What a race! The Brazilian GP was not for the ones with faint hearts. With Max Verstappen starting the race down in P17, no one anticipated the Dutchman to climb a hoard of positions and take the chequered flag as the leader, but the Red Bull driver managed to claim victory in dire conditions.

This allowed him to take a jibe at his championship rival Lando Norris by celebrating the win with a ‘simply lovely’ remark over team radio. Experts claimed that Max Verstappen was destined to have a torrid weekend in Brazil. The 27-year-old was scheduled to take an engine penalty, all the while, Ferrari and McLaren had leapfrogged Red Bull in performance.

Despite the factors lying against him, the Dutchman did not look back and decided to take the hard pill of starting in 17th maturely. Subsequently, Verstappen laid many moves down the road in lap one to gain seven positions. He then put his lid down and continued until he got into the race’s lead.

On the other hand, Lando Norris was struggling to hold onto the top five. This seemingly gave a chance to the Dutchman to take a dig at the Brit for using his catchphrase earlier this season. He claimed the Brazilian GP to have been simply lovely in his iconic fashion to restore his reign in the sport after a long winless streak.

Do you know what that is? Simply lovely. Max Verstappen said over the radioMax Verstappen: Do you know what that is?

Simply lovely— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) November 3, 2024Though the reigning champion’s victory was a magnificent one, he also had a fair share of luck on his side. Franco Colapinto crashed mid-way through the race, which gave him a strategic advantage, helping him run a no-stop race with the tire change under the Red Flags. RELATEDLando Norris bemoans ‘so slow’ McLaren over failing to pass George Russell for Brazilian GP leadMax Verstappen joked about Esteban Ocon’s impressive run in Brazilian GPOn the other hand, while it may seem Verstappen’s race was a walk in the park, contrastingly, he did not have the pace to overtake runners-up finisher Esteban Ocon.

In the initial phases of running, Verstappen was behind the Frenchman. Moreover, the 28-year-old had been pulling away from him at a rate of knots. Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen (Via: Imago)Ultimately, this did not affect the Red Bull driver as he got past Ocon after a few laps behind the Safety Car.

However, Verstappen did not hold back from joking about how he would have settled for P2 witnessing Ocon’s pace. You were fast. You were so fast I was happy to settle for second.

Max Verstappen said in the cooldown room interactionsVerstappen to Ocon: “You were fast. You were so fast I was happy to settle for second. “— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) November 3, 2024Apart from this, Verstappen’s situation in the driver’s championship has gotten way better.

He leads Norris by a massive 62 points and has a chance to claim the championship at the next round in Las Vegas. Thus, removing most of the doubts lurking over his fourth driver’s title. RELATEDHonorary citizen Lewis Hamilton reveals latest music project for Brazilian fans