F1 | 2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result, Sprint Race Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary

It’s a double-triple as the third race of the American Triple Header comes to an end with a  Saturday sprint race and Sunday main race won by Max Verstappen.  To cover both races and so much more is our 2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result Summary which covers both races and anything else of interest.

This 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time. And you get it for both the main race on Sunday and the Sprint Race on Saturday. So read on.

READ MORE:

2023 Brazil Grand Prix Preview
2023 Mexican Grand Prix Review
2023 Mexican Grand Prix Ratings and Driver of the Year
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results

2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result Sprint Race Summary

Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.

Setting the scene – The final sprint race of the season is here, and let’s hope it is a good one, because they have been pretty dull and a waste of time to a degree. In good news for mixing it up Lando Norris took the sprint race pole from Max Verstappen, and it looked as if the top ten looks genuinely compeditive. The other big talking point of the session was the accident between Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. Both appear to have made the start.

STARTING ORDER – NOR VER PER RUS HAM TSU LEC RIC SAI PIA

Lap 1 – Lando Norris is beaten off the line and into the first corner by Max Verstappen who takes his customary position. The cars behave themselves in the first corners – the dipping Senna S – and no accidents ensue. Lewis Hamilton gets past Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri runs wide at turn four. A little later around the first lap George Russell further demotes Lando Norris.

SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED

ORDER – VER RUS NOR HAM PER LEC TSU SAI RIC PIA

Lap 4 – Sergio Perez sails past Lewis Hamilton into the first corner like the Mercedes was standing still thanks to a good car and DRS. The latter helped Lewis Hamilton almost take the position back at the same place as the first lap, but then Charles Leclerc has sights on taking Lewis Hamilton is a nice three-way battle. This could be interesting with a train of cars behind.

Lap 5 – Lando Norris uses DRS to take back second place from George Russell. Max Verstappen and a first win isn’t too far up the road (1.5 seconds)

Lap 8 – Must be something wrong with the Mercedes race pace as Sergio Perez breezes past George Russell into the first corner, but Russell re-takes it a few corners later. But Lewis Hamilton has dropped to over two seconds behind Sergio Perez. Two laps later Perez overtakes Russell again and keeps the place.

ORDER – VER NOR PER RUS HAM LEC TSU SAI RIC PIA

Lap 11 – Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz swap positions then swap position again. Alonso battle Pierre Gasly for 11th in the same train of cars. Oscar Piastri is in the middle waiting for scraps.

Lap 15 – Ricciardo and Sainz repeat the dose as Riccairdo gets past into turn one and Sainz re-takes into turn four. Only problem this time for the Australian is his fellow Aussie steals his position halfway around the lap. The cheek of it. Behind that Alonso appears to have won his battle with Gasly.

ORDER – VER NOR PER RUS HAM LEC TSU SAI PIA RIC

Lap 16 – Away from trains and DRS, Lando Norris is catching Max Verstappen by a few tenths of a second a lap. Eight laps to go and 1.7 seconds the gap. Maths works out to excitement, but Max probably has something in the bag, and is just teasing Lando a bit. Maybe, but by lap 19 the gap is 2.4 seconds and race over.

Lap 21– Charles Leclerc takes fifth off Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda almost doubles the pain. Mercedes race pace isn’t good, which is a shame for the real race and those looking for a genuine challenge to the Red Bulls. Tsunoda does eventually get past Hamilton for 6th. And in more good Alpha Tauri news Daniel Ricciardo retakes his 9th position off Oscar Piastri. Pity 9th doesn’t score sprint race points.

Final Lap – Max Verstappen does it easy out front after taking the lead at the first corner of the race. Another no cigar for Norris who has to take comfort with second place, again. A little joy for Sergio Perez with third, but he is a full nine seconds behind Norris at the chequered flag. Promising signs for tomorrow’s racing as the upper midfield has a decent amount of overtaking. But as for sprint races themselves after the sixth of six for the season, we say they are a waste of time.

ORDER -VER NOR PER RUS LEC TSU HAM SAI RIC PIA

2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary

Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.

Setting the scene – You almost forget the grid for the race as it was set on Friday, but Verstappen on pole shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Charles Leclerc is also becoming less surprising as Verstappen’s closer challenger with second on the grid. The two Aston Martins do well to secure the second row of the grid, with Lance Stroll an eyebrow raising third ahead of Fernando Alonso. Further back Sergio Perez does his chances of handing his Red Bull driver to someone else no harm by qualifying ninth. And the usual suspects make up the rest of the top ten. 

Raceday is dry and full of excited fans, and a classic race awaits.

GRID (Starting Order) – VER LEC STR ALO HAM NOR SAI RUS PER PIA

Formation Lap – Charles Leclerc is into the barriers!!! The Ferrari driver has spun off in the midfield section of the lap into the barriers and he is out. It was a hydraulic failure that caused his wheels to lock and spin off, he confirmed in a post race interview. Bad news for him, the Ferrari is out before the race has started.

