Brazilian Grand Prix preview: Can Verstappen make it 17 wins this weekend?

Following last weekend’s eventful race in Mexico which saw heartbreak for Sergio Perez on home soil, Max Verstappen triumphed yet again, breaking his record from last season to claim the title of most wins ever in an F1 season for the second time.  

This weekend, the drivers are headed to the Interlagos Circuit in São Paolo for the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix. Due to the nature of the track, elevated 700m above sea-level, lessons from last week’s trip around the even higher Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez track in Mexico (2000m) will be of utmost important going into this weekend.

This weekend marks the end of the triple-header and the final Sprint Weekend of the season, which will give teams the opportunity to really push their cars from start to finish, saving the strategy for the main race.

See below for a preview of the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix, the track, and our top picks.

Brazilian Grand-Prix set to be a real strategic battle both on and off the grid

The Interlagos circuit is challenging but will see a lot more movement on race day given the nature of the track, featuring some long straights which require speed but also tight corners which require great downforce, grip and precision. There are two DRS zones that the drivers will be looking to exploit, the first being on the exit of the Curva do Sol, down the Reta Oposta into turn four, and the next being along the main pit straight following the Junção corner. The teams will be fine-tuning their cars to maximise efficiency and potential in this race.

With 77 track overtakes in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, it is clear that there is plenty of opportunity on this track, where DRS is far more effective than it was in Mexico. Last year’s race saw an unusual podium finish, with George Russell clinching his first ever F1 win having set the fastest lap with a 1:13.785 (9/1 to do the same this year), who passed the chequered flag 1.5 seconds ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, a P1-P2 finish for the Mercedes pairing (7/2 to both finish on the podium this time around), with Carlos Sainz in P3 for Ferrari.

There will be lots of whispers flying about the paddock talking strategy ahead of this weekend’s Sunday race as there is a huge undercut in the circuit leaving the pit lane, so we are likely going to see the majority of teams using a two-stop strategy whilst others might opt for a more aggressive strategy, exploiting this undercut and using the pits three times. Tyre choice is also going to be important with last year’s field favouring soft and medium tyres over hard tyres and this is likely to be the case this year too.

Looking ahead to the weather in São Paolo, Friday is looking wet so it will be difficult for the teams to optimise their set-ups and get a real feel for what race day will look like, with potentially no practice on a dry track.

Who has what it takes to go head-to-head with Max Verstappen? 

As expected, Max Verstappen finds himself the favourite yet again at 1/4, who some may say lucked out last weekend with the fortune of the red flag and restart which facilitated a risk-free tyre change, allowing him to keep up with Charles Leclerc on the hard tyres. Following last weekend’s upsetting retirement from the race, Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez is at 20/1 to be victorious this weekend and given that the Red Bull car isn’t tailored to this track, punters will be relying on Verstappen’s raw talent to pull through for Red Bull this weekend.

Next up is Mercedes, who couldn’t have asked for a better day at this track last year with a one-two finish. Hamilton showed real promise in Mexico last week and is second in the running behind Verstappen to win this weekend at 7/1 as the car looks to be in good shape and ready for the test in Brazil. At 20/1, Russell will be dead-set on performing again like he did last year and will be hoping for a similarly dramatic race, keeping himself out of trouble.

Behind Hamilton in the running is Lando Norris in the McLaren, who got extremely unlucky here last year when his car lost power, however, at 14/1 he is set to improve his phenomenal run last week in Mexico, where he managed to improve from 17th on the grid to 5th across the line. Although the car is looking fantastic, teammate Oscar Piastri , who made his F1 debut in Bahrain earlier this year, attempts the Interlagos track for the first time and is priced at 33/1. There is so much history and heritage for McLaren in this race, particularly with the team and Ayrton Senna, so the pairing will be looking to honour him this weekend.

Ferrari looked weak in Mexico on the hard tyres and struggled to keep up with Verstappen and Hamilton. It proved to be a all too familiar upset for Charles Leclerc (28/1) as he failed to convert his hard-earned pole position, following a close call with Perez on turn one. Teammate Carlos Sainz (33/1) will be looking forward to this track and both drivers will be confident in their cars ahead of this weekend as they should perform well on this circuit which rewards efficiency on the straights, an area we know Ferrari excel in.

As for Aston Martin, they took another step back last week in Mexico with Alonso looking particularly uncomfortable behind the wheel and was eventually retired from the race. Aston Martin will most likely be using this weekend as trial-and-error in order to maximise their cars capabilities on track and reinstate some confidence in their drivers. Alonso is 100/1 to win in Brazil, with Stroll coming in at 500/1.

A few interesting markets that are good to look at this weekend can be found in the #YourOdds section which can be found here. If qualifying is wet, we could see some unsuspecting drivers appearing towards the front of the grid such as Alex Albon who is 12/1 to finish in the Top 6, with potential to perform in the Williams with its low-drag setup, which could fly around this track.

Keep your eyes on this upcoming weekend of F1, because if last week’s battle is anything to go by, some of the drivers have something to prove this weekend in the Brazilian Grand Prix 2023.

Check out all the latest Formula 1 betting odds at William Hill