Sao Paulo: McLaren’s Lando Norris secured his second straight win at Sao Paulo as he took the chequered flag first at the wet-dry-wet Brazilian Grand Prix by 14.6 seconds.
Norris, who started from pole, led the 71-lap race for the majority of the time as Red Bull took a double podium, with Max Verstappen finishing second ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar.
A week after Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden and historic F1 title, his team, Mercedes, also clinched the constructors’ crown after the Italian finished fifth behind teammate George Russell.
Although Antonelli was later hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pits, he didn’t lose his P5, being already nearly 20 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson took back the seventh he lost to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the duo battled it out for the seventh spot in the closing stages. Leclerc touched the left rear tyre of Lawson, and although he finished P7, he was hit with a five-second time penalty for the incident and ultimately dropped to P8, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, who came from P20 to P9. Nico Hulkenberg took the final point at P10 after overcoming a strong midfield battle.
It was a stellar race for Red Bull’s Verstappen, who was P21 on the starting grid due to his power unit penalty. However, he stormed through the field in wet-dry-wet conditions and came second. He had famously won this very race in 2024 from P17.
Verstappen finished 14 seconds behind Norris after a late pit stop for intermediate tyres when rain began to fall again. “Yeah, it was a challenging race,” said Verstappen. “I think the first few laps, of course, were very important.
“I overtook a lot of cars, and actually, that first stint, I think on the intermediates, was really, really strong.”
Meanwhile, Norris also reflected on the race. “It was a very tough race – very, very tough,” Norris reflected. “Obviously, not the best of launches off the line, but a lot of challenges today, obviously, with the conditions.
“Going onto slicks in the wet is always tough, especially when you’re pushing for the lead and trying to catch up a little bit.
“The main thing today was I just kept it cool, and I didn’t make any mistakes. I had the pace when I needed to, so it was good. Nice to be back on the top step, and what a place to do it as well,” he added.
(IANS)
