The Formula One Gods Have Spoken
A late recap of the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix.
A lot has happened in the world between the last Formula One race in São Paulo and the upcoming one later tonight in Las Vegas.
That was the reason for publishing this recap of the São Paulo Grand Prix so late. While Omakase Formula won’t be devoting time to talk about politics, it felt unwise to wave a Formula One recap in everyone’s faces while there were more important issues to think about and discuss.
But the world continues move on, and tonight’s race in Vegas meant this recap had to be published. That’s in large part because the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos was incredibly consequential.
In racing, rain is often considered the great equalizer. Cars don’t work the way they’re supposed to, meaning drivers become even more important. And even then, the chaos that rain brings means even the best drivers are rendered helpless if the rain breaks against them.
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, the site of the São Paulo Grand Prix, is colloquially referred to as Interlagos (the neighborhood of São Paulo the track is located in). Interlagos translates to “between lakes,” so it’s fitting that fate chose this race of all races to turn a Formula One track into a lake.
And what did we get out of it? Just two drivers failing to start the race, an aborted start, two retirements, multiple safety car deployments, one red flag, one disqualification, a shocking overperformance from one of this season’s underperformers, and one of the most memorable winning drives in years.
In case it wasn’t obvious, it was by far the race of the season. And the results of the race spoke volumes: the Formula One gods have spoken.
Here’s what they had to say about this year’s championships:
Verstappen puts in the drive of the season to all but end the Drivers’ Championship.
Max Verstappen: 1st (Qualified 17th)
Sergio Perez: 11th (Qualified 12th)
Yes, you read that correctly. That is a 17 written next to where Verstappen qualified.
In many ways, the performance was one you had to see to believe. On a day where almost everyone struggled, Verstappen roared his way to the top without seemingly breaking a sweat. He started the race by making up eleven places through lap 12 and ended the race by setting the fastest lap—seventeen times (fitting!). It’s not the first time Verstappen has put in an incredible drive in wet conditions. It’s not even the first time he had an incredible drive in the rain in Brazil (see the 2016 race). But this drive, coming at a crucial juncture in the championship race, is surely the greatest victory Verstappen’s had so far in his already illustrious career. I would even go so far as to say I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re still calling it the greatest drive of his career when he does retire. It’s a drive that’s pretty hard to top, even for an all-time great like Verstappen.
Speaking of all-time greats: I haven’t been shy about saying Verstappen is an all-time great of the sport. Even at the start of the season I would argue it wouldn’t have been unreasonable if you ranked him in the all-time top 5 (though I would balk if you placed him higher than fifth). Now, however, with the Drivers’ Championship lead at 62 points with a maximum of 86 points left, Verstappen has all but locked up a fourth title—and a place in the all-time Top 5. Sure, nothing’s official yet. But even in the extraordinary instance where he doesn’t win the title this year, it’s hard to imagine him never winning another championship.
I will, however, still balk if you placed Verstappen higher than fifth on the all-time list. But he’s got plenty of time to change that.
When chaos reigns, expect to find…Alpine?
Esteban Ocon: 2nd (Qualified 4th)
Pierre Gasly: 3rd (Qualified 13th)
If you’re looking for the biggest shock of this race, look no further. And I say this knowing full well the race winner started from 17th on the grid.
Verstappen winning may have been shocking, but it also fit within the realm of possibility. A driver of his caliber driving a car that is undoubtedly still one of the better cars on the grid meant it would have been more shocking had Verstappen not finished the race in the points.
Both Gasly and Ocon are solid mainstays of the Formula One grid, but neither are anywhere near Verstappen-level in terms of skill. And the tractor Alpine has been competing with for large portions of this season is certainly no Red Bull. This result, then, seemingly doesn’t fit within the realm of possibility.
So how did Alpine pull it off? Part of it has to do with great drives from both Gasly and Ocon. Part of it has to do with sheer luck: not pitting before the red flag on lap 32 meant they got a free pit stop while the race was effectively paused (the racing regulations permit you to change tires during a red flag). Alpine, of course, won’t complain. This result vaulted them all the way up to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship while making the battle for that place a three-way race between them, Haas, and RB. And should Alpine hold on, they’ll receive a prize money payout $50 million greater than what they would have received had they finished in ninth.
