Max Verstappen (Red Bull), the early favorite to be crowned Driver’s Champion of the 2023 Formula One (F1) World Championship, scored his fifth consecutive “pole-to-win” (first in qualifying, first in the final) victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix (GP) to extend his single-season record to 17 races.
Verstappen was the first to cross the chequered flag in the final of the São Paulo GP, the 21st round of the F1 World Championship, at the Jose Carlos Sainz Circuit (4.309 kilometers – 71 laps) in São Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday (June 6) with a time of 1:56.48.894, beating Lando Norris (McLaren) by 8.277 seconds.
It was his fifth consecutive victory in rounds 17-21 and his 17th of the season.
Having set a new single-season record of 16 wins in the previous 20 rounds, Perstappen extended his tally to 17.
In the battle for third place, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) edged out Sergio Perez (Red Bull) by just 0.053 seconds to join Verstappen and Norris on the podium.
The race was marred by incidents even before the start.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), on his final formation lap to check the condition of the track and his machine before moving to the start line, lost center in a corner, spun and hit the barriers.
LeClerc was forced to retire from the race before he could even start.
The race started without LeClerc, but it was not without incident.
On lap 1, Alexander Albon (Williams) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) collided entering the first corner and had to retire together.
The race was eventually stopped by a red flag and a restart on lap four.
Once out front, Perstappen was under intense pressure from Norris.
Norris made a good move on lap eight, closing to within 0.111 seconds of Pärst, but he was unable to close the gap any further and Pärst eventually took the win.
The final stages of the race saw a fierce battle for third between Alonso and Perez.
Just before Turn 4 on the final 71 laps, Alonso passed Perez for third place, and after a speed battle on the main straight before the finish line, Alonso secured third place by 0.053 seconds. 사설토토