F1 Takeaways: Verstappen ends his drought with masterclass in rainy Brazil

A pivotal opportunity for Lando Norris to cut into Max Verstappen's championship lead went in the opposite direction.

Verstappen delivered a sublime drive Sunday racing in the rain from P17 to victory lane amid a chaotic São Paulo Grand Prix that saw multiple red flags, an aborted start and safety cars, both virtual and actual, throughout the weekend.

The wet and rainy race erased Verstappen's 10-GP victory drought. The Red Bull driver picked up his eighth GP win of the season and first since Spain in June. While GP wins have been elusive lately, Verstappen finished on the podium four times and won a pair of sprints during that stretch to maintain his quest for a fourth consecutive drivers' championship.

Norris had been chipping away with the gap down to 44 points entering Sunday. The McLaren driver scored the victory during Saturday's sprint race while Verstappen finished third, but dropped to fourth due to a virtual safety car penalty.

It seemed like Verstappen was unlucky again during the morning qualifying session as a red flag in Q2 wiped out his chance of advancing to the final session and starting in the top 10. The Dutch driver was only the 12th fastest to miss the cut and slotted 17th on the starting grid due to a five-place engine penalty.

A golden opportunity presented itself for the papaya-coloured McLaren with Norris qualifying on pole position. Instead, Verstappen scored maximum points on the day.

It went wrong for Norris out of the gate, as has been a recurring theme, as he once again lost the lead heading into the first turn on the opening lap. Although Norris had a decent launch, Mercedes driver George Russell, who started beside him on the front row, made it down the straight and into the corner quicker to pip P1 from his British compatriot.

As that was occurring, Verstappen's Red Bull charged through the field and was already up into the points-paying positions by the second lap when he passed Lewis Hamilton for 10th place.

Where it really went wrong for Norris and Russell though was when McLaren and Mercedes decided to pit their drivers on Lap 28 just as a virtual safety car period was coming to an end. Instead of getting a "cheap" pit stop with a field at a crawl, it was full speed ahead (or at least as fast as they could considering the conditions) and the pair dropped places.

What made it even worse was when the red flag came out just a few laps later when Franco Colapinto crashed out to bring the race to a halt. That allowed Verstappen, who was now in second sandwiched between the Alpine cars of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, to change for a fresher set of tires with everyone parked in the pit lane.

Both Alpines also took advantage of the free pit stop and while they were no match for Verstappen, who took the lead on the ensuing restart, they held on for second and third place.

That gave the Enstone, U.K., team its first double-podium finish since the 2013 South Korean Grand Prix where Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean finished second and third, respectively.

If you believe in coincidences and history repeating itself, check this out. The winner of that race was also a Red Bull. Sebastian Vettel took the victory during a season where he captured his fourth consecutive drivers' championship. Perhaps another sign of things to come?

Verstappen won by over 19 seconds and to top it off, the Dutch driver also earned the fastest lap bonus point. Vintage Verstappen, if you will.

The Art of Racing in the Rain is already a novel and a film (from the perspective of a dog, no really) but perhaps a textbook chapter could be made on Verstappen's performance.

Norris finished sixth as he slid off the track after the restart but recovered a bit thanks to "papaya rules" and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri letting him pass.

Verstappen now holds a 62-point advantage in the standings over Norris with just three GPs and a sprint left on the schedule. If Norris had a slim shot of overtaking Verstappen before, the rain may have just washed it away.

MIC DROP MOMENT
The return to victory lane for Verstappen was also the return of his catchphrase as he said on the team radio: "You know what that is? Simply lovely."

MAXIMUM EFFORT FOR ALPINE
Alpine has 50 million reasons to celebrate the double-podium finish as the team soared from ninth to sixth in the constructors' championship.

That's where the real money is in F1 and could lead to an extra $50 million windfall should the team that was in a slump to start the season manage to stay put in the standings.

Or maybe some of part-owner Ryan Reynolds's charm that has worked for Wrexham is finally trickling over to Alpine.

PIT STOPS
• The good news for McLaren is the team scored double points with Norris in sixth and Piastri finishing eighth. That was good enough for McLaren it extend its lead in the constructors' championship over Ferrari while Red Bull remains in third but closed the gap. Norris is also lucky he escaped with only a fine for his aborted start infringement as a harsher penalty could have impacted the championships.

• Honourary Brazillian citizen Hamilton got to take a spin in the legendary McLaren MP4/5B car of the late, great Ayrton Senna after qualifying.

“It is the greatest honour of my career to do it in front of this amazing crowd in Brazil,” Hamilton said. Strong words from a seven-time world champion.

Perhaps he should have kept the car for the race. Hamilton struggled with the bumpy conditions due to a track resurfacing as his car bounced all over the Interlagos circuit all weekend. After qualifying 16th and starting 14th, Hamilton also struggled for grip and locked up on multiple occasions but held on for a 10th-place finish to score one point.

Mercedes teammate Russell didn't appear to have as much trouble finishing fourth and could have landed on the podium if not for his team's strategy.

• Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso also struggled with the bumpy conditions as he finished 14th — second-last to cross the line. You could hear the pain in Alonso's voice as he said over the team radio that he'd finish the race for the mechanics, but his back was hurting. Race organizers should ensure the track is smoother next season.

• It was a fine race for RB as Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson finished seventh and ninth, respectively, for the team's first double-points finish of the season. Tsunoda qualified third and maintained position through the opening stretch until his pit stop before the red flag sent him down. Still, that's better than Sergio Perez on the main Red Bull team, who finished out of the points again in 11th. After a horrible weekend in Mexico City as well, Red Bull's "difficult decision" regarding Perez's future might not be so difficult.