Rick's Take: Look out for the Brits in Sao Paulo this weekend

Having said that, apart from Verstappen, expect Lewis Hamilton in the running, among a number of other drivers who could do really well this year at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a Sprint Race weekend to boot. The British brigade, in particular, looks strong.

A couple of off-track headlines: Charles Leclerc got engaged, and people are now asking if that’s going to affect his focus on track, whether he might be concentrating more on his fiancée than on his driving!

Lewis Hamilton has also made a statement about Ferrari, saying that the results will come and that fans shouldn’t expect miracles overnight. His exact quote was, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The McLaren situation really freaks me out. They say they’re not favouring either of their drivers, yet after a couple of poor results for Piastri, they’ve decided not to change his chassis for Brazil. They’ll keep the original one and just tweak it a little.

That makes me think, hang on a minute, Piastri’s reported that he’s struggling with the car, while Norris isn’t. Norris is flying high, Piastri’s struggling with the balance, but they’re not replacing the chassis. I think that’s a little weird.

Haas could have a good chance in Brazil, because they brought some upgrades to the last race, and I think they could be solidly mid-table this weekend. Aston Martin, on the other hand, have dropped right off the pace, same as Alpine. They can only hope that 2026 brings them back to glory.

Brazil is always about the weather. If we have a really wet qualifying and race, it could completely mix up the order. You have to look at the British drivers in wet conditions, because they all grew up karting in the rain.

The British weather’s so bad that they learned early how to handle it, and that’s why they’re so good in the wet. So, if it rains this weekend in qualifying or the race itself, look out for the British guys, especially George Russell. I think he could be a very good shout if it’s a wet race on Sunday.