Lando Norris produced a drive that his team principal ranked among his finest, winning a treacherous São Paulo Grand Prix that swung between wet and dry conditions and ended with Mercedes celebrating the constructors’ title. Norris Shines in São Paulo was the headline story of an afternoon that demanded precision from every driver on the grid.
Podium mishap fails to dent Norris's day
Even the celebrations carried a hint of chaos. After jumping from the top step and attempting his customary method of opening the champagne bottle by striking it against the podium, Norris shattered the bottle. Stepping backwards while holding the broken top aloft, he inadvertently caught the side of his head in the sparkles from the fireworks. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar responded by drenching him with their own bottles, but McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed shortly afterwards that Norris was unharmed. The Briton showed no ill effects in his post-race interviews.
A race that tested focus on every lap
Interlagos delivered the kind of variable weather that often defines its races. The track started wet, dried progressively, and then saw rain return in the closing stages. Through it all, Norris was virtually flawless. He described the event as one of the hardest of the year in terms of the concentration required on every lap, and rated it among his best performances.
Starting from pole, Norris was relatively slow away compared with Kimi Antonelli, who blasted into a lead and built an eight-second advantage over the first 13 laps. But as the track dried, Norris began to close. He stopped for slick tyres a lap before Antonelli, cutting a seven-second deficit to nothing. Three laps later, under pressure from the man he had replaced as champion, Antonelli spun at Turn One, handing Norris a lead he never looked like relinquishing.
Norris highlighted the team’s execution, particularly the early switch to slicks, which allowed him to force Antonelli into pushing harder and ultimately into a mistake. He also emphasised the importance of avoiding errors in such difficult conditions.
Verstappen's charge from 21st
Norris’s performance overshadowed what was another remarkable recovery drive from Verstappen, who started 21st after an engine penalty and finished second. At one stage, with the field on dry tyres and more rain forecast, the Red Bull driver had moved into fifth and looked capable of threatening the leaders. But once on slicks, he reported extreme oversteer in high-speed corners, making the car difficult to drive. Verstappen said the team needed to understand whether something had broken or an aerodynamic loss had occurred, because the behaviour was not normal. He was happy with second but acknowledged there had been more on offer had the car been in better shape.
Antonelli, who had clinched the title in Mexico, was left to reflect on a spin he described as uncharacteristic. He said the car lost the rear without warning. Mercedes team-mate George Russell had also looked capable of challenging Norris for raw pace after rising to third from seventh, but a spin exiting the pits turned a 1.2-second deficit into 20 seconds and ended his victory hopes. Fourth and fifth for Russell and Antonelli were enough for Mercedes to secure the constructors’ championship, their ninth and first since 2021.
Stella praises Norris's adaptability
Stella said that when Norris operates at his best, he is one of the best drivers on the grid. He noted that Norris had often excelled in mixed conditions, finding the limit quickly and understanding how much grip was available. Stella described adaptability as probably the most important attribute a driver can possess, and said Norris was a master of it.
For McLaren, the result marked a welcome return to form. The team had started the year slowly after diverting resources to secure their title double the previous season, caught up by mid-summer, and then saw rivals overtake them again in recent races. New parts, a circuit that suited the car, and Norris’s excellence in wet qualifying and the race combined to put him back on top.
Wolff expects no Mercedes era of dominance
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, was as focused on the lessons of the year as on the success. He noted that while Mercedes had dominated the first half of the season, they had been caught in the second, and upgrades brought a few races ago had not had the expected effect. He said the competition between Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes has become tougher, with four teams capable of winning races and challenging for a championship.
Wolff said he did not expect the constructors’ title to mark the start of another dominant era such as Mercedes enjoyed in the previous decade. He pointed to the professionalism and resources of the teams, suggesting runaway seasons are unlikely to return. He described the prospect as a completely new challenge and said it was good for the sport.
