Lando Norris Dominates São Paulo for Third Win of the Season
Lando Norris left São Paulo with a third win of the season, a soaked and steaming Interlagos finally bent to his will. On a day when the weather never made up its mind, the McLaren driver did – and that was the difference.
He lost the lead off the line to freshly crowned world champion Kimi Antonelli, slipped back into the spray, then rebuilt his race with cold-blooded clarity. An early call for slicks, composure as others spun, and ruthless pace when the track came to him. Once Antonelli looped his Mercedes at Turn 1, Norris grabbed control and never really let it go.
Max Verstappen chased, of course he did. Eight consecutive podiums now for the Red Bull driver, who once again turned a bruising grid penalty into a charge through the field. Isack Hadjar backed him up with a mature drive to third. Around them, the rest of the grid lurched between brilliance and waste on a treacherous Brazilian afternoon.
Here’s how the field stacked up across a wild São Paulo weekend.
Lando Norris – 10/10
Faultless, bar one brief misstep at the start. Fastest in first practice, electric in the wet to take pole, then ice-cool as the race swung from wet to dry and back again. Losing the lead to Antonelli on lap one could have rattled him. It didn’t. He judged the switch to slicks perfectly, kept it out of trouble when others didn’t, and controlled the pace once in clean air. This was the drive of a champion-in-waiting.
Max Verstappen – 9.5/10
Another masterclass in damage limitation that looked suspiciously like domination. Fastest in final practice, then dumped down to 21st on the grid. Within a handful of laps he had carved through 10 cars, reading the grip better than almost anyone. The conditions were vicious, the visibility worse, yet Verstappen looked entirely at home. Second from that starting point keeps his streak alive and his standards sky-high.
Isack Hadjar – 9/10
One of his most complete weekends in Formula 1. Hadjar qualified strongly, then lived in Verstappen’s mirrors and slipstream for long stretches of the race. He made errors – a few scruffy moments under pressure – but the raw speed was there. He even had enough pace to force Red Bull into a decision before ultimately stepping aside for Verstappen. Third place was fully earned, not gifted.
George Russell – 7.5/10
The speed was there from the first lap of the weekend. Second in qualifying underlined Mercedes’ potential, even if an engine penalty dragged him back to seventh on the grid. His spin exiting the pits was a brutal, self-inflicted blow that almost certainly cost him a podium. What followed, though, was impressive: a measured fightback to fourth, salvaging a strong result from a glaring error.
Kimi Antonelli – 6.5/10
For a few laps, this looked like the perfect opening act to his reign as world champion. A superb launch, a commanding early lead in filthy conditions – it was all there. Then the switch to slicks arrived, and with it a spin at Turn 1 that cracked the day wide open. From that point, the race unraveled into a messy, stop-start afternoon. The raw pace was obvious; the execution, less so.
Oscar Piastri – 6/10
A weekend that never really found its rhythm. The red flag timing in qualifying hurt him, but even allowing for that, he never got close to Norris’ level on Sunday. Almost a minute behind his team-mate at the flag tells the story. No major mistakes, just not enough speed when it mattered.
Liam Lawson – 8.5/10
Quietly outstanding. Lawson put the Racing Bulls fifth on the grid, started third after penalties, and even ran second in the opening phase of the race. As the laps ticked by and strategies unfolded, he inevitably slipped back, but the quality of the stint at the front and the composure in changing conditions underlined why he is so highly rated. A statement weekend.
Charles Leclerc – 6.5/10
A day of progress blunted by one costly misjudgement. A power-unit penalty dumped him to 14th on the grid, but on pure pace he had been fourth in qualifying. He sliced through the pack to eighth and looked set to complete a strong recovery. Then came the clash with Lawson. The move got him ahead on track, but the contact earned a five-second penalty that dropped him back behind the New Zealander. Impressive speed, imperfect execution.
Lewis Hamilton – 6.5/10
For a handful of laps, it was Hamilton at full tilt. From 20th to ninth in the opening exchanges, he attacked the chaos with trademark aggression. Once the race settled, the Ferrari simply didn’t respond. He struggled badly on the intermediates, never found a rhythm in the middle stints, and a late spin underlined a day that promised more than it delivered.
