren repaired his car. Ricciardo's car was also damaged. They both took the restart from the pitlane, but a lap behind
  • Race has been red-flagged to clear the track after the start accident
  • Albon and Magnussen crash at the start, forcing the safety car to be deployed
  • Leclerc crashed on the formation lap after losing hydraulics. He retired before the start
  • A combination of two and three-stop plans is expected with tyre degradation high 
Leaderboard
  1. Verstappen
  2. Norris
  3. Alonso
  4. Perez
  5. Stroll
  6. Sainz
  7. Gasly
  8. Hamilton
  9. Tsunoda
  10. Ocon
But now, as the party begins under the podium, it's time to bid you goodnight. As ever, thank you for joining us and we hope that you will keep us company in a fortnight for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. 

Until then, here is the full report on the 71 laps from Brazil 

https://autosport.com/all/news/f1-brazilian-gp-verstappen-fends-off-norris-for-17th-win-of-2023/10543309/
The Verstappen Podcast in the cooldown room sees Norris and Alonso join the host to discuss the race. Beyond the start, they don't have much to discuss, especially as Alonso remains silent throughout!
"When he [Perez] passed me, I thought going to the podium was not possible. This is a phenomenal result for the team," says Alonso.

The result keeps Aston Martin in touch with McLaren for P4.
"P2 is as good as we can get nowadays," says Norris. 

"Max always seemed to have an answer for everything."
As hard as it is to believe, the GP was actually better for Mercedes than the sprint as, on Saturday, Hamilton was an average of more than a second per lap slower than Verstappen. 

Today, he was only 63 seconds back across 71 laps. Small wins...
"A world champion's drive," Aston Martin tells Alonso. 

It's very hard to disagree with that, although the fans have voted Norris as the driver of the day with 26% of the vote.
Stroll scores a fabulous P5 with Sainz clinging on to P6 for Ferrari.
Alonso and Perez fire out of the final corner and it's a photo finish. Alonso takes the position by less than one-tenth.
Norris is P2 once again.
Checkered flag
For the 17th time this season, Verstappen wins a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Alonso takes back the podium position on the run to T4!
And as this is all going on, Verstappen starts his final lap.
At the start of lap 70, finally, Perez makes the move stick on Alonso. He dives to the inside at T1 but Alonso is fighting back and is fighting hard. DRS positions will be reversed this time around.
With one lap remaining, Sainz has reported having no downshifts. He is P6 at present but could come under threat from Gasly now.
McLaren says Piastri is still carrying damage from the Turn 1 incident which there wasn't time to repair, hence the fact he is running last.
The exception to this is the battle for P3 between Alonso and Perez, also the former appears to have the measure of his opponent with three laps remaining.
As you can probably tell, there is very little happening with the field nicely spread out.
Stopwatch
An incredible lap by Alonso to go 2.5s faster than anyone on his last lap, setting a fastest time of the race with a 1m12.486s.
On lap 62 of 71, Alonso is showing all of his experience, fending off Perez.
As Norris makes his final stop and drops back to P2, Perez makes his first lunge on Alonso, looking to the outside of T1. It doesn't work, but it's a start.
Russell has been told to retire the car! The team says he has high and worsening PU oil temperature, with a risk of imminent failure.
Alonso looks to be managing the gap to Perez. The Mexican has enjoyed DRS advantage in recent laps but has been unable to get close to the Aston Martin.
Pit stop
In comes Verstappen for one last time. Soft tyres go back onto his Red Bull.
Perez is now within DRS range of Alonso.
Ocon sets a new fastest lap of the race and passes Sargeant for 11th.
Game on in the battle between Alonso and Perez. The Aston Martin driver lost half-a-second on the last lap with Perez firing up his soft tyres.
Ocon stops again, he's out 12th.
Pit stop
The pit instruction comes through to Sainz who is in P4. This will trigger an undercut attempt on Stroll. 

A slightly slow stop and he returns to the pits in P7.
Ok, the battle for the lead - if indeed there has been one - has left a lot to be desired. But behind Verstappen and Norris, the action has been frantic. Far from a classic, but what are your thoughts on the Brazilian GP so far?
Gasly has now made it past Hamilton, too!
That Alpine move was team orders - Gasly thanks the pitwall for letting him through.