OfflineKids spent the previous two rounds going backwards out of the points. Brazil gave him one last chance to rescue the ending, and he turned 10th on the grid into his first IMS victory.
He beat alexuk6420 by 0.342 seconds after a race which evisarated eight of its 18 starters. BULLDOGGER47 came through from 11th to complete the podium, with Erion another 0.337 seconds behind after starting 15th.
Ten drivers finished. Brazil did not so much tidy up D1's loose ends as fling them mercilessly around Interlagos.
| Pos. | Driver | Grid | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OfflineKids | 10th | — | 30 |
| 2 | alexuk6420 | 2nd | +0.342s | 23 |
| 3 | BULLDOGGER47 | 11th | +2.712s | 19 |
| 4 | Erion | 15th | +3.049s | 15 |
| 5 | MagMagnussen | 9th | +4.835s | 13 |
| 6 | Wadz | 12th | +5.377s | 11 |
| 7 | jhazztan | 4th | +6.897s | 9 |
| 8 | xAQxFr | 13th | +8.627s | 7 |
| 9 | Darth Ussh | 1st | +10.729s | 6 |
| 10 | John Marco | 3rd | +1:08.759 | 4 |
Thirteen starts, one overdue win
OfflineKids had already shown where his ceiling might be. Third at the Texas opener was followed by second at Spa and another third in Qatar, all before a pair of late-season retirements left him 20th at Monza and 19th in Abu Dhabi.
That made Brazil more than a surprise winner falling out of an unusual race. It was the missing result in a season which had repeatedly put him near the front without giving him the top step. On his 13th IMS start, it was finally all instead of nothing.
Alex made him work for it. Their immediate exchange was simpler than any reconstruction: Alex called it a “Great battle”; OfflineKids replied, “Yeah 100%”, then celebrated with “WE DIDD IT”. A trimuphant release after a season that could have been so much more.
Alex's second place was his first IMS podium on only his third start, after competing in D1 last season. One theorises whether D1 is still the right fit for Alex, but TULIP will handle that. One established near-winner finally crossed the line first; one who returned from the dead left with the clearest evidence yet that he belongs there. D1 found two useful answers in the middle of all that debris.
Bulldogger's switchback settles the final podium
BULLDOGGER47 supplied the other major recovery, gaining eight places from 11th to third. Erion went one better on places gained, climbing 11 positions from 15th, but finished 0.337 seconds short of the Ferrari.
Erion's own account was telling. He admitted braking “a little too late” before praising Bulldog for making “a good decision” and producing a “really really nice move”. IMS has seen many a driver try to hang it around the outside of an optimistic send, and this time, Bulldogger knew better. The podium went to the Bulldog; the respect went both ways.
Fourth also continued Erion's remarkable habit of recovering from a weak qualifying. Baku brought 11th to second, Japan 15th to second and Monza 14th to victory. Brazil added 15th to fourth. McLaren can spend the off-season imagining what this sequence might look like if qualifying stops setting the difficulty to 110 every single race.
Eight retirements turn the finale into an elimination round
Eight cars failed to finish. Rbn said he had been leading, an interesting development considering he is slated to be in L2 next season, before a pit-lane penalty cost him ten seconds, then his race ended when the car went flying at Turn 4. Gennaro reported that his brakes failed; Jean_Claude04's promising run ended in the resulting contact. Neither needed the finale to be quite that final.
Darth Ussh had already secured the drivers' championship and Williams had already won the constructors' title. The champion started from pole after admitting he had done no race practice because the WDC, WCC and BOTT were all wrapped. He then said he had underfuelled by four laps and spent the race lifting and coasting, eventually finishing ninth. Perhaps the fuel prices in Greece finally reached tipping point, because everybody else agreed that trying to reach such a fuel economy was ridiculous.
It was an oddly appropriate cameo. Ussh's season had done its serious work long before Brazil; he coasted home in the lead of the championship as his challengers had better things to do, and the rest of D1 spent the finale discovering how many different routes there were to the retirement column.
Mag takes third while OfflineKids jumps to fifth
While the championships were settled, the places beneath them were not. HPJones retained runner-up on 141 points without racing. MagMagnussen's fifth place took him to 126 and lifted him above PolyTromp by two points for third.
OfflineKids made the largest useful jump. Victory moved him from 77 points to 107, past Rizla, Erion and MacoDelVolante, whose brakes decided to shit themselves 30 minutes before the race start, into fifth. Alex entered the table at 23 points with his podium, while the Bulldog's third place carried him to eighth.
Cadillac completed the constructors' season second on 230 points, and TheShrizzzler will have to wait for his first real WCC honor, ahead of Aston Martin on 203 and McLaren on 192. Williams had already claimed the trophy; Brazil arranged the queue behind them.
D1 arrived at Interlagos with its main titles awarded and only the loose ends left. OfflineKids found something better than a consolation prize: the first win of his career.
