fter the excitement and general feel-good factor which had surrounded Kimi Antonelli becoming Formula 1’s youngest ever champion in Mexico last weekend, even if his teammate, George Russell, had sadly chosen not to join in any of the post-race Mercedes celebrations, it was back to business as usual this weekend at the iconic Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, where McLaren’s Lando Norris drove superbly to earn a thoroughly deserved victory.

In case you may have been wondering why the race was called the São Paulo Grand Prix and not the Brazilian Grand Prix, as in years gone by, it all relates to local funding issues involving the city the circuit is located within, similar to how the previous round in Mexico was called the Mexico City Grand Prix and not the Mexican Grand Prix, again as in the past.

After second practice in Mexico, Haas had replaced Esteban Ocon with its Japanese reserve driver, Ryo Hirakawa, and, come Brazil, it became clear that Ocon’s end-of-season departure from the team had been brought forward and that the French driver would not be racing for them again at any stage following the internal disputes, which had triggered events in Mexico. This could signal the end of his F1 career and has led to Haas giving its new 2027 driver, Rafael Câmara, his F1 debut this weekend at his home race rather than at the start of next season, an opportunity which thrilled the 21-year-old Brazilian, who is the current Formula 2 Championship leader. It is as yet unclear who will drive what was Ocon’s car during the three remaining 2026 Grands Prix after Interlagos.

Russell started Friday’s opening free practice session already knowing that he would face a five-place grid penalty for the Grand Prix due to the need to install a new internal combustion engine, which was beyond the season’s allocation allowed for all drivers, and, come the end of the hour-long practice period, it was Norris (the 2025 champion) who topped the timing screens, with Antonelli (the 2026 champion) the best of the rest. In second practice this order was reversed, with Antonelli outpacing his British rival in overcast conditions.

With the three-time Brazilian world champion, Ayrton Senna, being Antonelli’s racing hero, the young Italian wore a specially designed yellow, green and blue helmet for the round at Interlagos, and in final practice, amidst a threat of rain, he was second quickest behind Verstappen. It was proving to be the time of year when teams felt the need to change worn power unit components beyond the number allowed by the regulations, and, in addition to Russell, a trio comprised of Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen also received related grid penalties, with Hamilton and Verstappen set to start from the back of the grid.

Heavy rain subsequently caused Saturday’s qualifying session to be redflagged soon after it had begun, and it only recommenced an hour and 20 minutes later. Norris and Russell ultimately went fastest in the still very wet conditions, ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc, and the application of the various grid penalties meant that Norris and Antonelli would start from the front row ahead of Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson and the Audi of Nico Hülkenberg.

he circuit was decidedly greasy as the formation lap for the race began at 2pm local time (5pm back in the UK), amidst the fascinating prospect of the two latest champions starting out front and two legendary multiple champions, Hamilton and Verstappen, way to their rear at the opposite end of the grid. When those famous red lights were extinguished, the polesitting Norris actually made a less than impressive start, his only mistake of the afternoon, and was quickly passed by both Antonelli and Lawson, while Verstappen and Hamilton sought to make their way through the field. Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar was also a man on the move, as by lap seven he had climbed to third behind Antonelli and Norris.

As the frontrunners started to pit to switch from intermediate tyres to softs, Russell was showing impressive pace, but a mistake exiting the pits was costly for him, if not terminal. On lap 20 Norris claimed the lead from Antonelli, and four tours later Verstappen rose to third behind Norris and Hadjar. Subsequently, Red Bull switched the order between Hadjar and Verstappen in the hope that the latter might be able to catch the leading Norris, but it was not to be.

Following further pitstops, Norris still led from Verstappen and Hadjar before rain started to fall on lap 60 of 71, forcing drivers to stop again for a return to intermediate rubber to deal with the worsening track conditions. Come the chequered flag, the podium trio comprised of Norris, Verstappen and Hadjar, with the Red Bull team leader winning the official fan vote as the driver of the day, having risen to second place from 21st on the grid. To their rear, Russell, Antonelli and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri completed the top six finishers.

Mercedes had arrived in Brazil knowing that the team would seal its first Constructors’ Championship title since 2021 if it could outscore Ferrari by a mere three points, and it did more than that, notching up 22 points compared to the 8 earned by the iconic Italian outfit. This outcome was worth far more than prestige too, as in Formula 1 the prize money isn’t paid race by race but is linked to the sport’s overall income for each year and is shared at the end of the season, based on a sliding scale dependent upon where each team finishes in the rankings. The figures are very significant too, with McLaren having received approximately $175 million as the 2025 Constructors’ champion.

There will now be a two-week interlude before the next round, which will take place on the famous streets of Las Vegas. Due to the related road closures having a significant impact on local traffic, the Grand Prix will again take place on Saturday evening local time rather than the generally Sunday afternoon timing elsewhere, meaning that it will challenge fans back in the UK with a 4am GMT start time!

Also by Graham Read...

News And Events From F1: Mexico City Grand Prix

The shortened address for this article is: newspub.uk/021ni