Lando Norris can leave Sao Paulo fully satisfied that he did not leave anything on the table, bagging the maximum haul of points after a commanding weekend for the Briton at Interlagos.
After Norris' solid weekend in Mexico, he followed that up with an even better performance last weekend in Sao Paulo, a track where his teammate, Oscar Piastri, was supposed to do well at, not to mention Max Verstappen, who considers Interlagos as one of his preferred hunting grounds.
As it panned out, Piastri, after a brief promise in practice, imploded, while Verstappen went through a nightmare with his RB21 as a surprising star performer emerged, Kimi Antonelli.
While Interlagos usually serves a curveball with its unpredictable weather, that was not the case this weekend, as the rain came for a bit before the Sprint Race, which started on a drying track, which the drivers were able to manage—well, not all of them. Take a bow, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, and of course, Piastri.
Nevertheless, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend turned out to be a pivotal race, which will undoubtedly have the biggest effect on the outcome of the 2025 Formula 1 Drivers' Championship.
Here are our takeaways.
Norris the faultless
Granted, McLaren were expecting their MCL39 to perform well at Interlagos, but Norris wielded that weapon and maximized its potential with two poles and two wins, while Piastri was all over the place.
After the McLaren teammates started at an equal level, with Piastri sometimes enjoying an edge in racing conditions as well as mentally, it now appears that Norris has turned the tables on his teammate and comprehensively.
Ever since Piastri crashed in Baku, he has never been the same driver, and while many have predicted that he may bounce back in Sao Paulo—including GrandPrix247's Parc Ferme—the Aussie failed to deliver.
He was off the pace in qualifying to Norris, while his crash in the Sprint and his altercation with Antonelli in the Grand Prix put him on the back foot, while Norris was supreme.
It now appears the Briton now has the measure of his teammate, and barring any freak incidents in the final three races, he will be the one raising a maiden Championship trophy.
Norris has undergone an impressive transformation, a point Editor-in-Chief Paul Velasco and I were discussing following Sao Paulo and the boss' latest Outside Line on Norris.
We have all been critical of Lando, this writer included, and rightly so, as he, or even Piastri, should've already bagged the Championship by now in the MCL39—that is what Verstappen would've done.
But we have to admit that the Dutchman has set such a high benchmark that it would be unfair to measure his rivals against it.
Max is a generational talent and the best out there right now by a huge margin, but Lando is the best of the rest, and his recent improvement has undoubtedly shown us how good he is when he gets his act together and is simply doing what he needs to do to win the Title, beating his teammate first, then others, and making the most out of his situation.
The 2025 F1 Drivers' Crown is Lando's to lose.
Red Bull are failing Verstappen
Verstappen's drive from the pitlane to third in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last Sunday was one of his most impressive drives to date, especially because it was a dry race with no major twists.
But it also left us with the strong sense of what could've been...
Imagine if Red Bull Racing had given Verstappen the RB21 setup he enjoyed during Sunday's Grand Prix from Friday... Which posed the question: Why didn't they?
They started with a bad setup, which meant he was sixth in Sprint Qualifying, after which he finished fourth in the Sprint Race.
With parc ferme removed between the Sprint and Qualifying, one would've expected Red Bull to fix the car with the data they gathered. Instead, they made it worse, and Max qualified 16th!
On race day, Verstappen started from the pitlane after Red Bull burned the midnight oil in the Milton Keynes simulator—Sao Paulo time, that is—and delivered a proper set and, with a new power unit bolted to the RB21, sent their driver off.
And what a drive that was. Had it not been for that puncture following the Piastri/Antonelli incident, Verstappen would have been second.
Had he qualified better, well, a win would have been on the cards. Even Norris admitted as much after the Grand Prix, as both he and Antonelli were flabbergasted to be sharing the post-race interviews with the four-time F1 Champion.
A team like Red Bull should not be so lost in their car setup. The setup did not work on Friday in a Sprint weekend? Fine.
But to mess it up again ahead of Qualifying is unacceptable, especially since they have proven they could sort out the RB21 with the upgrades they brought around the time of the Italian Grand Prix.
With the stakes so high, it is unacceptable for Red Bull to keep being lost with setup, and they are simply dropping the ball in a season that is shaping up to be Verstappen's best, performance-wise, that is.
Sao Paulo Grand Prix Quick Hits
- A brilliant weekend for Antonelli, who kept his cool under pressure, be it in qualifying when he was under risk of elimination or during the races.
His defense against Verstappen was impressive. It is never easy to remain composed when a four-time F1 Champion is attacking you, and especially when that Champion is Max.
For Kimi to perform the way he did at an old-school track like Interlagos makes his weekend even more impressive.
His early promotion into F1 may have been a baptism of fire, but I can't wait to see his performance in 2026. - The ten-second penalty Piastri was given in the race was not right. That was a racing incident, and Leclerc, the innocent bystander, even admitted as much.
It was simply another moment when the stewards delivered the penalty based on the consequences of an incident... - It was a disastrous weekend for Ferrari with two DNFs, but it was a sad one for Lewis Hamilton, and I say that because of his incident when he was attempting to pass Colapinto.
He misjudged the gap and broke his front and drove over it, damaging his floor and rendering his car undriveable.
Adding insult to injury, he got a five-second penalty, which prompted Ferrari to relieve him from his misery and ask him to retire the car.
Lewis should not be making such mistakes... Just sad... - There was much fanfare around Bortoleto's maiden home F1 race, and what a disaster that turned out to be. He was lucky to walk away from that 57G crash in the Sprint, and while he had a fresh start in the Grand Prix, his fans did not even manage to watch him drive for a complete lap. Better luck next year, Gaby.
- Another impressive weekend for Ollie Bearman and a solid one for both Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar. Good stuff from Pierre Gasly as well, who for some reason enjoys driving around Interlagos.
- Colapinto got a new Alpine contract just head of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and Flavio Briatore said he was a changed driver. Care to elaborate Flavio?
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