Verstappen can match Schumacher’s four-win Brazil record

Max Verstappen returns to Interlagos this weekend with a chance to match Michael Schumacher’s four Brazilian Grand Prix victories. Verstappen has won there three times—in 2019, 2023 and 2024—and has seven podiums. He has also started from pole twice at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

Interlagos has delivered both spectacle and tension. In 2016, Verstappen started fourth on a wet track and passed several rivals around the outside. He spun at the exit of the final corner, caught the car before it hit the wall and continued to finish third.

In 2018, Verstappen and Esteban Ocon made contact at Turn 1 as Ocon tried to unlap himself. At the post-race weigh-in, Verstappen confronted and pushed Ocon; that earned him a two-day assignment working for the FIA. His first Brazilian Grand Prix win came in 2019, after he passed Lewis Hamilton twice. Pierre Gasly finished second in the chaotic race, while Ferrari team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided.

At the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen received a place from Sergio Pérez under team orders. After failing to pass Fernando Alonso, he refused an instruction to return it, prompting frustration from Pérez and within Red Bull. In 2024, Verstappen started 17th after a dramatic qualifying session, worked through the field and made the most of a red flag to win by 19 seconds over Esteban Ocon.