Norris wins thrilling Sao Paulo GP from Antonelli as Verstappen climbs to third from pit lane

Lando Norris has further extended his championship lead after claiming victory in a gripping Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver leading Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli home while Max Verstappen put in a remarkable comeback to finish on the podium after starting from the pit lane.

After making a good start from pole position, Norris continued to lead amid a hectic first few laps, with a Safety Car being deployed following a crash into the barriers for Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto at the Brazilian’s home race.

A Virtual Safety Car was then deployed after the restart due to another incident in which Oscar Piastri locked up and hit Antonelli, sending the Mercedes into Charles Leclerc who was forced to retire his damaged Ferrari from the race as a result.

Piastri subsequently received a 10-second time penalty for that collision in a race that saw a fascinating array of strategies play out – one of which involved Verstappen, who bounced back from an early puncture to climb his way through the order and challenge the frontrunners as the Grand Prix headed towards a thrilling climax.

While Norris crossed the line with a 10-second lead to clinch his seventh Grand Prix win of the season, a nail-biting duel played out behind between Antonelli and Verstappen for second place. Antonelli ultimately held on to claim a career-best P2, while Verstappen’s impressive afternoon ended with a P3 result.

The other Mercedes of George Russell was also under pressure from Piastri as the race headed towards its finish but managed to keep the McLaren at bay to take fourth, with Piastri having to settle for fifth on a day that perhaps could have brought more without his earlier penalty.

A strong weekend for Ollie Bearman saw the Haas racer cross the line in sixth, while the Racing Bulls pair of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar boosted their team’s points tally in seventh and eighth respectively. An incident between the pair on the final lap was noted by the stewards, before it was decided that no further investigation was needed.

Nico Hulkenberg followed in ninth for Kick Sauber, and Pierre Gasly grabbed the final point on offer for Alpine in 10th. Just missing out was Alex Albon for Williams in 11th, who placed ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon and the other Williams machine of Carlos Sainz.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were well outside of the points in P14 and P16, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto sandwiched between them in P15. Yuki Tsunoda was the final driver classified on a tough day for the Red Bull driver, in which he received a second 10-second time penalty after failing to serve a first one correctly.

It was a nightmare Sunday for Ferrari at Interlagos, the team leaving with no points following a double DNF. Lewis Hamilton retired the car in the pits midway through the race, having picked up floor damage in a Lap 1 incident that also saw him take a 10-second time penalty.

Bortoleto, meanwhile, was out on the opening lap following his aforementioned crash, which came about following contact with Stroll.

AS IT HAPPENED

After fans enjoyed a taste of racing action at Interlagos during Saturday’s action-packed Sprint, it was time to go again on Sunday as the drivers and teams readied themselves for the 71-lap Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Saturday had also presented its fair share of drama via Qualifying, a session that saw Norris clinch pole position while fellow title contender Verstappen made a surprise exit in Q1, with the Dutchman complaining of “no grip” in his RB21.

In the wake of these struggles, it was confirmed in the hours prior to Sunday’s race that Red Bull had opted to make sweeping changes to Verstappen’s car which included fitting a new power unit and various elements that went beyond his allocation for the season.

As such – with these alterations made under parc ferme conditions – Verstappen would start the Grand Prix from the pit lane. Another driver to make changes beyond their allocation was Ocon, the Frenchman’s Haas having taken on a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), which meant that he too would line up in the pit lane for the race start.

While mixed weather conditions had potentially been forecasted across the weekend at Interlagos, the track action on Friday and Saturday had taken place mostly in the dry. However, spots of rain had started to fall as the drivers made their way to the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Interlagos is no stranger to wet races – would another one be in store this time around?

When all 20 cars had lined up and the tyre blankets were removed – with that drizzle having eased off for the time being, though the risk of rain during the race remained at 40% – it was revealed that a range of compounds were at play, with seven drivers including polesitter Norris starting on the medium, eight on the soft and five on the hard, Verstappen amongst the latter.

After the formation lap had been completed and the five lights went out, Norris launched away well to hold the lead from Antonelli, while the other McLaren of Piastri was forced to defend hard from Hadjar through the first two corners.