Nico Hülkenberg – 7.5/10
Superb on Saturday, dogged on Sunday. Hülkenberg dragged the Audi into sixth in wet qualifying, then climbed to fourth on the grid as penalties shuffled the order. His race was defined by a bruising fight with Franco Colapinto that pushed him off track and earned a 10-second penalty. Even with that setback, he clung on for the final point. Hard-earned, and well deserved.
Arvid Lindblad – 7/10
A weekend of quiet graft. A mechanical failure ended his qualifying early, and further power-unit changes buried him down the grid. From there, he rebuilt his race with patience and pace, climbing to 11th and finishing on the fringes of the points. On another day, with a cleaner Saturday, this performance would have been rewarded.
Fernando Alonso – 8/10
At last, something to smile about. Reaching Q3 for the first time this season was a significant step for both Alonso and Aston Martin. On Sunday he raced with all his usual venom, pulling off a standout move to get ahead of Hamilton. Twelfth on paper doesn’t leap off the page, but the underlying performance did. There was real substance here.
Franco Colapinto – 6.5/10
Alpine were lost in the wet on Saturday, but Colapinto dragged something respectable out of it. He moved forward on Sunday, beat team-mate Pierre Gasly, and mixed it with Hülkenberg in a battle that ultimately cost the Audi driver a penalty. Nothing spectacular, yet quietly effective in a difficult car.
Pierre Gasly – 5.5/10
A weekend that never took off. Both Alpines dropped out in Q1, and Gasly never truly recovered. He made some progress from 16th on the grid, but finished behind Colapinto and never looked like troubling the top 10. Underwhelming, especially given the chaos around him.
Alex Albon – 7/10
Saturday was the high point. Albon muscled the Williams into Q3 for the first time this season and lined up ninth, a reward for sharp driving in grim conditions. The race went the other way. As the grip vanished and strategies diverged, he slid down the order to 15th. The speed was there over one lap; the package simply didn’t hold up over a race distance.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 5/10
There was real promise before it all went wrong. Bortoleto showed strong pace in practice, feeding hope of a big home weekend. Then came the crash in Q1 that wrecked his Audi and his prospects. From that moment, he was playing catch-up and never fully recovered.
Oliver Bearman – 5.5/10
A tale of two days. On Saturday, Bearman was superb, putting the Haas eighth in qualifying and sixth on the grid as others floundered. On Sunday, the race slipped away from him almost immediately. He tumbled down the order and eventually came home 17th. The raw speed is there; now he needs the race craft to match it.
Sergio Pérez – 5/10
The engine penalty that put him last on the grid set the tone. From there, Pérez ran a clean, if unspectacular, race in the Cadillac. He picked off a handful of cars, avoided trouble, and finished ahead of a Williams and a Haas. It was solid damage limitation, nothing more.
Carlos Sainz – 4.5/10
Misfortune on Saturday, little redemption on Sunday. His Q2 push was wrecked by the red flag just as he switched to intermediates, leaving him out of position. The race offered a chance to make amends, but the comeback never materialised. The weekend drifted away from him.
Rafael Camara – 5.5/10
A debut soaked in both promise and pain. Camara’s raw speed in the Haas was obvious: reaching Q2 in those treacherous conditions was a genuine achievement. The flip side was just as clear – two qualifying incidents and a bruising race left him 20th at the flag. The talent is there; the polish will have to follow.
Lance Stroll – 4/10
Aston Martin’s upgrade momentum flowed almost entirely through Alonso. Stroll never got close. Out in Q1, off the pace across the weekend, and a long way from the points. A forgettable visit to Interlagos.
Valtteri Bottas – 4.5/10
His weekend was over before it started. Only 20th in qualifying before grid penalties nudged him up the order, Bottas then saw his race end almost immediately as Cadillac retired the car with a technical problem. With so little running on Sunday, there was almost nothing to judge beyond a muted Saturday.
Norris walked away with the trophy, Verstappen with another podium streak intact, and the rest with as many questions as answers. In a season tilting towards a generational power shift, São Paulo felt less like an outlier and more like a warning: if Norris can tame Interlagos like this, what exactly is his ceiling?
