Lando Norris dominated the race weekend in Brazil, taking a major step towards the World Drivers’ Championship (WDC) as teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri was unable to perform on the same level.
Saturday’s sprint race was not without its drama, as on lap six, Piastri clipped the damp kerb, causing him to lose control and crash into the barriers, just before Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg crashed in the same place. After the sprint restarted, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli applied late pressure on race leader Norris, but the McLaren driver held him off, winning by just 0.845 seconds.
Qualifying produced the shock Q1 elimination of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who complained on the team radio: “I have no grip, zero! Brilliant.” This was only the seventh Q1 exit in Verstappen’s F1 career, and the first ever on pure pace. With Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda qualifying a lowly P19, this marked Red Bull’s worst qualifying performance since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.
At the front, Norris took pole, 0.174 seconds ahead of Antonelli in P2. Piastri could only manage P4 behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc — not where he needs to be if he wants to keep his title hopes alive.
In Sunday’s Grand Prix, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto suffered heartbreak at his first home race, crashing his Sauber on lap one. At the safety car restart, Piastri made contact with Antonelli, who was sent into Leclerc, leading to the Ferrari driver’s DNF. While many would argue that it was simply a racing incident after a restart, given how the three cars were side-by-side, the stewards gave Piastri a 10-second penalty, practically ending his podium chances. This was not a view Leclerc shared, with the Ferrari driver commenting “I don’t think Oscar deserved all the blame there,” believing that there was a “50-50 blame with Kimi and Oscar.”
Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton, a three-time winner at Interlagos, also had bad luck — the seven-time world champion retired after picking up front wing and floor damage from early incidents with Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto. This was the second double DNF for Ferrari this season.
Max Verstappen, after qualifying in P16, chose to start from the pit lane after Red Bull made some changes to the car’s set-up and engine. The Dutch driver showed very strong race pace, managing to come from the back of the grid to emerge from his pit stops in P4 on lap 55. He then overtook George Russell for P3, and battled Antonelli at the end for P2. However, the 19-year-old defended his position well, securing his best ever Grand Prix finish after an impressive weekend. Piastri also challenged Russell in the final laps, but the Mercedes driver held on, keeping Piastri behind in P5.
At the front, Norris never seemed under threat, winning the race by over ten seconds. However, Max Verstappen was voted driver of the day after an impressive performance in which he became the first driver to go from the pit lane to the podium since Lewis Hamilton at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen’s performance seemed largely reminiscent of last year’s race at Interlagos, where he won after starting in P17. Elsewhere, British rookie Oliver Bearman continued his recent strong run by finishing in P6, while Racing Bulls gained valuable points for their battle in the constructors’ standings, with Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar finishing in P7 and P8. Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly rounded out the points.
The action in Brazil means that Ferrari fall to P4 in the World Constructors’ Championship (WCC), with Mercedes retaking P2 and Red Bull back up to P3. In the all-important WDC, Norris is now 24 points ahead of Piastri, with Verstappen a further 25 points behind. With only three race weekends left, Norris will surely begin to think about becoming the 2025 World Champion, although with 83 points still up for grabs, the fight is not over yet.
“2025 Japan GP – McLaren – Lando Norris – FP1” by Liauzh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.