Whether or not they will hold on, though, is another story. The pace they showed in dry conditions at Interlagos was decent, but not phenomenal. And while this result is exactly what the team needed to re-energize themselves for the final stretch of races, extra motivation won’t be enough if their car doesn’t have the pace necessary to consistently stay competitive. No matter where they finish though, this shock result adds yet another layer of excitement into a season already filled with plenty of fireworks and storylines.
Another quietly disappointing day at the office for Mercedes.
George Russell: 4th (Qualified 2nd)
Lewis Hamilton: 10th (Qualified 14th)
On paper, this doesn’t seem like that bad of a result for Mercedes. But in many ways this race could have gone much better for them. Russell led for parts of the race, but the decision to bring him in under the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) on lap 28 before the red flag ultimately killed any chance of a podium finish. Russell, who disagreed with the decision from the pit wall and had begged to stay out, was understandably furious both during and after the race.
As for Hamilton, a finish in the points won’t mask what was a very tough weekend for him. Speaking to the crowd post-qualifying after driving the late Ayrton Senna’s championship-winning 1990 McLaren to mark 30 years since the Brazilian legend’s passing, he cheekily said his commemorative lap was “the best drive of the whole weekend!” The race that followed, during which he had a few dicey moments on track, did not change that assessment.
Ferrari suffer a championship setback.
Charles Leclerc: 5th (Qualified 6th)
Carlos Sainz: DNF (Pit lane start)
In the fight for the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari probably came away from Brazil as the biggest losers. Sure, Leclerc finished ahead of both McLarens. But the fact both McLarens finished in the points and Verstappen was the victor meant Ferrari needed a strong finish from Leclerc once Sainz crashed out of the race. Leclerc finishing fifth was solid, but not strong enough. As a result, Ferrari left Brazil having dropped points to both McLaren and Red Bull. They’re still second in the championship, but losing ground to both main rivals will hurt given they were by far the strongest of the three frontrunners in Austin and CDMX. Las Vegas should be a strong track for them, but with only three races left the window is slowly closing on them to make up the 36 point gap they currently have to McLaren. And with Red Bull only 13 points behind them in third place thanks to Verstappen’s heroics, there’s also the chance that any slip-up could see them fall back to third.
McLaren start with the right kind of bang and end with the wrong kind of bang.
Lando Norris: 6th (Qualified 1st)
Oscar Piastri: 8th (Qualified 8th)
I’m going to start of this section of the recap by doing something I will rarely ever do: talk about a sprint race.
McLaren’s race weekend started off with a 1-2 finish in the sprint, a result that both turned out to be wildly off the mark for how their actual race would go and also saved their race weekend. In McLaren’s defense, the sprint came under dry conditions, so the wet conditions of qualifying and race day meant expecting another 1-2 would have been foolish. Both McLarens also suffered from issues under braking in the rain, something which hurt Piastri in qualifying and Norris during the race.
I’m now also going to do something I’ve rarely done this season: defend McLaren’s strategy.
McLaren’s decision to pit Norris under the VSC seems on the surface like another botched call in a season of botched calls. And while this immediate reaction from both pundits and fans is a result of the reputation the team has built up for itself over the course of the season, applying it to this specific instance is unfair. Unlike the situation between Russell and Mercedes, Norris and the McLaren pit wall were in agreement over coming into the pits under the VSC. Arguing that they should’ve stayed out in hopes of a red flag is only easy to do because hindsight is 20/20—there was a red flag. Had there not been a red flag, coming in under the VSC would have instead seemed like a great move. And even if the argument is that it seemed likely there would be a red flag, the counterargument is that in those conditions there was a nonzero chance that Norris himself would’ve been the cause of the red flag. In that case, retiring because you didn’t pit under the VSC in the hopes of a red flag would’ve been viewed as idiotic. Overall, choosing to pit was the right call given the information McLaren had readily available to them at that time. That it didn’t work out was down to bad luck. That’s just how racing is.
The Drivers’ Championship might well be effectively over after Interlagos, and I’ll discuss why Norris deserves more credit and has gotten an unfair share of hate once the season’s over. For now, though, McLaren still have the Constructors’ Championship to play for. Las Vegas might not be a track that suits their car’s setup, but given that the last two races of the calendar in Qatar and Abu Dhabi play to their strengths they are still slight favorites to win the team trophy at the end of the season.
RB finally wake up.
