Lando Norris controlled at the front to win F1 Brazil GP and exchange his points lead, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli resisting late pressure from Max Verstappen for P2.
It was greasy to start the F1 Brazil GP at Interlagos under cloudy conditions as McLaren’s Lando Norris led the way from Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the Top 4, being chased by Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar.
Teammate Liam Lawson managed to clear Mercedes’ George Russell, who had Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly on his tail and almost cleared him. The Frenchman got ahead of the two, but then lost out to both by the end of the lap.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounded the Top 10, but the grand prix was neutralised by safety car due to a crash for Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto. Replays showed he had a moment behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at Turn 10. He didn’t have space and spun.
Replays also showed a bump from Williams’ Carlos Sainz at Turn 1 on Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. It dropped the Brit behind Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, whom he tried to clear in the final corner but misjudged and clipped the back of the Argentine.
This damaged his front wing which forced him to pit. Red Bull pitted Yuki Tsunoda as well under the safety car. The re-start caused further damage behind Norris. Leclerc took the outside line against a slow Antonelli into Turn 1, which got Piastri on the inside.
The Australian had nowhere to go and braked hard but made contact with Antonelli. The Italian in turn hit Leclerc which cost him his left wheel and broken suspension to retire. Teammate Hamilton had floor damage to content with in a weekend to forget for Ferrari.
Post the Virtual Safety Car period to recover Leclerc’s car, it was Norris in the lead from Piastri, with Antonelli in third. Hadjar was fourth but Lawson lost fifth to Russell. Bearman was seventh from Gasly as Williams’ Alexander Albon moved up to ninth from Alonso in the Top 10.
Sainz soon cleared Alonso for 11th. In the meantime, Tsunoda was handed a 10s time penalty for causing a collision against Stroll. Replays showed that the Japanese driver tried to get through Colapinto but lost his rear, which resulted in him hitting Stroll into a spin.
Piastri was handed a 10s time penalty for Turn 1 incident. He maintained second from Norris, with Antonelli in third from Russell, who managed to clear Hadjar. Teammate Lawson lost sixth to Bearman, as the pit stop saga kick-off for the Top 10 drivers from Lap 18 onward.
Verstappen was already up to 13th under VSC, but puncture forced them to pit for the medium tyre. He climbed up in the Top 5 in fourth from Antonelli after his pit stop. Bearman gained multiple places specially on Hadjar and Lawson, who lost track position after pit stop.
In fact, Lawson lost a place to Gasly as well where the Frenchman eyed a place on Hadjar. There was 5s time penalty for Hamilton for causing a collision against Colapinto, as Tsunoda was handed another 10s time penalty for failing to serve the earlier penalty correctly.
Norris pitted on Lap 31 but switched to soft as Piastri waited further for a stop. Russell pitted on Lap 35 to cover the Australian, Antonelli got through to third. Russell got back on his tail after clearing multiple cars post his pit stop to retake his original track position.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg took track position on Albon without a stop where both eventually stopped releasing other cars. Behind them, Hadjar came under pressure from Gasly, who got through at Turn 1 but the former retook the place in the next couple of corners.
Piastri finally pitted on Lap 39 to switch to the soft and emerged in eighth behind Norris, Antonelli, Russell, Bearman, Verstappen, Gasly and Lawson. Behind them, Hamilton eventually retired to end Ferrari’s double retirement misery in F1 Brazil GP.
The second stop saga saw Antonelli pit on Lap 48, followed by Russell on Lap 29. Norris did so on Lap 51. This handed the lead to Verstappen, who didn’t have to stop. Piastri pitted on Lap 52 to drop behind Bearman in seventh. Verstappen eventually pitted on Lap 56 for soft.
Crucially, he managed to emerge ahead of Piastri, who cleared and had Lawson to clear. He managed to get the Kiwi as well but was a bit off Verstappen. Behind them, a frustrated Hadjar got stuck behind Stroll, whom he passed eventually to get track position.
But Gasly came along in chase of him in the fight for potential seventh, with Lawson and Hulkenberg trying one stop. Up front, Verstappen caught the back of Russell and made the move to make it pitlane to third and the hope of a second place finish by clearing Antonelli.
Russell had Piastri on tail and behind them, Lawson in seventh had to defend from Hulkenberg, who was joined by Hadjar and Gasly in the Top 10, with Ocon and Albon just outside after clearing Sainz to make it a six-car battle for positions from seventh to 10th.
While Norris cruised to a F1 win in Brazil GP to extend his points lead. He was 10.388s ahead of Antonelli, who managed to resist Verstappen to the line by 0.362s margin. Likewise Russell held off Piastri for fourth by 0.482s margin, as Bearman was a lonely sixth.
Lawson held off seventh after 52 laps on the medium tyres as he held off teammate Hadjar by 0.231s. The Frenchman had passed the Kiwi after clearing Hulkenberg, but seemingly gave up the place. The Kiwi resisted pressure from Hulkenberg for long before that.
The German had to be content with ninth after undertaking 35 laps on the soft compound. He was 0.451s behind Hadjar and 0.590s ahead of Gasly, who secured a point in 10th by keeping Albon off by 0.270s. He kept Ocon off by 0.512s, with Sainz only 0.742s behind.
The Spaniard had Alono only 0.346s behind in a tight P7 to P14 train of cars. Colapinto finished 15th at a distant from Stroll and Tsunoda to round out the 17 finishers.