Lap 1 – Pole sitter Max Verstappen enjoys the extra room and zooms off into the distance and an easy lead into the first corner. Talking of zooming, Lando Norris rockets from sixth on the grid to take second into the first corner. The highly placed Aston Martin have a shocker off the line. But before those two leading cars have made it around the first corner there is bits of car flying and a few cars spinning into the wall.

Alex Albon gets squeezed as he approaches the first corner and is tagged on the back left by a Haas which then coincidentally spins him into the side of another Haas at pace, and both he and Magnussen fly into the barriers. Replays show that it was actually Magnussen and Albon who squeezed Nico Hulkenberg who then tipped Albon into Magnussen and those two ended up in the barriers. Replays also show that both Australian drivers were hit in the rear wing by cars/loose tyres. Both Piastri and Ricciardo’s teams are racing the clock under the red flag to get their cars back into the race.

The Safety Car is called before the cars have gone more than a few more corners.

ORDER – VER NOR HAM ALO STR RUS PER SAI OCO TSU

SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED then RED FLAG – RACE STOPPED

After a long, half-hour break the race is set to resume. Looks like car affected by the first corner shenanigans are going to make the restart – Piastri, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. The race will restart from a standing start after a casual formation lap. Wonder if a standing start is a good idea. Piastri and Ricciardo are a lap down for the record, having pit for repairs instead of following the safety car’s extra lap.

Lap 4 Restart- Max Verstappen makes no mistake from pole position and the field look like they tippy-toe through the first corners. Fernando Alonso isn’t dying wondering and overtakes Lewis Hamilton into turn four. Lance Stroll has another poor start and ends up 7th by the end of the first lap.

ORDER – VER NOR ALO HAM RUS PER STR SAI GAS OCO

Lap 6- Lando Norris sets fastest lap and sets about annoying Max Verstappen in front. He is within a second and really pressuring him. They are already 2.5 seconds ahead of Alonso in third.

Lap 8 – Lando Norris has a look into the first corner at Verstappen, then tries down the back straight and gets very close. We might actually have a genuine battle for the lead today. Na, a few laps later Verstappen has woken up and is two seconds up the road. Shame. There’s always the pit stops we guess.

Lap 10 – A bit of a train is forming behind Lewis Hamilton in fourth, with a bunch of cars well under a second of each other down to Esteban Ocon in 9th. This could get in interesting as frustration grows.

Lap 14 – Sergio Perez overtakes George Russell for fifth into the first corner, then just holds on as George Russell gets the reply of DRS down the back straight. It has ramifications for the battle for second in the Championship, with Hamilton now the next car ahead of Sergio Perez. But who really cares about second in the Championship at this stage. Unless it links to whether Perez keeps his seat or not. Which is very interesting.

Lap 18 – Sergio Perez seems to really care about that second place in the Championship and his Red Bull drive as he overtakes Lewis Hamilton in a neat move. As if almost in shame, Lewis Hamilton pits at the end of the lap for new tyres. And after spending a lot of time complaining about his team mate on the radio, George Russell pits the next lap. They drop to 10th and 11th.

ORDER – VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI GAS TSU HUL HAM

Lap 21 – Sergio Perez pits for new tyres too, but comes out in between the Mercedes, ruining half of his best work from before the stop. It only takes a few laps, but Sergio Perez gets by Hamilton on lap 23 in similar fashion to his pre pit stop moves.

Lap 26 – Fernando Alonso pits from third, as strategy becomes to focal point of the race. He comes out sixth and four seconds in front of Perez. Other top ten cars pit including Sainz and Tsunoda who come close to tangling in the pitlane as one stop and one leaves their stop. Could be unsafe release?

Lap 28 – The top two pit for new tyres on the same lap. They were 3.7 seconds apart when they pit, and a lap after the stops were 4.8 seconds apart. Well, that’s done and dusted then.

ORDER – VER NOR ALO PER STR HAM RUS SAI OCO BOT

Lap 31 – George Russell is all over the back of his team mate Lewis Hamilton and looking to get by, if he is allowed. Russell was quite feisty to his team mate earlier in the race, so probably doesn’t want to spend his race staring at the rear end of his team mate. Hamilton too was on the radio earlier advising of a problem with the car’s steering. Carlos Sainz is closing on both of them too.

Lap 35 – Carlos Sainz overtakes George Russell for 7th. Which should make the Mercedes driver happy. Double misery for Mercedes a few laps later as Hamilton loses 6th to Sainz down the back straight.

Lap 36 – In the Battle of Down Under – which refers to both the nationality of the two drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri and the fact they are dead last and re-started a lap behind – Ricciardo leads Piastri by less than a second now after the Alpha Tauri had been comfortably ahead for most of the race.

ORDER – VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI HAM RUS GAS TSU

Lap 41 – Valtteri Bottas retires his Alfa Romeo, joining his team mate who did the same earlier in the race. Not a great race.

Lap 43 – Pierre Gasly gets past George Russell easily into the first corner for 8th. The Mercedes really stink at the moment. He pits a few laps later, becoming the first top ten driver to do so. Hamilton, Perez and Gasly all join in the new tyre craze a lap later.

