When asked if victory would have been possible had he not started so far back in the race, the Frenchman told media: “No. We don't think it was winnable. We will probably never know where we would have finished, but obviously it's a discussion that the guys had on the pit wall and at some stage you need to make the call.

When finally asked if a better result would have been possible without the early puncture, Mekies believes that, paradoxically, pitting so early actually provided a strategic advantage.

“In fairness, we were a little bit helped in our disadvantage by the VSC, so it limited the loss a little bit, but we definitely lost something. Maybe you go a few laps longer in the tyre sequence, hard, medium, and maybe at that stage you don’t do that final stop. But would and should don’t win races, like we always say, so it is what it is,” he concluded.

By crossing the line in third, Verstappen managed to salvage what he could from a tricky Brazil GP, but the weekend still saw him lose a total of thirteen points across both the sprint race and the main event.

Despite this, he was able to gain back some ground on Oscar Piastri, who lost several positions after receiving a ten-second penalty. Still, the overall deficit to Norris grew, leaving the McLaren driver in a commanding position for the championship.

With three rounds left in the season, Norris now enjoys a 24-point cushion over his teammate and a 49-point lead over Verstappen. Here’s the updated drivers’ standings following the Brazil GP.