- North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile salvo ahead of US election
- Taiwan couple charged with trying to influence elections for China
- Indonesian President Prabowo to visit China this week
- Critically endangered Sumatran elephant calf born in Indonesia
- The marble 'living Buddhas' trapped by Myanmar's civil war
- How East Germany's 'traffic light man' became a beloved icon
- Japan expresses concern to China over Russia-North Korea ties
- Asian markets swing ahead of toss-up US election
- Palau polls open as pro-US president faces election test
- 'Panic buttons,' SWAT teams: US braces for election unrest
- Hundreds of UK police sacked for misconduct
- Harris, Trump fight through final campaign hours
- Top-ranked Nelly Korda wins LPGA Player of Year award
- Israel accuses Turkey of 'malice' over UN arms embargo call
- Man City will 'struggle' to overcome injury crisis, says Guardiola
- First candidates grilled in parliament test for EU top team
- Fulham strike twice in stoppage time to beat Brentford
- Saints fire head coach Allen after seventh straight NFL defeat
- Is the US election really so close?
- Mitrovic hat-trick fires Al Hilal past Esteghlal, Neymar replaced early
- Three charged as Modi slams Canada Hindu temple violence
- NATO will 'stay united' whoever wins US election: Rutte
- Turkey sacks 3 mayors on 'terror' charges, sparking fury in southeast
- Thousands protest alleged election fraud in Georgia
- Spain dreads more flood deaths on day six of rescue
- Germany's Baerbock offers Ukraine no guarantees as Kyiv sounds alarm
- Edu resigns as Arsenal sporting director
- Prince William plays rugby on S.Africa climate prize visit
- French boxing quits international body to keep its fighters at Olympics
- Gaza hospital hit as Israel tells UN aid agency ties to be cut
- Ailing Spurs coach Popovich reportedly out indefinitely
- Quincy Jones, peerless music giant, dies at 91
- Harris, Trump in last campaign push as polls deadlocked
- Sabalenka advances to WTA Finals last four as Zheng ousts Rybakina
- Noah Lyles fails to make cut for men's world track athlete of year
- Slot braced to face 'special' Alonso in Anfield homecoming
- Striking workers weigh latest Boeing contract offer
- Germany's Baerbock offers no Ukraine guarantees as Kyiv sounds alarm
- Montreux Jazz Festival hails 'godfather' Quincy Jones
- Chile football star Vidal accused of sexual assault
- Injured Atonio called up to France squad before Japan Test
- 'Guardiola best coach in the world', says Amorim before Man United move
- Fake X accounts promote COP hosts UAE, Azerbaijan
- Turkey sacks 3 pro-Kurdish mayors for 'terror ties'
- China's Zheng beats Rybakina at WTA Finals
- Music mastermind Quincy Jones dies aged 91
- Stock markets hesitant before knife-edge US election
- Spain dreads more flood deaths as rain pounds Catalonia
- From abortion to bobcat hunting: US vote not just for president
- Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg admits domestic abuse
Brazil Grand Prix - three things we learned
Max Verstappen proved that he has not only the talent and determination to claim a fourth drivers’ world championship, but also the individual virtuosity to perform beyond the potential of his Red Bull car.
While others, notably McLaren’s pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, revealed their inexperience and vulnerability in the most difficult conditions during Sunday’s spectacular rain-hit Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the 27-year-old Dutchman proved to be imperious.
AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from a dramatic day at Interlagos:
- Virtuoso Verstappen -
In Formula One there are days when the conditions dictate the unfolding of events and only the greatest of drivers can cope and not only survive but demonstrate their supreme talent. Sunday was one such day.
Verstappen was without a win in 10 races and his Red Bull car, though much improved, was no match for McLaren and pole-sitter Lando Norris.
He qualified a frustrated 12th and faced a five-place grid penalty and reacted with a controlled rage that carried him from 17th to one of his most memorable triumphs.
It was a drive of majestic purity, perfectly executed by team and driver, fuelled by fury and a desire to respond to his critics, perceived to be British, who had slammed his wild driving in Mexico where he collected two 10-second penalties.
And in choosing a strategy that depended on a red-flag stoppage, which always seemed inevitable, it gave him the ideal opportunity to take advantage of Norris’s more cautious approach as his first set of intermediate tyres deteriorated in the rain.
In heavy rain, fortune favours the bravest and best as Verstappen demonstrated, his skill supporting the belief that a wet track gives greater value to a driver than a car’s performance.
Significantly, when the rain intensified and both Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell pitted, Verstappen and the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly stayed out.
Norris declared it a gamble but it was a calculated call by the Red Bull team who knew that their champion could handle the worsening conditions that were likely to deliver a stoppage.
It came when Williams’ Franco Colapinto crashed and thus the ultimate podium finishers took advantage with a 'free pit stop' that decided the outcome of race and maybe the championship.
- Siege mentality triumphs for Red Bull -
Norris’s defeat, his loss of straight-line speed and ability to stay on track, came from a cool and dispassionate approach that was no match on the day for the controlled hurricane of a near-faultless Verstappen.
After the key red flag delay, Verstappen soon swept into the lead while Norris skidded off track and lost two places. Norris put it down to luck but it was a classic strategic call in a magnificent race.
"Of course, I was very frustrated with qualifying," said Verstappen, who failed to make Q3 because of an ill-timed red flag. "So, we tried to just use it as a good motivation in the race and luckily we had a great start and from there onwards, the car was perfect. I hoped for points, but this is crazy."
- Passport to peace -
Verstappen’s victory gives him a chance to lift the title in 'Sin City' at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and it also calmed growing international tensions between the Dutchman’s media corps and his British critics.
It gave him a chance, too, to rub a little salt into the wounds after Norris’s crushing defeat.
"I have a quick question here," he told a post-race news conference.
"I mean, I appreciate all of you being here, but I don't see any British press? Did they have to run to the airport? Or do they not know where the conference is?"
He had previously suggested his European passport was the wrong one to use in a paddock heavily populated by Britons following comments by former drivers including 1996 world champion Damon Hill.
A peaceful conclusion to a memorable season is now in prospect.
L.Janezki--BTB