Verstappen magnificent in São Paulo; boss Mekies: ‘Max beats every simulation’

What is it about Max Verstappen and the Autódromo José Carlos Pace at Interlagos? Time and again, the Dutchman puts in incredible performances here.

2024: From 17th on the grid to victory! 2025: From 19th on the grid to second place! 2026: From 21st on the grid to second place!

Verstappen himself explains it like this: “Interlagos is a magnificent circuit for great racing. Every now and then there are some crazy races, partly because of the unpredictable weather. I’ve been able to pull off some brilliant comebacks here, precisely because of the weather.”

“The reason we always experience exciting Grands Prix here is that these corners allow for different racing lines; you can attack cleverly or set yourself up to take on an opponent for the next corner. What’s more, tyre wear is high, which always makes for good racing. And did I mention the weather?”

Following the latest comeback, Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies said: “There’s no simulation in the world that can predict that a driver will climb from 21st to second place or make up 14 places in five laps. Max regularly manages to outperform our simulations!”

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“Of course, it’s frustrating to lose this race to Norris and McLaren, because the pace looked good on Friday and also on Saturday morning, and to some extent in Q1 as well. We knew that sooner or later we’d face a grid penalty due to the fitting of new engine components. And once again, it turned out to be the right decision to do this in Brazil.”

“Obviously, the race would have been easier for Max if he’d been able to start from P2. Nevertheless, we have to admit – Lando was a little quicker than us in the race. Whether that was down to better tyre management or recent improvements to the McLaren, I can’t say.”

“Max was quite vocal about the car’s balance when we switched to dry tyres, and from that point on he was very, very unhappy with the handling. So we’ll be analysing how that good feeling for the car in the first part of the race could have evaporated like that.”