The third last event of the 2023 Formula One season plays host to the very last Sprint of the year too. 

There was plenty of drama from the off. With only one Practice session, some teams were unable to get their eventual race setup right. Qualifying on Friday also threw up some surprises, including a shock second row lockout from the recent out-of-form Aston Martin.

Saturday was the Sprint Shootout, and there were surprises there too. Aston Martin, and through no fault on Alonso’s side of the garage, failed to make it out of SQ1. AlphaTauri, who qualified fairly low down for Sunday’s race, ended up with both cars making it through to SQ3. McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified on Sprint Pole. 

In the Sprint, Verstappen eventually got past Norris, though the McLaren driver was able to hang on to the rear of the Red Bull. He finished in P2, less than five seconds from the winning RB19. The sister Red Bull rounded off the podium. Ricciardo frustratingly failed to get past Sainz, making several late lunges into T1 with DRS, only to be re-passed on the back straight when the Ferrari driver himself got DRS.

With Sprint happenings out of the way, let’s cover the race narrative proper!

5. First Corner Chaos

The race was red flagged three laps in as a result of a collision on the first corner of the first lap. Haas’ Hulkenburg found himself in a three car sandwich, with his Danish teammate to his left and William’s Alex Albon on his right. Eventually, the three cars ran out of room, and the slightest contact was made between Hulkenberg and Albon.

This sent the Thai driver careening into the side of Kevin Magnussen, instantly forcing both drivers to retire. The impact also caused secondary damage to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo. Both teams used the red flag period to repair their cars, and the drivers were allowed to rejoin, albeit a lap down.

4. Mercedes Has no Straight-Line Speed

Mercedes were the slowest of the front-running teams at Brazil. The German team struggled with straight-line speed issues, which team members have attributed to a floor that didn’t suit the characteristics of the track.

To compensate, they have had to add a lot of downforce to the wings of the vehicle. This creates a ton of extra drag, meaning that they had no straight-line speed. With two long straights on this configuration, Russell and Hamilton both struggled to defend from the cars around them. Their weekend was made even more miserable, as Russell then had to retire with a cooling issue that may have damaged his power unit should he have pressed on.

3. Double Alfa Romeo Retirement

Locked in a battle for P8 in the constructor’s standings with AlphaTauri, a double DNF is just what the Swiss-Italian team didn’t need. This issue has been further compounded recently, with the new upgrades introduced by their competitors, and with an on-pace driver occupying the second AlphaTauri seat.

Unfortunately though, both Zhou and Bottas retired (in that order). No official explanation has been given by the team, though it is widely believed that the retirement was the result of a malfunctioning power unit. And they’d not be the only Ferrari-powered team with technical issues at this race too.

2. Leclerc Crashes on Formation Lap

That’s because even the works Ferrari was struggling with reliability. Leclerc dramatically crashed out of the race on the formation lap, in an incident that looked like pure driver error. He dramatically locked the rear axle, losing the backend and finding himself in the barriers.

It was later revealed on team radio that he lost the hydraulics, something that made sense seeing that he was struggling to turn the car moments before his off. A hydraulic failure may also end up not allowing the gearbox to shift properly, which explains the issues with the rear end lock up.

1. Alonso Steals Podium From Perez

After abandoning most of their mid-season upgrades, Aston Martin refound some of their early season pace. Alonso was consistently the quickest driver that wasn’t Max Verstappen or Lando Norris. Perez chased down the Spaniard in the closing phases of the Grand Prix, methodically closing the gap and attempting to make multiple overtakes as the laps went on. 

The Mexican eventually found a way past the Spaniard, seeming making arrears for his mistake at his home race. However, Alonso, being Alonso, spotted an opportunity for a repass on the very last lap, and eventually holding off an RB19 with DRS in a straight drag race on the start finish straight. He finished just 0.053 seconds in front of the Red Bull.

F1 Heads to Las Vegas Next

The glitz and the glamour of Las Vegas awaits the Formula One circus. With Mercedes lacking form in recent races, Perez’s P2 seems to be more solidified. He how has a 32 point lead over Hamilton, and it’d be a tall order to close that gap down in just two events.

Norris is now fifth in the standings, just three points behind fourth-placed Alonso and 3 points ahead of Sainz. Tsunoda’s points in Brazil closes AlphaTauri’s gap to seventh-placed Williams; the gap is now just seven points.

The next race will be held on 16th to the 18th of November, with FP1 being held on a Thursday and the race itself being held on a Saturday.

Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Haas, Planet F1, Aston Martin

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