Yuki Tsunoda: 7th (Qualified 3rd)
Liam Lawson: 9th (Qualified 5th)
After a few horrendous races, RB finally came away from a race weekend with a decent haul of points. For Tsunoda, this solid race weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. His 7th place finish meant he scored points for the first time since Hungary back in the summer. With the possibility of a promotion to Red Bull looming, he desperately needed a solid race after a series of disappointments (he finished no higher than 12th the last seven races and retired three times). With his younger and more inexperienced teammate getting all the plaudits and attention, Interlagos served as a timely reminder for RB that Tsunoda still has what it takes to be their main driver. It also serves as a timely reminder for Red Bull that he should also be in the conversation if Perez does get replaced.
The double points finish also couldn’t have come at a better time for RB’s team championship hopes. Alpine’s surprise 2-3 finish meant scoring points was paramount to keep the race for 6th place in the Constructors’ Championship tight, and Haas’s failure to score any points meant the double points finish by RB closed the gap to Haas down to two points. With the season winding down to a close, RB desperately needed to wake up. At Interlagos, they finally did just that.
Haas add an unwanted achievement to a season of accomplishments.
Ollie Bearman: 12th (Qualified 15th(
Nico Hulkenberg: DSQ (Qualified 18th)
Haas’s race weekend got off to an undesirable start, with Bearman being called in to replace an ill Magnussen. It ended even worse, with the team failing to score points and Hulkenberg becoming the first driver to be disqualified from a race since Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix after he was helped back onto the track by race marshals when he spun out on lap 27. Such an achievement won’t be one that Haas (or anyone in Formula One for that matter) would have wanted, and they’ll certainly rue the fact it came on a weekend where the battle for sixth in the team championship unexpectedly tightened even further. But this is a team that has outperformed everyone’s expectations throughout the season, and the positive spin for Haas is that they’re still in the hunt for sixth even after such a dreary race weekend.
Rain washes away Aston Martin’s race weekend.
Fernando Alonso: 14th (Qualified 9th)
Lance Stroll: DNS (Qualified 10th)
I’ve talked at length about Aston Martin’s underwhelming performances these last few races, but this race was undoubtedly a new low.
Alonso’s race was marked by his car experiencing such severe bumping he ended the race complaining on the radio of back pain. While Alonso seemed to believe the issue was with the track, such an assumption is odd given Interlagos had been resurfaced before this year’s race—and that’s before you remember the track itself was basically a lake for all of Sunday. If it was truly an issue with the track itself and not the car, Alonso’s complaints serve as a reminder of the downside to putting your faith in a 43-year old, even if it’s one as legendary as Alonso.
The impact of such instances, of course, would be dampened if the team’s other driver stepped up. But while Alonso had a bad race, Stroll had no race at all. He spun out and beached the car in a gravel trap on the formation lap, meaning his race was over before it had even begun.
And somehow, despite everything, Aston Martin didn’t have the worst weekend of any team.
PAIN summarizes the race weekend for Williams. Yes, all caps is necessary.
Franco Colapinto: DNF (Qualified 16th)
Alex Albon: DNS (Qualified 7th)
You have to feel for Williams.
Qualifying was already bad enough for them when Albon crashed out after putting together a stunning first lap in the final qualifying session. The damage was so extensive that he was ruled out of the race despite his lap having qualified him seventh on the grid. With only one car heading into the race, things somehow got worse, as Colapinto’s huge crash on lap 32 meant Williams ended the race with zero points, zero finishes, and two totaled cars. In a season already marred with multiple crashes and rebuilds, the need to rebuild both cars was another heartbreaking setback for the team. That Alpine overperformed and left Williams to effectively languish in ninth in the team championship for the rest of the season only added more salt to the wound.
The bright side for Williams: it does look unlikely they’ll finish any worse than ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, because…
Yes, Sauber still exist.
Valterri Bottas: 13th (Qualified 11th)
Zhou Guanyu: 15th (Qualified 19th)
No, they still haven’t scored any points this season.
Miscellaneous Musings:
Temperature is a huge factor in races held in the desert. That’s true for the race in Vegas—but not for the reason you think. The Las Vegas Grand Prix being a night race means low temperatures—rather than high—are the massive problem. Formula One tires need heat in order to gain traction, and the cold air temperature makes warming the tires up incredibly difficult. Drivers and teams being able to mitigate that issue could very well be what ends up making the difference in the race.