Verstappen recovers from 21st to second in São Paulo Grand Prix

Max Verstappen recovered from 21st on the grid to finish second behind Lando Norris in the São Paulo Grand Prix, securing a Brazil podium from the back of the grid or pit lane for a third successive year.

Verstappen ended the opening lap in 13th and gained 14 positions over the first five laps in wet conditions on intermediate tyres.

He passed Lewis Hamilton on lap three as the Ferrari driver struggled with graining, then reached second by the switch to slick tyres around lap 15.

“Then I was slow off the line, and that was my mistake. But then I just got a bit unlucky in the first three corners, where it was just like a traffic jam,” Red Bull driver Verstappen said.

“But as soon as I switched to the slicks, I had an extreme amount of oversteer in the car in the high-speed corners, which made it super difficult to drive,” Verstappen said.

“So, we need to understand if something broke on the car, some kind of aero loss or whatever, because this was not normal,” Verstappen said.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the power unit-related grid penalty followed a problem earlier in the weekend. “We took the first penalty with Max this weekend... It was not planned. We had a small issue on Friday that forced us to do so, but it is what it is,” he said.

Red Bull developed its new power unit in partnership with Ford, with Mekies noting that it was the team's first year with the unit.

Verstappen won in Brazil from 17th on the grid in 2024 and finished third after a pit-lane start the following year.