THE BIG PICTURE: Essentially, Max Verstappen only needs to score nine points a race weekend, and that includes a sprint weekend, to clinch the driver's title. It's all over but the crying.

EVENT: You don't need a local driver to be successful, if the country loves F1. Brazil is proof of that. And Mexico, too, will be okay when Perez is booted.

TRACK: Exciting track. Terrible infrastructure and traffic control. Just how long can Interlagos hang on to this race?

SPRINT SHOOTOUT: The big news is Lawson, in a lesser car, makes it to SQ3 while Perez, in a better car, doesn't make it out of SQ2. Then couple that with Tsunoda not making it out of SQ1. Meanwhile, McLaren grabs the front row, Verstappen is fourth splitting the Ferraris, and Bearman in another sub role makes it to SQ3.

SPRINT: McLaren nearly mucked it all up. Lawson keeps sending a signal to Red Bull.

SPRINT START: It's as clean as it can be as everyone in front slots into their position. Quite frankly, it was boring.

QUALIFYING: Max Verstappen was right. It was obvious Stroll's car was destroyed despite his efforts to move it. They let everyone finish their final lap, but throw the red flag before Verstappen can finish his. With barely any time left anyway.

RACE: Well, that race had everything. Aborted start. Two safety cars. One virtual safety car. A red flag. A disqualification. Tremendous passes in pouring rain. Breathtaking drives. A from the back of the field victor. An unlikely team grabbing two podium spots.

START: After a complete cluster at the initial attempt (Stroll stupidity, Norris brain fart), Russell gets a great start to take the lead, Norris plays it smart, Lawson goes at it again with Alonso, and Verstappen makes a huge leap forward.

VERSTAPPEN: Great champions have marquee drives that are talked about for years. This was Max's. He put the kabosh on anyone thinking he's not going to be a four time champion.

PEREZ: How can anyone at this stage believe Sergio can possibly keep his ride.

RED BULL: Well, they can't possibly fall to fourth place in the standings.

OCON: Happiest you'll ever find a guy who might have won this race.

GASLY: Pierre and Estaban generally appeared to be happy for each other. Well, it's not like they have to work together much longer...

ALPINE: Nothing against Alpine. They delivered, with a little bit of luck, when others couldn't. Tip of the hat towards them. But, this is why the midfield teams want points awarded further down the field. Results consistency would never see Alpine sixth place this year. But top results from one bizarre circumstance puts them there.

RUSSELL: He was angry they didn't wait to pit. But it was not the conditions which caused the red flag, but a crash. And eventually his tires would have been so bad, he could have been that crash.

HAMILTON: A miserable car to drive. Couldn't even get out of Q1.

MERCEDES: They should have been disqualified for changing air pressures illegally on the grid.

NORRIS: Lando has lots of lessons learned for next year's fight.

TSUNODA: That could have been Yuki on the podium if luck fell his way instead of Alpine's way.

LAWSON: Liam lets Verstappen by without much trouble. But, he fights all out when Perez tries to pass. And Lawson holds him off. More importantly, Red Bull doesn't seem to care. That should tell you what their decision already is.

HAAS: Their car was rapid in the dry. A shame they couldn't take advantage of that in the wet.

ALBON: Albon is spectacular in qualifying in the rain and then it all goes terribly wrong.

COLAPINTO: Franco's stock took a dip.

WILLIAMS: How are they going to stay under the budget cap with such an expensive weekend? Even with the crash damage waiver you sometimes get, it doesn't cover it all.

STROLL: Lance has got to be the dumbest driver around. Rocks for brains. He had accessible pavement on both sides of the gravel trap to get back on track, and he easily could have gotten back in time for the start. Instead he drives across the soaking wet gravel trap and beaches it. Absolute dunderhead.

SAUBER: Still zero points. And this wild race was perhaps their best, last shot at getting something.

FIA: Please, for the love of God, get rid of that asinine red flag rule where teams are allowed to work on their cars and change tires.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Masterclass.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Considering how the season started, it's amazing Verstappen hadn't won since Spain, back in June.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The car which Lewis Hamilton took out for a few demo laps was the 1990 McLaren MP4/5B with an Honda engine driven by Ayrton Senna en route to his second championship. He won six times and took 10 pole positions in a 16 race season. Senna scored 78 points, seven more than his archnemesis, Alain Prost, who left McLaren before the season to join Ferrari. They collided at the penultimate Japanese GP at the first corner for the second year in row which decided the title.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @karunchandhok:

That was an absolute @Max33Verstappen masterclass…. 17th to first and then winning by 19 seconds on a day when everyone else struggled to overtake or stay on track.

Reminded me of Senna at Donington 1993 walking on water

#BrazilianGP #F1

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Esteban Ocon talks about what rain does to the field, "It clearly shows that we've still got it when it's not all about the car and it's also about driving."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: The crowd in the grandstands overlooking the area where Stroll beached the car, chanting, "Drugovich! Drugovich! Drugovich!"

SCHEDULE: A bit of a break, but we stay in the same hemisphere with a return to Las Vegas. Clearly, the most divisive race on the calendar.

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