the father of his girlfriend Kelly and the main rival of another Brazilian three-time F1 champion, the late local hero Ayrton Senna. Sunday'a race put Verstappen under a different light, de Araújo said. “No one can be indifferent to what Max did today.

The reigning Formula One world champion was in unfamiliar territory: Starting seventeenth on the grid, with only two cars behind him (and one in the pit lane), and his title rival, Lando Norris, way, way ahead of him on pole position.

Max Verstappen rose from 17th on the grid to win a thrilling race with rainy conditions and alternate strategies.