Lap 48 – Freshly tyred Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton make some moves on cars with older tyres ahead. Talking of Perez, Alonso responds to Perez’s pit stop and does so himself, staying ahead of the Red Bull by three seconds.

Lap 54 – Sergio Perez is closing in on Fernando Alonso for third, and likely to be the last major battle of the race to be decided. He sets fastest lap on lap 55 to get within DRS. Lap 59 and despite more DRS Alonso stays in front. Lap 63 and Perez is still fourth. Same on lap 67. Alonso is doing so well.

Lap 57 – Max Verstappen stops for tyres and leaves Lando Norris in the lead for a bit, which is nice of him. It lasts until lap 60 when Norris pits himself.

Lap 63 – Lando Norris’ McLaren comes alive with fastest laps on the new tyres, which is good enough to get on the TV Screens for what seems like the first time today. Norris has cut the lead from over ten seconds to eight by lap 66, but it won’t be enough to annoy Max Verstappen too much.

Lap 70 – Sergio Perez finally gets by Fernando Alonso for the final podium going into the first corner and hangs onto that as Alosno gets his DRS down the back straight.

Last lap – Max Verstappen crosses the line to win the Brazilian Grand Prix but the action is behind him. Fernando Alonso challenges Perez into the first corner and Perez runs a little wide leaving him vulnerable to Alonso with DRS down the back straight and the Aston Martin nails the Red Bull going into turn four. But it’s not over yet, Perez will have DRS for the final sweeping straight and the Red Bull is right on the tail of Alonso, pulls out of the slip stream and Alonso hangs on by 0.053 seconds. Lando Norris finished second by the way in between. 

FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI GAS HAM TSU OCO

Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).

These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.

THE GREAT-EST – FERNANDO ALONSO

A welcome return to form for Alonso. Qualified fourth for the main race. Made some nice early moves in the race and was in the top three for most of the race. His defence of third against Perez was quite heroic and he deserved the podium.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

LANDO NORRIS – A race win is surely coming soon. Maybe all he needs is a little more luck and a Max Verstappen DNF. A sprint race pole, a good sprint race result, followed up by second in the proper race after climbing from sixth to second at the start. All good stuff, but a win remains elusive for now. 

MAX VERSTAPPEN – Another win from pole position to go with a sprint win on the Saturday. But time to give best of the weekend to someone else.

LANCE STROLL – A solid fifth result on race day and very good third on the grid in qualifying despite fluffing both starts. Still looks like he’d rather be elsewhere though.

THE GRAPE-EST – ALEX ALBON  / KEVIN MAGNUSSEN

Wiped out in the first corner mayhem, which they actually caused themselves by squeezing Nico Hulkenberg who then hit Albon, who then hit Magnussen. Not sure how they would have featured in the main race, probably scrapping for a point or 13th, but we’ll never know now.

DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS

OSCAR PIASTRI / DANIEL RICCIARDO – Both innocent victims of the opening  accidents. Both breaking rear wings. Piastri hit by a car and Ricciardo hit by a flying tyre. At least it wasn’t a full wheel we guess. But because both cars stopped in the pits for repairs and didn’t do the second lap behind the safety car, they ended up a lap behind in the restart making their days a complete waste of time except for testing.

ALFA ROMEO – Another anonymous race broken up by the fact they both retired.

MERCEDES – After George Russell’s maiden win here last season, Mercedes probably liked their chances of being a dark horse here for the win again. Instead, they moaned their way to lower top ten finishes and looked ordinary.

SERGIO PEREZ – Some may say we are harsh, considering he climbed from 9th to 4th in the race, but he shouldn’t be qualifying his car ninth. He should have kept third after overtaking Alonso on the second last lap but couldn’t hold on. He shouldn’t be winning Driver of the Day awards for recovery drives. He should be qualifying second at a minimum and challenging for wins of actual races. He’s in one of the best cars in F1 history.

Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?

We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.

Note: this is for the combined races.

SEASON IMPORTANCE – 4 / 10

If further record-breaking win and second place in the Championship is your thing, then it was sort of important. For Perez’s second place in the Championship and keeping his seat for next year it was a good result with Hamilton falling further behind in the Championship with just two races to go.

ON TRACK ACTION – 9 / 10

First corner clash box checked. A car retiring before the race started was an additional bonus, and a shame it was a Ferrari and not a Red Bull. Loads of overtaking throughout the race and battle down the field except for first and second really. A classic old track made for overtaking though.

ENDING 5 / 10

It scored a 2/10 before the very last lap as Fernando Alonso retook his podium spot from Sergio Perez.

OVERALL RATING 18 / 30

It’s a good track for overtaking, and the last lap was entertaining. So not a bad grand prix for those making the effort to get up at 3am in some parts of the world. Sadly one of those parts is Australia, and it was a bad race for Australian fans.

2023 F1 Season Power Rankings

Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.

Who not check out last race which includes the season ratings so far: Mexican Grand Prix and 2023 Driver Ratings.