There was drama further back, however, with Hamilton dropping down the order after being tagged by Sainz before later clipping the rear of Colapinto’s Alpine, forcing him to limp back to the pits to have the damaged front wing changed. A long stop then ensued for the Briton, putting him to the back of the field amid lasting damage to the floor of his SF-25.

Elsewhere the yellow flags had been thrown due to Bortoleto hitting the barriers following contact with Stroll. The home favourite was out of the race, and a Safety Car was subsequently called as his stricken Kick Sauber was recovered. Elsewhere, Tsunoda took the opportunity to pit, swapping from the hard to the medium compound.

Five laps down, the Safety Car phase came to an end and Norris again made a clean restart. Leclerc, Antonelli and Piastri were three abreast into Turn 1 – but a lock-up from Piastri saw him hit the Mercedes, which then ricocheted into Leclerc’s Ferrari. The Monegasque lost a tyre in the incident and the damage to his car was too great for him to continue, forcing him to pull off track.

This triggered a Virtual Safety Car, under which Verstappen – who had climbed up to P13 – pitted, bringing him back out in last place. The Dutchman was informed by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that this had been done due to a puncture on the car.

As the VSC ended on Lap 9, Piastri – now up to second ahead of Antonelli – was close to his team mate when the action resumed but not quite near enough to make a move. Behind those leading three cars, the rest of the top 10 had shaken out as Hadjar, Russell, Lawson, Bearman, Gasly, Albon and Sainz.

The stewards were being kept busy, having confirmed that Tsunoda would receive a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Stroll, while the Turn 1 incident between Piastri and Antonelli had also been noted.

Back out on track, Russell had overtaken Hadjar for fourth while Bearman surged past Lawson to move up into sixth. Further back, Verstappen was flying after bolting on the medium tyres during that aforementioned pit stop and soon picked off Hamilton and Colapinto to move up to 14th.

Sainz and Hamilton’s Turn 1 incident had been noted by the stewards, as had Hamilton’s later contact with Colapinto. The Ferrari man was not having the easiest time in the race, reporting that his car was “crazy unstable” before making another pit stop for the medium rubber.

Piastri’s day had also gotten worse after it was confirmed that the Australian had received a 10-second time penalty for his collision with Antonelli. Running around 1.9s ahead of Antonelli, the McLaren driver would need to build a gap fast. Things were going better for Verstappen, meanwhile, who was making further moves to reach P9 by Lap 18.

Further pit stops were starting to take place soon afterwards, promoting the Dutchman up to sixth as Hadjar, Lawson and Gasly pitted. Up at the front, Norris was told that “Plan B” or possibly “Plan D” could be their preferred options, the Briton now leading by 4.5s from Piastri.

Antonelli headed to the pits on Lap 22, swapping the soft tyres for the medium as he dropped down to P11. Verstappen, meanwhile, was the fastest man on track in fourth place, the Red Bull driver running just under 20 seconds away from leader Norris.

There was trouble for the other RB21 of Tsunoda, who was noted for failing to serve his time penalty correctly. The stewards had also decided to hand Hamilton a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Colapinto, adding to Ferrari’s difficult day at Interlagos as the Briton continued to circulate in 17th.

Thirty laps down, Norris led by 6.7s from Piastri, who was followed by Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli, Albon, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Hadjar and Gasly, with several still yet to pit. That changed one tour later when Norris made his stop, emerging back on track in fourth place – behind Verstappen – with used soft tyres on.

With Verstappen’s medium tyres some 25 laps old, the reigning World Champion did not put up much of a fight when Norris overtook for P3 on the main straight. Elsewhere, Hamilton pitted to serve his penalty, while Tsunoda had been hit with another 10-second penalty for failing to serve the earlier punishment correctly.

Verstappen dived into the pits again on Lap 35 to bolt on another set of medium tyres, bringing him back out in 12th, while Russell was now in sixth after stopping for the soft rubber. Piastri – still yet to pit – continued to lead up ahead with a nine-second margin over Norris, with Antonelli running in third.

