LANDO NORRIS wrapped up a dream weekend for his title hopes by winning a dramatic, crash-strewn Brazilian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started in the pit lane with a fresh engine to bag a jaw-dropping third-place result behind Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, 19, who grabbed second – his best Grand Prix result ever.
Oscar Piastri had to settle for fifth after he was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for causing a crash between Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli on lap 7.
It means Norris is now 24 points ahead of second-place Piastri in the table after also winning Saturday’s sprint race to lay down a huge marker in the title race.
There was drama from the get-go as Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out of his home race on the first lap, while Leclerc followed suit after the crash with Antonelli.
It was a miserable race for Lewis Hamilton who retired on lap 40 of a nightmare race which saw him picking up early damage and slapped with a five-second time penalty.
The fuming seven-time world champion slammed the stewards as a “complete joke” when he was told of the news.
Norris got a good start and swatted Antonelli away while Leclerc remained in third and Piastri fended off Isack Hadjar.
Meanwhile it was a woeful start for Hamilton who dropped a whopping five places all the way down to 18th after tangling with Carlos Sainz.
And later on in the lap he ran into the back of Franco Colapinto on the main straight and damaged his front wing.
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Bortoleto, who was born down the road in Sao Paulo, crashed again after his sprint race smash, as he was squeezed by Lance Stroll and had nowhere to go apart from spinning into the wall.
An early safety car was called out on lap two as Hamilton pitted for a new front wing while Bortoleto’s car was still being cleared.
There was a wild restart on lap 7 behind Norris as Piastri dived down the inside of Antonelli and the two cars made contact.
The Mercedes collided into Leclerc who picked up huge damage and was sent off the track and wide with his tyre bouncing off like a polo.
He was left OUT of the race with his suspension completely broken, prompting a Virtual Safety Car.
Verstappen was up to 13th but fell right to the back again after picking up a puncture.
Amid the chaos Piastri zipped into second, but was soon slapped with a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision at the restart.
Hamilton’s afternoon was going from bad to worse with him saying on the team radio: “Mate, I’m going to crash out here. I’ll keep trying. The car is crazy unstable” before pitting.
The puncture seemed to be a blessing in disguise for Verstappen who was flying on the medium tyres and up into the top five by lap 21.
Hamilton was looking sluggish in 17th place and was then hit with the five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto in the opening lap.
Hamilton was left seething with the stewards after receiving another time penalty and fumed on his team radio: “These guys are a joke. A complete joke.”
Norris pitted but it didn’t take him long to cruise past Verstappen with his fresher tyres on the main straight.
On lap 39, Piastri served his penalty before rolling the dice and whacking on the soft tyres.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton’s race came to a miserable end as he retired in the Ferrari garage.
By lap 50 a flurry of pit stops for the Mercedes drivers meant Verstappen, who started from the pit lane was astonishingly in second and then was leading a lap later as Norris came in.
Red Bull weren’t taking any risks though and brought Verstappen into the pits for new tyres, which fired a rocket up his backside.
He swooped around the outside of his old foe George Russell, making it look easy with a flawless overtake for third.
Norris was well clear though and sailed off in the distance with another huge win under his belt as the rest squabbled behind him.
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