🏁 Photo Finish

PLP Season 1 Edition 7

Phew. All right everyone take a breath. Three race weekends in a row was frantic, but it sure beats the summer break. The end cap to the triple header did not disappoint, with some tight wheel to wheel action in the sprint race followed by an electric finish in the Grand Prix.

Now, just 1 week separates us from the inaugural Vegas GP. With forecasts expecting a cold race (10pm PST start time in the desert), getting tires up to temperature could be a challenge - which would certainly make for compelling strategy decisions and a potentially unpredictable race. Add in a chance for rain and it could be a real doozy.

Quick Quiz: Interlagos has historically delivered races that have lots overtaking. How many overtakes did we see in the 2023 GP?

A. 25 B. 37 C. 52 D. 83

Find out below ⬇

Sao Paulo GP Recap

Sprint

Podium: 🥇VER - 🥈NOR - 🥉PER

The Sprint Shootout kicked off a weekend of fireworks with Ocon coming together with Alonso in SQ2 (of course it was those two - they have a bit of a tumultuous relationship from their time as teammates at Alpine). Ocon refused to take the blame, but you be the judge.

At the start, Verstappen beat out pole sitter Norris to the first turn and would hang on for the victory. Mercedes performance would foreshadow their GP results as they started moving backwards after a decent start, but not before Russell and Perez would swap places a few times. AlphaTauri put up a good fight with Ferrari (with Piastri getting in the mix as well), with some exciting wheel to wheel action that saw Yuki take a P6 finish. Speaking of foreshadowing, Alonso showed fight against Gasly even though both would finish outside the points. Goes to show that once these guys get in the car, there’s no way they’re not giving it their all whether they’re battling at the front or the back. Interlagos always provides great racing, and this year’s Sprint did not disappoint.

Grand Prix

Podium: 🥇VER - 🥈NOR - 🥉ALO

DNS: LEC

DNF: ALB - MAG - ZHO - BOT - RUS

In a season where Max winning everything may have made us jaded, the battle for 3rd place between Alonso and Perez reminded all of us just how exciting F1 can be. Both drivers put on an absolute masterclass, with Alonso’s calculated defense for 15 odd laps, Perez’s pass on the penultimate lap, the position retaken by Alonso on the final lap, and an all out drag race to the finish - with Alonso taking the podium spot by just 0.053s. If haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and watch the battle of the season.

But rewind to the (first) start of the race, which had action of it’s own. Charles Leclerc didn’t make it to the line, spinning out into the wall on the formation lap due to hydraulic failure.

Pain.

At lights out Albon was squeezed and ricocheted off Hulkenberg and into Magnussen, sending the Williams driver and K-Mag off the track and ending their race. Navigating through the debris, Hulkenberg ran over an errant wheel and flung it up into the air. Ricciardo had to duck in his cockpit as the wheel crashed down on his rear wing, causing damage that would ultimately hinder his race. Wild stuff. With Danny and Oscar Piastri coming in for damage, they missed the a safety car lap and had to run a lap behind for the whole race.

At the restart, Lando was able to keep Max in DRS range, and even made a go at him into turn 1 on lap 8. Hard to describe the excitement seeing Max attacked for once, though ultimately Max did Max things and pulled out to a decent lead. With the race settling in, Mercedes tumbled backwards through the field, with both drivers fighting their cars the whole day. Russell ultimately retired due to an imminent failure and Hamilton salvaging what he could with P8.

Better days were had by the likes of Stroll, who was overshadowed by Alonso’s brilliance but finally had a solid performance to finish P5. Gasly had one of his best weekends, taking P7. Yuki put in a good effort for P9, and Sargeant almost picked up another point, taking P11.

• The best clip of the photo finish we’ve seen

• How Alonso held off Perez in a faster car [F1 Unlocked Only]

• Power Rankings after this week

Netflix Releases Pairings for First Ever Live Sports Event

What better way to get pumped for Vegas than a rousing round of golf. If you follow any of the drivers you know they like to hit the links when they’re not in the car. The driver and tour pro pairings for the first of it’s kind Netflix event will be:

• Norris & Fowler

• Sainz & Thomas

• Gasly & Morikawa

• Albon & Homa

Smart of Netflix to cash in on the success of docuseries Drive to Survive and Full Swing (Swing to Survive?). Admittedly we here at the Pulse will be tuning in and embracing any and all hype leading up to the race.

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• Inside Haas’s major upgrade, and how it can guide the development of next year’s car [F1 Unlocked Only]

• Behind Aston Martin’s return to form on the back of Alonso’s mighty performance

• The quest for a flawless floor [Video]

• Check out this graphic from who else but @FDataAnalysis. Look at the slope of Ferrari (red) on the medium tires and McLaren (papaya) on the soft tires - a clear picture of the huge amount of degradation seen relative to their competitors. Does anyone else get this excited about data or is it just me?

Off the Grid

• A classic Brundle moment interviewing Machine Gun Kelly before the race

• Bono introduces bandmates as F1 drivers, explains Las Vegas GP will force a brief hiatus from U2 Sphere show

• Dax Shepard sat down with Christian Horner to discuss competing against Max’s mom in karting, Lewis’s selective memory, and Max’s 5 gin & tonics the night before the blistering Qatar GP after becoming champion. Further proof that Max is not human.

• Max admitted he almost crashed watching Alonso vs Perez on the track monitors 😂. People are always suggesting he should just get a screen put in his steering wheel so he can watch the race, or maybe Netflix. It must get boring out in front sometimes.

No race this weekend.. But we’ll still be back next Friday to preview the Las Vegas GP. Is there anything else to watch on Sundays?

Questions? Comments? Did we get something wrong (never 😁)? Let us know ▶ [email protected]