Max Verstappen stormed to a remarkable victory in a hectic Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Dutchman climbed through the field from an original starting position of 17th to score his first race win since June, amid changing weather conditions and major drama along the way – which also saw Alpine score a double podium result.

The chaos began before the event had even begun after Lance Stroll spun on the formation lap, leading to some confusion over the aborted start procedure as pole sitter Lando Norris led a number of cars while others remained on the grid against that Norris, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are investigated after the race for a breach of starting procedure.

When the Grand Prix began, Russell got off to a stronger start and led Norris, while Verstappen fought his way through the field in the early stages. As the event unfolded amid varying amounts of rain, a red flag was raised on lap 32 following an accident involving Franco Colapinto in the Williams – shortly after Russell and Norris had just lost out due to a pit stop at the end of a virtual safety car period.

This meant that Esteban Ocon led Verstappen and Pierre Gasly when the race resumed with just over half the distance to go. But after another restart – after a safety car deployment due to an accident involving Carlos Sainz – Verstappen took the lead and seemed uncatchable from then on. The world champion crossed the checkered flag with a lead of 19.477 seconds.

For Alpine, meanwhile, it was a dream day: Ocon and Gasly held on to second and third place and took a double podium – which saw the team make an extraordinary jump from ninth to sixth in the constructors' championship.