Max Verstappen’s win in a rain-lashed Brazilian Grand Prix was hailed as one of his greatest ever drives as he came back from 17th place on the grid.

The Dutchman all but sewed up a fourth consecutive Formula One drivers’ championship after extending his lead over Lando Norris to 62 points with three races left. He will clinch the title if he finishes ahead of Norris at the Las Vegas Grand Prix in three weeks’ time.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Verstappen was “in a league of his own”, while Norris said he would have lost by a lap if the Dutchman had started from pole position.

“I am incredibly pleased with this result, an unbelievable race for us,” Verstappen said after ending a 10-race winless sequence. “I feel comfortable in the wet anyway but when the car is performing you can really pick up the pace.”

“Max was easily quicker than us,” Norris conceded. “I think if he started from the front, he probably would’ve lapped us.”

“It was a masterclass and I think in those conditions the driver’s skill really comes to the fore,” Horner told Sky Sports F1. “He was in a league of his own.”

Flying start

A series of setbacks in qualifying and a five-place grid penalty for fitting a new engine meant Verstappen started in 17th position, with Norris’s McLaren on pole.

Verstappen had also been demoted a place in Saturday’s sprint race after he was penalised for gaining an unfair advantage while the virtual safety car was out, allowing the British driver to cut the gap in the title race to 44 points.

The Dutchman made a flying start, making up six places on the opening lap and rising to sixth by lap 11 of the 70-lap race. At that point he was just 10 points behind race leader George Russell, who had outpaced Norris at the start.

Verstappen delivered an aggressive but flawless drive, never losing his footing while other cars swerved and span in the heavy rain, while Red Bull’s high-stakes strategy paid dividends. During one enforced break he described the conditions on the track as “like driving a boat”.

Russell and Norris surrendered the top two places when they came in for tyres when the virtual safety car was deployed midway through the race. It proved a costly mistake when the green flag was raised while they were still in the pits, allowing Verstappen to sail into second place behind Esteban Ocon.

Rules controversy

Verstappen replaced his tyres shortly afterwards during the first of two heavy crashes that forced the race to be suspended. He passed Ocon immediately after the second restart and went on to win by 19 seconds, while Norris could only manage sixth.

Norris congratulated Verstappen on his “impressive” win, but criticised the rules that effectively gave his rival a bonus tyre change while the race was suspended.

“They got lucky,” he said. “A rule that no one agrees with. Probably today they will agree with it, but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.”