Lando Norris delivered a dominant fourteen-and-a-half-second win, beating both Red Bulls to secure back-to-back wins at the São Paulo Grand Prix. The outgoing champion looked to control the race despite the mixed conditions, after overtaking the incoming world champion Kimi Antonelli early on when he spun just after a quarter of a lap.
Norris had initially lost out at the start to the Mercedes driver after he got a little bogged down at the start, but the McLaren driver only lost two places in the damp conditions. But he then made an early stop for dry tyres, which brought him out behind Antonelli, whom he shadowed for the dry phase of the race.
The rain then returned for the latter stage, which caught Antonelli and his Mercedes teammate George Russell out. At stage, Antonelli tumbled down the order, dropping behind Russell and the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Hadjar finished the race nearly ten seconds behind his teammate.
Meanwhile, once back in control, Norris was dominant, keeping his level-headedness which propelled him to the title last season. Probably key in McLaren’s slim hopes of passing Red Bull in the constructors’ standings, as uncertainty remains about how many races remain over the next four weeks.
Norris’s third victory of the season, the week after losing his championship crown was a reminder of his strong title-winning drive at Interlagos a year ago, calm and controlled, perhaps a reminder that he could, if McLaren deliver a stronger car at the start of 2027, he could mount a bid to regain his title.
Norris, who won from pole position: “It was a very tough race, very, very tough. Not the best of launches off the line, but a lot of challenges today with the conditions and going on slicks in the wet is always tough. Especially when you are pushing for the lead and trying to catch up a little bit so the main thing today was that I just kept it cool and I did not make any mistakes.”
Verstappen added, “It was a challenging race. I think the first few laps were very important; I overtook a lot of cars. Actually, that first stint on the inters was really strong. Unfortunately, after that, I don’t know if we picked up some kind of damage because the car felt completely opposite to anything I’ve felt the whole weekend, with some really weird balance.
Hadjar, who finished the race in third: “It was so, so difficult, so challenging. Especially switching from the inters to the soft tyre, avoiding the traps. It was extremely difficult, especially in the pit lane; you saw how tricky it was to drive. And then more rain at the end.”
“Happy to be standing in third today, but I need to keep making a bit less mistakes because I could have avoided a little awkward situation with Max, so just want to apologise because on that stint I could have kept it more on the track.
With Antonelli finishing two seconds behind Russell, Mercedes clinches their ninth constructors’ championship in twelve years. Antonelli had led by six seconds before the stops but delayed pitting by a lap and then struggled with his tyre temperatures, spinning off to give the lead back to Norris before also being overtaken by both Red Bulls.
Verstappen equally put in an impressive drive to come from the back in the changeable conditions; however, the Dutchman lacked the pace following the final round of stops despite switching places with Hadjar in the closing stint. Red Bull believed at that stage the Frenchman was making too many mistakes while Verstappen had more pace; in the end it didn’t matter as rain moved in.
Both Mercedes, however, struggled with balance inconsistency, with Antonelli suggesting he was going to crash at one stage. They were twenty seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc seventeen seconds behind, after both managing to pass Liam Lawson on the penultimate lap.
Lewis Hamilton sliced his way through the field early on, but found himself unable to continue the same progress once he made his way to the leading teams. But then struggled to make inroads into the top four teams, with him finishing his four hundredth race twelve seconds behind Lawson, as well as a lap down.
Hamilton’s 400th Grand Prix start came at the end of a week where he fiercely criticised Leclerc, questioning the Monégasque’s mentality after a first-lap overtake on him in Mexico. The Ferrari pair say their issues are over after showdown talks with boss Fred Vasseur.
Hamilton and Verstappen both worked their way from the back after power unit-related penalties, with the decisive move coming when the Dutchman passed the Ferrari at Juncao, but Hamilton had no answer for Verstappen, as he piled on the pressure.
After his initial burst up the field, the seven-time champion lacked pace, despite pushing correctly for an early stop for dry tyres, and could make no more ground. Although leading Leclerc for much of the race, Hamilton fell behind him with his second stop for slicks, while Leclerc hung on for the change to intermediates to consolidate his position.
Nico Hulkenberg was unable to use Audi’s strong race pace to score decent points as he finished tenth.
Arvid Lindblad finished eleventh, the Racing Bull’s driver missing out on points as he finished two seconds behind the Audi. The Englishman finished the race a comfortable seventeen seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso. Alonso failed to capitalise on his strong qualifying, not unexpected, given the struggles that Aston Martin has had this season.
Franco Colapinto finished the race eight seconds ahead of Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly. Alex Albon finished a comfortable twelve seconds ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, with the Haas of Ollie Bearman ten seconds further behind.
Sergio Perez was the leader of the cars who finished two laps down, the Cadillac five seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz. Rafael Camara has navigated the conditions and pressure of a home debut beautifully, but he finished nineteen seconds behind Sainz.
Lance Stroll retired with an issue just before half distance, while Valtteri Bottas failed to start because of an issue.
Related
- Sao Paulo GP – Qualifying Result
- SAO PAULO GP – Lando Norris beats George Russell by two tenths to take pole in mixed conditions
- SAO PAULO GP – Max Verstappen a tenth and a quarter ahead of Kimi Antonelli in third practice
- SAO PAULO GP – Kimi Antonelli ahead of Lando Norris by a quarter of a second in second practice
- SAO PAULO GP – Lando Norris fastest by eight hundredths from Kimi Antonelli in first practice.
