Max Verstappen said he felt as if he was “driving a jet ski” at Interlagos, so wet were the conditions. It looked more like walking on water. One of the most extraordinary days in recent Formula One history, a day that began at 7.
30am with a qualifying session held over from Saturday due to the stormy weather in Sao Paulo, ended with one of the most extraordinary comebacks of all time. Verstappen’s sublime victory from 17th on the grid at Interlagos was astounding not simply because of the number of places he made up, but because the Dutchman looked as if he was driving in a completely different race to everyone else. Verstappen won by 19 seconds on a day when everyone else struggled to stay on the track.
He set 17 fastest laps in total. Ten of Verstappen’s final 11 laps would have been good enough for fastest lap of the race. His fastest, of 1min 20.
472sec, was more than a second quicker than the next-best driver. This was reminiscent of Ayrton Senna at Donington in 1993, or Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone in 2008. It was that good.
Hamilton has a reputation as one of the best wet-weather drivers of all time, but the seven-time world champion had a truly chastening day, the sort that will have people asking whether Ferrari have signed a busted flush at 39. Hamilton’s best drive of the day was actually when he drove Ayrton Senna’s 1990 McLaren around the circuit to the delight of the huge crowds who adore him here. Hamilton crashed out of qualifying in Q1, labelling.
