São Paulo GP 2025: Norris wins as Antonelli holds off Verstappen

Lando Norris won the São Paulo Grand Prix from pole position at Interlagos on 9 November, finishing 10.388 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli and completing a weekend sweep after Saturday's sprint. Max Verstappen took third, 0.362 seconds behind the Mercedes, having started from the pit lane. Oscar Piastri, Norris's McLaren team-mate and closest title rival, was fifth after a 10-second penalty.

How Norris won at Interlagos

Norris kept Antonelli behind him into Turn 1 and was never passed on track. The race was neutralised almost immediately. Gabriel Bortoleto hit the barriers at Turn 10 after contact with Lance Stroll, ending his home race on the opening lap and bringing out the safety car. Lewis Hamilton's afternoon was ruined just as early: bumped by Carlos Sainz, he then lost his front wing against the back of Franco Colapinto's Alpine.

The restart shaped everything that followed. Piastri dived inside Antonelli at Turn 1, locked up and hit the Mercedes, which was pushed into Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. Leclerc's front-left was broken and he was out within seconds. The stewards gave Piastri 10 seconds, which he served at his first stop.

Verstappen had gone out in Q1 in 16th, and Red Bull then changed his engine and set-up overnight, which sent him to the pit lane. He picked up a puncture in the opening laps, pitted under the virtual safety car and rejoined last. He stopped three times in all, led briefly while the front-runners made their stops, and took third from George Russell with a move around the outside of Turn 1 on lap 63.

He caught Antonelli with four laps left but could not find a way past. Second place is the 19-year-old's best result in Formula 1, one day after his best qualifying. Norris, on a two-stop race, managed the gap from the front and was never seriously threatened.

The teammate duels at Interlagos

McLaren. Norris won both halves of the duel: pole against Piastri's fourth on the grid, and four places ahead at the flag. On F1 Duels, Norris vs Piastri now reads 12–9 in qualifying and 12–8 in races. Piastri's weekend had started badly, with a crash in Saturday's sprint.

Mercedes. Antonelli beat Russell on both days, second against sixth on the grid and second against fourth in the race. It barely moves the season picture. In our count Antonelli vs Russell stands at 3–18 in qualifying and 2–15 in races, so this was only the second Sunday of the year on which the rookie came out ahead.

Red Bull. Both cars were knocked out in Q1, but Sunday showed the real gap. Yuki Tsunoda was the last of the 17 classified finishers, after a 10-second penalty for his clash with Stroll and a second one for failing to serve the first correctly. Verstappen vs Tsunoda is 19–0 in qualifying and 17–0 in races.

Racing Bulls. The tightest pairing of the weekend. Isack Hadjar out-qualified Liam Lawson by 0.044% of a lap, fifth against seventh, but Lawson finished seventh and Hadjar eighth after the two made contact on the final lap (the stewards took no action). Hadjar still leads their head-to-head 14–5 on Saturdays and 9–6 on Sundays.

Ferrari. No race verdict here. Leclerc was taken out in someone else's accident, and Hamilton, driving with floor damage and a five-second penalty for the Colapinto contact, was called in to retire. Ferrari left Brazil without a point and dropped from second to fourth in the constructors' standings, behind Mercedes and Red Bull.

What it means for the title

Norris's seventh grand prix win of the season, added to the sprint, puts him 24 points clear of Piastri with three rounds left. Verstappen is third, 49 points behind, and his drive from the pit lane kept him in the conversation. The verdicts for all ten teams are on the São Paulo GP duels page.