Hit with an engine penalty, Verstappen started the Brazilian GP from P17 while Norris was on pole in a potentially critical race for their respective title hopes. That proved true, though the result was flipped in regards to what those starting positions indicated would happen.
Rather than make a crucial dent in Verstappen’s Championship lead, Norris ultimately finished P6 as Verstappen took a sensational victory, his gamble not to pit as the rain intensified paying off after the red flag was shown, placing Verstappen P2 for the restart who overtook Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, pulling away from there to win by 19.5 seconds.
Increasing his lead over Norris to 62 points, that effectively ended the Brit’s title hopes, though Norris did not see much skill in what Verstappen achieved.
“You take a gamble, it’s paid off for them. It’s not talent or, you know, it’s just luck,” said Norris after the race. “So, just a bit unlucky.”
And when Coulthard, appearing on the Red Flags podcast, was reflecting on that Verstappen win as an iconic F1 2024 highlight, he was teased with Norris’ “luck” assessment.
“Ah, I would like some of that kind of luck,” Coulthard came back with on Norris’ claim. “I would love that kind of luck.”
Rain proved a factor throughout the race weekend at Interlagos, forcing qualifying to take place on Sunday morning and playing a key role in what was a thrilling Brazilian GP.
And Coulthard – a 13-time race winner in F1 – was asked whether the theory that some people hold of rain being the great equaliser in F1, is true.
“I’ve never really understood the sort of belief that it’s an equalizer,” he replied, “because if it was an equalizer, then they would all be as good as each other.
“It, to me, is a differentiator. [Ayrton] Senna won his first ever Grand Prix, ’85, Estoril [in the rain], could have won ’84 Monaco but they stopped the race a lap early. [Michael] Schumacher, I think, won Barcelona with only four or five gears, you know, stuck in fifth gear or something remarkable.
I think what it does, it gives the exceptionals the chance, irrespective of the car, to show how exceptional they are.”
Clarified that the belief is more rain levels the performance of the cars, Coulthard responded: “Yeah, I think that’s bullsh*t.
“I think there is a scenario, and it was very well seen with the Alpine in Brazil, when you put wet tyres or intermediate tyres [on], the profile of the tyre is different, of course.
So therefore, the airflow that goes through the tyre versus slick, and the wake that comes off it, is different. It diffuses the wake.
“I’m saying that as if I’m an aerodynamicist and I really know what that means, but I remember, in some of the cars I drove that were, let’s say, average cars in the dry, we were stronger in the wet relative to those that may have been stronger than us in the dry, when you put the wet tyres on.
“Because you’re fundamentally changing, not only the amount of surface grip there is because you’re putting rain there, but you’re changing the profile of the vehicle that’s passing through the air that’s available by putting wets or intermediate tyres [on].”
Verstappen will secure his fourth successive World Championship if he finishes in the top two at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend.
