The weekend started with the news that Ollie Bearman would be back in his Haas after KMag was ruled out due to illness. Will he get the nod for the rest of the season? We think that if he really showed up and delivered, he might have been given this opportunity; however, he did make some rookie errors and exhibited erratic driving at times. To be fair, there were some very seasoned drivers (like Lance Stroll) who looked as if it were their first time driving in the rain. It’s always nice to see new young drivers in F1, and having Ollie this weekend added even more for fans to pay attention to.

The more time he gets in the car before becoming a permanent fixture next year, the better off he should be. Seeing him in as challenging circumstances as possible this weekend will be a great learning experience for him.

Qualifying was pushed to Sunday after being rained out on Saturday. This qualifying session became the earliest F1 running ever, starting at 7:30 AM local time!

This is also only the sixth time in F1 history that qualifying has been moved to Sunday morning. The other instances were Japan 2004, Japan 2010, Australia 2013, USA 2015, and Japan 2019.

We feared Lewis might not get his chance to drive Ayrton Senna’s 1990 car around Interlagos due to the rain. However, on Sunday, between qualifying and the race, we got our wish, and the scenes were absolutely magical.

Lewis called this moment “the greatest honour of my career”

We had a driver unable to start the race as Williams could not repair Albon’s car after he crashed in qualifying. The team had to deal with three separate crashes this weekend, and for a team already strapped for cash, this situation went from bad to worse to worst.

This is the second time this season that Albon’s car has been unable to run after a crash in qualifying. The first incident occurred in Australia earlier this year, when Williams opted to give him Logan Sargeant’s car to drive instead… that must still sting.

Williams are feared to be near the budget cap limit, and they are the team that has sustained the highest costs due to damage on the whole grid.

Lance Stroll did one of the strangest things we can remember a driver doing in modern F1. Going off in that weather was explainable—many drivers did exactly that this weekend—but what baffled everyone was his decision to drive straight into the gravel trap.

Going off during a formation lap and then having full control of the car yet opting to drive directly into the gravel makes us wonder what was going through his mind at that moment (if anything).

There was a report of an issue with his car’s brakes after the mechanics had to rush a repair job following another accident he had in Q2. However, we can’t confirm or deny this at the moment. Lance himself has said it felt like a brake failure.

After we finally got our first safety car in ten races, it was as if the floodgates opened (literally and figuratively), and we had enough yellow and red flags during qualifying and the race to make up for the lack of them prior.

Throughout both qualifying and the race, yellow and red flags dominated the sessions, and it always felt like we were just waiting for the next one. There was talk—mostly from the Red Bull team—that the stewards were taking too long to decide on the red flag, impacting their ability to progress to Q3. However, based on all the data we’ve seen, it looks like even if they had red-flagged it right away, Max still would not have had enough time to set a lap to get out of Q3.

We get to the race and Max “lucks” out according to Lando Norris and gets the benefit of the red flag after Colapinto spins into the wall under the safety car that was called out during an increase in rainfall. This red flag came after the leaders had pitted and it ultimately gave Max a free stop to change tyres, which ultimately decided the race.

While this situation is completely unique, we have to admit that it ultimately ended any chance Lando had of catching Max in this year's drivers' championship. We couldn’t help but think back to Abu Dhabi when another Williams, driven by Nicholas Latifi, brought out the late-race safety car, giving Max the chance to pit for fresh tires and pass Lewis on the final lap to win it all. So, Williams has had quite the impact on Max’s championship-winning season. Maybe they are the real B-team, and VCARB is just a front.

Max was “simply lovely” this weekend, starting from P17 and showcasing his true skill by handling his car in the wet conditions better than anyone else all day.

He extends his lead to 62 points. Lando needs to outscore Max by at least three points to keep his extremely slim chances alive. If there’s a 60-point gap after Las Vegas, the championship will officially be over. For some more point scenarios broken down.

Lando can blame the poorly timed red flag, but he made enough mistakes on his own this weekend. His starts have been an ongoing issue, and once again, he lost out at the start after beginning from pole, giving way to Russell by the first turn. He also went off at the restart, losing even more time.

Alpine get a double points finish and catapult up the constructor standings. In a complete shock of a result Alpine collect P2 and P3 and jump from 9th to 6th in the constructors championship claiming 35 points on the day.

This could be worth up to a $30 million USD payday for Alpine at the end of the season from the prize money in the standings.

A black flag is shown when a driver is disqualified from the race, and Nico Hulkenberg received the first black flag issued to a driver since the Canadian GP in 2007.

He received the black flag after four marshals helped push him back over the curb he had landed on. Would he have been able to get going again without their assistance? Probably not, so it isn’t the marshals who should be blamed here.

Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were both disqualified in 2007 for leaving the pit lane under a red flag.

Mercedes - fined €10,000 for changing the tire pressure in each of their cars the wrong way (€5,000 for each car)

George Russell - fined €5,000 and given a reprimand for start procedure infringement

Lando Norris - fined €5,000 and given a reprimand for start procedure infringement

Carlos Sainz - reprimand for dangerous driving

If you are so inclined to see all of the reasoning from the FIA and the official report

- Charles was summoned to the stewards during a the sprint qualifying session for swearing, which happened last week in Mexico. Why now? Why announce it? Why did it take this long?

- We had a funny moment during the Saturday qualifying delay when a live shot of Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur and a little graphic saying he likes ice cream popped up.

- Some rumours are mounting that Gabriel Bortoleto will be racing at Sauber in 2025.

- Max asked the reporters in his post race press conference where all the British reporters were! Apparently there were less than usual and Max has been going back and forth with the media and letting his thoughts on their bias be known.

We have a couple of weeks off now until we next see cars on track. On November 24th, we’ll have the third-to-last race of the season when F1 returns for the fourth time to Las Vegas.

The first two races were held in 1981 and 1982, with 2023 marking F1’s return to Las Vegas after the long hiatus.