Chaos and failures during F1’s wet Brazilian Grand Prix – as Max Verstappen wins from 17th

Treacherous wet conditions led to chaos and several crashes during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, and the F1 race was shortened and temporarily suspended due to further collisions following a delayed start.

Heavy rain in Sao Paulo caused Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto to crash during qualifying.

There was further confusion and drama later on the grid when the start of the F1 race was abandoned when Stroll crashed – for the second time in a matter of hours – during a formation lap at the Interlagos circuit.

Officials confirmed that after an abandoned start and two formation laps, the Grand Prix would last up to 69 laps, and after 31 laps the race was stopped and restarted after a massive crash that resulted in Colapinto losing control of his car again.

Triple world champion Max Verstappen, who had not won a race since June’s Spanish Grand Prix, ended his winless streak by winning Sunday’s rain-soaked race after starting 17th on the grid.

After venting his frustration after a terrible qualifying session, he crossed the finish line. The Dutchman secured victory by using a randomly timed safety car.

“My emotions today were like a rollercoaster because I was really unlucky with the red flag in qualifying,” he said after the race.

“Starting in 17th position, I knew it would be a very difficult race.

“We stayed out of trouble, made the right decisions, stayed calm and flew. All this together. I mean unbelievable. To win here from such a distant position on the grid… yes.”

Each of the three qualifying phases played on Sunday morning was interrupted by at least one failure. The result is five red flags, which are used to terminate a practice session, qualifying session or race due to a serious accident or extreme weather conditions.

The flags infuriated the drivers, who were forced to reduce their speed and go back to the pit lane, which affected their rankings.

The session has already been postponed to Sunday after rain and lightning on Saturday made conditions dangerous.

Sunday’s delayed qualifying ended with McLaren’s Lando Norris on pole position, while title rival Verstappen failed to advance to the third phase of qualifying.

The Red Bull driver was on track to improve his time in the wet, but Stroll’s crash resulted in the third of five red flags and the second phase of qualifying was abandoned with 46 seconds remaining.

“The car hits the wall and it has to be a straight red,” Verstappen said.

“I don’t understand why it has to take 30 to 40 seconds for a red flag to appear. This is just bullshit. It’s stupid to talk about it anyway. This is ridiculous.”

This left a furious Verstappen in 12th place at the end of qualifying, with the Dutchman serving a five-place engine penalty for replacing parts of his car, which caused him to drop down the starting order.

This gave Norris the advantage. The 24-year-old British driver kept his nerve in treacherous conditions to bring his McLaren to the front of the field in today’s race, but ultimately finished 6th.

An investigation is also underway into a potential violation of the take-off procedure after driving away despite no green lights at the time the take-off was aborted.

Colapinto was the first to crash during qualifying after skidding on the barriers at turn three. The Argentine escaped unscathed, but was unable to continue competing in qualifying.

The second delay came after Sainz, who won in Mexico a week ago, also ended up in the wall after losing control of his Ferrari. Stroll’s crash led to a third suspension.

Alonso was the fourth driver to hit the wall after braking, before Albon’s final-corner collision in the first turn of the third qualifying session forced him to retire from the race due to damage to his car.

Lewis Hamilton is considered one of the best wet drivers in the sport’s history, but the seven-time world champion retired from the race in the first phase but rallied during the race to finish 10th.

The 39-year-old, who is entering his final season at Mercedes before joining Ferrari, called his machine “undriveable”.