By Lap 39 it was time for Piastri’s stop, the Australian having to remain stationary for 10 seconds owing to that earlier penalty before the team could swap his medium tyres for the soft. Returning to the track in ninth, would that compound hold out until the end of the race?

Elsewhere in the pit lane, Ferrari’s challenging day came to a close as Hamilton retired his car – marking a double DNF for the Scuderia on a day where they looked likely to lose significant ground to Mercedes, and even Red Bull, in the Teams’ Championship.

Just as Piastri was told that the plan was to “catch and undercut” Bearman and Russell, Bearman then pitted – but a stubborn front left tyre resulted in a slow stop, bringing him out in P11. With 25 laps remaining, Norris led by 7.8s from Antonelli, followed by Russell, Verstappen, Piastri, Lawson, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Albon and Bearman, who had gained a position since his stop.

Mercedes opted to bring Antonelli and Russell in one lap apart for medium tyres, promoting Verstappen up into second between the McLarens. Bearman, meanwhile, was looking racy as he went side-by-side with Hulkenberg, the Haas man coming out ahead in seventh.

McLaren pitted Norris on Lap 51, a set of used medium tyres going on the Briton’s car as he emerged in P2. Verstappen had moved up into the lead as a result – a situation that he remarked was “not bad” given his pit lane start – while Piastri made a stop for used mediums one tour later, bringing him out in seventh.

The race took another intriguing turn when Verstappen was brought into the pits on Lap 55 to bolt on a fresh set of soft tyres. Returning to the track in fourth place, the flying Red Bull set about chasing down Russell, Antonelli and Norris up ahead.

Behind, Piastri had made his way up to fifth after picking off Lawson and Bearman. As for Verstappen, the four-time World Champion was warned that his tyre compound was “vulnerable”, leading him to respond that there was “nothing to lose”.

With 12 laps to go, Norris continued to lead by six seconds from Antonelli, who in turn had a two-second margin over Russell. The latter – seemingly experiencing brake issues – was being caught by Verstappen, the Dutchman just 1.5s behind, while Piastri was four seconds adrift of the Red Bull in fifth.

As the race entered into its closing stages, a thrilling finale looked to be on the cards as Verstappen edged ever closer to Russell – before surging around the outside on the main straight to climb up into third.

Next in the Dutch driver’s sights was Antonelli, though the Red Bull initially could not quite break into DRS range – until Lap 67, that is, which put him right on the rear of the Mercedes. Behind them, Russell was also being chased by Piastri and had also now closed to within DRS as the final two laps arrived.

A wide moment for Antonelli on the final tour allowed Verstappen to get even closer. While this was playing out, Norris crossed the line to seal victory with a 10-second lead – and Antonelli ultimately managed to hold on to claim P2, Verstappen following in P3 in a result that would perhaps have scarcely seemed believable when he lined up to start from the pit lane.

Russell also resisted the pressure from Piastri to take fourth, meaning that Mercedes – and Red Bull – have leapfrogged Ferrari in the Teams’ Championship. Piastri, meanwhile, is now 24 points adrift of Norris in the Drivers’ standings after taking fifth in Sao Paulo.

Bearman completed a good weekend to clinch P6, while Lawson and Hadjar followed in seventh and eighth for Racing Bulls. An incident between the pair was noted on the final lap, before the stewards deemed that no further investigation was necessary.

Hulkenberg and Gasly rounded out the top 10, followed by Albon, Ocon, Sainz, Alonso, Colapinto, Stroll and Tsunoda. Hamilton, Leclerc and Bortoleto, meanwhile, were the three unlucky drivers not to take the chequered flag.

Key quote

"I was pushing!" Norris said after his victory. "It was an amazing race and it’s nice to win here in Brazil. It’s an amazing track, amazing fans. This one was for Gil [de Ferran], one of my mentors growing up a couple of years ago. This one was for him – I’m sure he’d be very proud about it all. I was thinking of that while driving. A perfect weekend."

What's next

After a week off, F1 will kick off its final triple header of the season with the Las Vegas Grand Prix from November 20-22. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.