Fernando Alonso provided the thrills in a red-flagged Sao Paulo Grand Prix that restarted after being red-flagged and stopped earlier.

As reported by Reuters, McLaren's Lando Norris finished second, 8.2 seconds behind, but with a bonus point for fastest lap, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso placed third, just ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

After clinching the title in Qatar last month, Verstappen is now fourth on the all-time list of winners, ahead of the French great Alain Prost.

So far, the champions have won 19 of 20 races.

Taking the chequered flag from pole position at Interlagos, Verstappen was hailed as "absolutely clinical" by team boss Christian Horner.

In the race for second overall, the Mexican now leads Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton by 32 points following the victory.

After that it was all about managing the tyres," said Verstappen, who won Saturday's sprint race as well.

In a dramatic battle with Perez, Alonso demonstrated all the attacking fire and defensive skill of a double world champion, despite the Dutch driver's win looking inevitable.

After Perez passed Alonso on the penultimate lap, the Spaniard crossed the line 0.053 seconds in front of the Mexican. Alonso, who is 42 years old, reclaimed the position on the last lap.

Checo (Perez) put pressure on me for 30 laps, he said. "When he passed me two laps from the end, I realized the podium was no longer possible.

We have been struggling for a couple of months, especially with two retirements in the last two events."

Despite starting on pole, Norris said his performance was "as good as we can get nowadays".

As a result, he equaled Nick Heidfeld's record of top-three finishes without a win with his 13th podium finish.