Lando Norris completes an Interlagos clean sweep to extend Championship lead: 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix Review

Theo Tarling
Nov 10
4 min read

It was a dominant performance at Interlagos this weekend from Lando Norris as he moved ever closer to his first championship with victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver took his seventh win of the 2025 season and just like it was in the Sprint on Saturday, the runner up spot was occupied by Mercedes Kimi Antonelli who rounded off a spectacular weekend to record his best finish. Max Verstappen completed a mega comeback drive from the pitlane to take the final spot on the podium while Oscar Piastri’s awful weekend meant that his championship chances have taken another big hit.

Bortoleto’s Brazil adventure ended at Laranjinha

It had already been quite a hard weekend for home hero Gabriel Bortoleto. After a horrific crash on the final lap of Saturday’s Sprint through no fault of his own, the Brazilian rookie was unable to take part in qualifying due to the damage on his Sauber meaning he would start P18. His race lasted until Bico De Pato (Turn 10) after his car was forced onto the grass and into the wall by the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.

Piastri’s optimistic move causes mayhem

After the safety car restart following the Bortoleto crash, Oscar Piastri found himself within the slipstream of Antonelli and dived down the inside into the first corner. Unfortunately for the Australian he was forced to lock up as the Mercedes rookie was pretty much forcing him right towards the grass, the end result was that Piastri’s lockup saw him clip the rears of Kimi who then spun into Charles Leclerc while he was trying to go around the outside and avoid the chaos.

Leclerc’s race was over as his suspension was broken on the impact of the contact, causing the virtual safety car to be called out. Both Antonelli and Piastri survived without any real damage to their cars. The worst part for McLaren was that it led to him getting a 10 second time penalty which turned out to be extremely costly for his world championship chances as he would eventually only recover to finish P5.

Verstappen’s incredible recovery from the pitlane

After a dismal qualifying saw Verstappen eliminated in Q1 on raw speed, Red Bull chose to give him a fresh engine meaning a pitlane start. With the new engine, he raced through the field at rapid speed and with the help of the VSC to make an early stop from the hards to the mediums, the four-time champion was in a net fifth place by around the quarter distance mark. Verstappen’s pace was so good it allowed him to jump Lando Norris after the McLaren’s two stops. However, the tyre offset meant it was never realistic that he was going to fight for victory meaning he had to make a third stop onto another fresh soft.

The new softs allowed him to quickly close on the Mercedes pair, first he dispatched George Russell on lap 63 to move up into the podium places, but he was unable to overtake Kimi Antonelli for second place.

Ferrari’s dismal race ends in a double DNF

For Ferrari it was a nightmare Sunday as both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were forced to retire from the race with damage. Before Leclerc’s crash had even happened, it already went wrong for Ferrari as Hamilton had only qualified 13th. He then lost six places on lap one and would go on to lose his front wing on the start finish straight after running into the back of Franco Colapinto’s Alpine. It would result in not only significant floor damage to the car but also a time penalty. He would retire on lap 37 of the race.

It’s a result that means Ferrari fall to fourth in the constructors championship. Despite having begun the weekend in second place and a single point ahead of Mercedes, they're now 36 points behind and also four points behind Red Bull.

Fight for P2 in Constructors after Mexico GP

Scuderia Ferrari - 356 points

Mercedes AMG Petronas - 355 points

Red Bull Racing - 346 points

Fight for P2 in Constructors after Sao Paulo GP

Mercedes AMG Petronas - 398 points

Red Bull Racing - 366 points

Scuderia Ferrari - 362 points

Championship picture with a triple header to go

The story of the 2025 Drivers World Championship is getting towards the final chapter. Following a two week break after this race it will be a triple header in Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi that ends what has been an incredible season. Lando’s dominance this weekend means he gains the maximum 33 points, while Oscar could only gain ten meaning the lead has stretched from a single point after Mexico to 24 points.

Any chances of a fifth world title in a row for Max Verstappen look to be heavily unlikely as he sits 49 points behind the lead, though credit should still be given for the incredible fightback he’s put in considering he was over 100 points behind after the Dutch Grand Prix.

Standings

1st - Lando Norris - 390 points

2nd - Oscar Piastri - 366 points

3rd - Max Verstappen - 341 points.

Final race classification

1st Lando Norris (McLaren) - 1:32:01.596

2nd Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +10.388

3rd Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +10.750

4th George Russell (Mercedes) +15.267

5th Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +15.749

6th Ollie Bearman (Haas) +29.630

7th Liam Lawson (RB) +52.642