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Lando Norris won in Brazil from pole position on Sunday, with Max Verstappen second after starting 21st. Mercedes sealed their ninth constructors' championship despite errors from both their drivers.
McLaren’s Lando Norris won a wet and changeable Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday, while Mercedes secured the constructors’ championship even though both of their drivers made mistakes.
Norris started from pole, his first since the Spanish Grand Prix in September, according to the BBC. He lost the lead at the start to Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who is the new world champion. The BBC says an earlier switch to dry tyres put Norris close behind Antonelli, who then spun away the lead at the first corner. Norris dominated the rest of the race, including a late rain shower that forced a return to wet-weather tyres. Al Jazeera says he finished 14.602 seconds clear of Max Verstappen, and that it was his 14th career win and his first since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, a gap the BBC also notes.
Verstappen’s drive was one of the stories of the day. Al Jazeera reports that he started 21st because of engine penalties yet climbed to second, and named him driver of the day. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar finished third. George Russell, who started seventh, spun while leaving the pits and lost 15 to 20 seconds, the BBC says. He still finished fourth, with Antonelli fifth and setting the fastest lap, per Al Jazeera.
Those results were enough for Mercedes to win their ninth constructors’ title, their first since 2021, Al Jazeera says. The team needed to outscore Ferrari by three points, and Ferrari never threatened them in the tricky conditions. Charles Leclerc was eighth after a post-race penalty moved him down one place, and Lewis Hamilton was ninth in his 400th race. Antonelli had been named the youngest drivers’ champion a week earlier, with four races left, Al Jazeera reports.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said it had been a very strong start to the season that got the team over the line and that he was proud of the organisation. Norris said he had kept calm, made no mistakes and had the pace when needed. Al Jazeera also reports that Verstappen is now 17 points ahead of Russell in the fight for second place in the drivers’ standings.
The result completes a title double for Mercedes and shows how much rain and strategy can change a race, with the title fight now moving to second place in the standings.
The reports differ slightly in small details, such as which lap the leaders pitted, so we leave those out. We did not check the official FIA classification.
Each link goes to the specific article or document we used. Two articles carrying the same wire report count as one source.
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