Verstappen wins in Brazil

Max Verstappen secured a comfortable victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix in an eventful race at Interlagos.

The three-time champion was joined on the podium by Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso, in a race that saw just 14 drivers make it to the chequered flag.

There was drama before the start of the race as Charles Leclerc lost hydraulics on the formation lap, sending his Ferrari into the wall.

He managed to get the car off the track to allow the race start to go ahead as planned, but his car had sustained too much damage for him to be able to get it back to the pits.

Heading into turn one on the opening lap, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon tripped over each other, ending both of their races and leaving debris scattered across the track.

Initially the safety car was deployed, but the amount of debris and damage to the barrier meant the race had to be red flagged.

Oscar Piastri also sustained damage, with Magnussen tagging the rear of his McLaren, while Daniel Ricciardo also needed repairs after his AlphaTauri was struck by a loose tyre.

McLaren and AlphaTauri had almost half an hour to work on the cars, with both Australian drivers able to take the restart, although their repairs meant they had to start from the pitlane.

Sergio Perez showed good pace on the restart, catching on passing both Mercedes drivers, before closing in on Fernando Alonso in third after the pitstops.

Norris initially tried to pressure Verstappen for the lead of the race, but after running closely for a couple of laps, the champion soon opened up a gap at the front of the field.

There was disappointment for Alfa Romeo midway through the race as Guanyu Zhou had to retire from a promising position with a technical issue, with Valtteri Bottas suffering the same fate a few laps later.

George Russell also found himself having to stop early as Mercedes asked him to retire the car, citing worsening oil temperature issues.

After a second round of pitstops, Alonso and Perez found themselves close on track again as the Mexican continued to try to push for the final spot on the podium.

On the penultimate lap of the race, Perez finally found a way to get past Alonso, but the two-time champion immediately fought hard to get the spot back, and powered past the Red Bull to secure third.

Provisional classification:

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

11. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

12. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

13. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)

14. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

DNF:

George Russell (Mercedes)

Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)

Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

Alex Albon (Williams)

DNS:

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)