Verstappen's Brazil victory silences critics and impresses rivals as he closes in on 4th F1 title

SAO PAULO (AP) — Max Verstappen's come-from-behind win in the pouring rain at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday didn't just put him a lot closer to a fourth straight Formula One title.

After 10 races without a win, it also reminded everyone of why the Dutch driver is a three-time champion in the first place.

Verstappen delivered one of the best performance of his career to move up from 17th at the start and clinch a victory that increased his lead over McLaren's Lando Norris from 44 to 62 points with just three grand prix races and a sprint race remaining.

“Simply lovely,” Verstappen summed it up on the team radio.

His fellow drivers were more effusive.

“Amazing,” said seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

“Incredible,” gushed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

“Fantastic,” added Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, a two-time F1 champion.

The only dissenting voice was Norris, who started on pole but finished sixth and later argued that the race was decided by luck as his team made a pit stop just before a red flag came out.

“He drove well, he got a bit lucky,” Norris said. “You take a gamble, and it has paid off for them. It is not talent; it is just luck.”

With only 86 points up for grabs until the end of the season, Verstappen only needs to finish ahead of Norris in Las Vegas to secure the title in two weeks.

The Red Bull driver had expected a tough weekend at Interlagos. He received a five-place grid penalty after changing his engine for the sixth time in the season; lost one point in Saturday’s sprint race because of another penalty; and got unlucky during qualifying when the session was interrupted just as he was attempting to clock a fast lap, leaving him in 12th place.

But then everything went right for him in the race.

He surged past rivals at the start and had passed a handful of cars before the first lap was over. In a crash-ridden race where visibility was hindered by the constant spray of water from the cars in front, Verstappen kept overtaking car after car and ended up finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of second-placed Esteban Ocon of Alpine.

“It was definitely an emotional win,” Verstappen said. “I was really motivated and put everything into this race and I surprised myself today as I wasn’t expecting to finish in P1.”

The manner of the victory also sent a message to some of Verstappen's critics, who had described his driving style as being too aggressive.

“(Verstappen) silenced a few critics today,” said former F1 champion Damon Hill, who himself was one of those critics.

In his post-race press conference, the Red Bull driver also took a shot at some of the British journalists who have questioned his abilities in recent weeks.

“I have a quick question here. I appreciate all of you being here, but I don’t see any British press,” Verstappen said, drawing laughter. “Do they have to run to the airport, or they don’t know where the press conference is?”

Fans at Interlagos were also impressed by the Dutch driver's performance.

Many of them, like Carlos Santos de Araújo, 65, were hesitant to support Verstappen because of his ties to Nelson Piquet, the father of his girlfriend Kelly and the main rival of another Brazilian three-time F1 champion, the late local hero Ayrton Senna.

Sunday'a race put Verstappen under a different light, de Araújo said.

“No one can be indifferent to what Max did today. I am sure he will think this the best race of his life, one of the best here at Interlagos,” he said, wearing a Senna shirt and a Mercedes cap. “Hardcore F1 fans like me do like him as a driver, but today probably changed his status for us all. Anyone who thought he was just cold and sometimes arrogant will see the fighter that he was to win this. That adds to him being a champion.”

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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands takes the chequered flag waved by Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina to win the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Nov.3, 2022. (Sebastian Moreira/Pool via AP)

Red Bull technical chief Pierre Wache sprays driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, on the podium after he won the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates winning the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, embraces his wife, Kelly Piquet, after winning the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, left, celebrates on the podium his first place in the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.(AP Photo/Andre Penner)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, the South Korean military said, as the country continued its weapons demonstrations hours before the U.S. presidential election.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately specify the number of missiles detected or how far they flew. Japan’s Defense Ministry said the missiles were believed to have already landed at sea and there were no immediate reports of damages.

The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force. That drew condemnation from Kim’s powerful sister, who on Tuesday accused the North’s rivals of raising tensions with “aggressive and adventuristic military threats.”

The latest launches came after South Korean officials said the North was likely to dial up its military displays around the U.S. presidential elections to command the attention of Washington. South Korea’s military intelligence agency said last week that North Korea has also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.

Outside officials and analysts say North Korea eventually hopes to use an expanded nuclear arsenal as leverage to win outside concessions such as sanctions relief after a new U.S. president is elected.

There are widespread views that Kim would prefer a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump, with whom he engaged in high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19, seeing him as a more likely counterpart to give him what he wants than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. During campaigning, Trump boasted about his personal ties with Kim, while Harris said she won’t “cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un who are rooting for Trump.”

North Korean state media claimed last week that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was “the world’s strongest” ICBM, but experts say the solid-fuel missile was too big to be useful in a war situation. Experts say the North has yet to acquire some critical technologies to build a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring that the warhead survives the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.

Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as Kim has repeatedly flaunted his expanding nuclear weapons and missile programs, while reportedly providing Russia with munitions and troops to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

According to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments, North Korea was estimated to have moved a total of between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia. If they start fighting against Ukraine forces, it would mark North Korea’s first participation in a large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border and preparing to join Moscow’s fight against Ukraine in the coming days. That’s up from the 8,000 troops that the U.S. government mentioned Thursday.

After a meeting in Seoul on Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, expressed “deep concern” over the possibility that Russian transfers any nuclear or ballistic missile-related technology to the North in exchange for its arms and military personnel.

Such transfers would “jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe,” they said, while calling on North Korea and Russia to immediately withdraw the troops from Russia.

In response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threats, South Korea, the United States and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises and updating their nuclear deterrence plans built around U.S. strategic assets.

North Korea has portrayed the joint military drills of its rivals as rehearsals for an invasion and used them to justify its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday, North Korea’s ambassador, Kim Song, defended Pyongyang’s nuclear and ICBM programs as essential for the country’s self-defense and a necessary response to what it perceives as nuclear threats from the United States. He stressed that North Korea will accelerate the build-up of “our nuclear force that can counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapon states.”

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood warned that the U.S. cannot stand back from North Korea’s expanding nuclear and ballistic missile programs and the growing threat to U.S. security “without a response.”

Wood also repeated last week’s call for Russia to say whether there are North Korean troops on the ground in Russia. “We’re not in a court here,” Russia’s deputy ambassador Anna Evstigneeva replied, “and the questions of the United States, in the spirit of an interrogation, is not something I intend to answer.”

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-19" at an undisclosed stie in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea, on March 7, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post flying a national flag, seen from Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)