Norris on for title after “perfect” São Paulo weekend

The McLaren ace scored a perfect haul of 33 points with a Sprint race win on Saturday and a clear victory in the Grand Prix on Sunday. But in his wake, another wonder of an Interlagos performance from Max Verstappen topped a thrilling race in the Brazilian capital. A year on from his rain-affected victory from the 17^th on the grid, the Red Bull star climbed from a pitlane start this time in the dry to chase Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli home for a remarkable podium.

Meanwhile, and in stark and painful contrast, Oscar Piastri’s title bid continued its downward spiral with another disaster of a weekend. The Australian’s head must be spinning having dropped from his once-lofty position at the top of the standings to a gaping 24 points behind his soaring team-mate, now with just three to play.

Norris hits form when it counts the most

After the string of errors and the heart-on-sleeve admissions of fallibility, there’s a new steel about Lando Norris as the 25-year-old followed up his masterclass in Mexico with another near-flawless performance at glorious old Interlagos. The Sprint win from pole on Saturday was largely untroubled, and although Verstappen got far closer than he would have liked in the Grand Prix itself, there was never much serious doubt about the outcome.

Norris negotiated an early safety car interruption, then a Virtual Safety Car to calmly hold the lead despite the threat of a cyclone passing over, question marks and variations on tyre strategy kept him on his toes. But a standard choice of two stops, running medium-soft-medium Pirellis, saw him through.

Yes, Verstappen remarkably vaulted into the lead on lap 50 of 71, also after two stops, with a 7.8sec cushion over Norris, but it quickly became clear the four-time Champion would have to stop again to bolt on a set of softs for a sprint to the finish. Had Verstappen attempted to stick it out on a set of mediums after his second stop, a tyre life offset in the McLaren’s favour would have made it tough for the Dutchman to defend his lead.

Verstappen’s wonder drive

It doesn’t matter that this wasn’t a drive to victory. It still ranks high among Verstappen’s best F1 performances — which is saying something given the rate and quantity of his great drives.

He was all at sea through most of the first two days of the weekend. A shock elimination in the first part of qualifying — his first since 2021 — left him 16^th on the grid. In the circumstances, it made sense for Red Bull to give him a fresh engine and leave him starting from the pitlane, with a heavily revised aero set-up. What did he have to lose?

No one was really surprised when Verstappen was transformed in the race. He and Red Bull have a knack of turning fortunes around when all looks lost.

After the race’s only full safety car, triggered by Lance Stroll squeezing Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber into the wall on lap one — an all too short home debut for the young Brazilian — hard-tyred Verstappen had already climbed to 13^th. But then a right-front puncture forced an early stop, dropping him to the back despite it occurring during a VSC. Now on a prime set of mediums, Verstappen went to work.

Predictably, he cut a swathe through the pack, to the point where once the second stops had cycled through he found himself in the lead. “Not bad,” he quipped on the radio. But that early stop for the puncture had put his strategy out of step, and on a second set of mediums the quickest and most effective way to finish the race was to stop again for those red-walled Pirellis.

It does raise the question that without the puncture, could Verstappen have challenged Norris harder for the win? You’d have to say there’s a strong case.

Antonelli’s best F1 weekend yet

As it was, Verstappen resumed after his third stop in fourth place, picked off George Russell’s Mercedes in seven laps and then set off after Antonelli. The rookie Italian has been through some rough times this year, particularly during a mid-season slump. But he sure looked convincing at Interlagos, with a fine second place in the Sprint, a front-row qualifying effort for the Grand Prix and the best result of his young career so far.

Staying cool on a set of mediums, Antonelli faced increasing pressure from Verstappen. But fortunately for the rookie, his pursuer had inevitably taken some life from his relatively fragile soft tyres and didn’t have the performance in the final laps to make a move into either Turns 1 or 4. Antonelli just about kept out of his range to finish runner-up to Norris, with Verstappen just over ten seconds behind the winner.

Piastri penalty ruins his day

Just off the podium, Russell managed a worrying braking deficiency to keep Piastri at arm’s length. The Australian had crashed out of the Sprint, qualified a lacklustre fourth and dropped a place in the Grand Prix to finish fifth, losing him crucial ground in the title race. What a horror show.

The key was the ten-second penalty he picked up for the collision that caused the VSC. Following the Bortoleto safety car, Norris didn’t make the quickest of restarts up front, and as a knock-on Antonelli, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Piastri dived into Turn 1 three abreast.

Piastri was on the inside and locked a wheel as Antonelli in the middle took his line — and the McLaren and Mercedes came together. As Antonelli admitted, he was lucky to escape unscathed to go on and claim his eventual second place.

As for Piastri, the gap was there and he had to go for it. Did he really deserve a ten-second penalty? By the letter of the blessed ‘racing guidelines’ — produced by the drivers, used diligently by the stewards — such a punishment was inevitable. Especially because the incident ended Leclerc’s race.

Piastri’s punt into Antonelli sent the Mercedes into the Ferrari on the outside of the trio, ripping into Leclerc’s left-front tyre and suspension. Like Antonelli, it could have been worse for Piastri because his race might have ended there and then as well. As it was the penalty, combined with Verstappen’s genius drive, ruined his hopes of a damage-limitation podium.

Top six for Bearman again

Oliver Bearman is starting to look nailed-on as a future Ferrari driver after another impressive performance for Haas. The British rookie and Ferrari reserve followed up his brilliant fourth in Mexico with a superb sixth at Interlagos, his fifth points finish in the past seven races. He was well clear of the squabbling Racing Bulls, which made contact at Turn 1 as they began the last lap.

Still, Liam Lawson just held off team-mate Isack Hadjar for a great points haul for Red Bull’s secondary team, with Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top ten after a frenetic and closely fought Grand Prix in the midfield.

Ferrari loses ground

Along with Piastri, Ferrari left Brazil as the other big losers from the São Paulo Grand Prix. Leclerc’s faultless and unlucky accident was compounded by a miserable weekend for Lewis Hamilton.

He qualified only 13^th, was hit by Carlos Sainz’s Williams after the start, then ran into Franco Colapinto’s Alpine at the end of lap one, ripping up his front wing and damaging his Ferrari’s floor. The five-second penalty Hamilton incurred was the least of his troubles and Ferrari eventually — and wisely — withdrew him.

From second in the Constructors’ standings, the team has dropped two place behind Mercedes and Red Bull, the trio separated by just 32 points. As ever, millions of dollars — not to mention a whole dollop of pride — are at stake.

How they stand

So, just Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to go. Norris looks mighty convincing, sitting pretty by those 24 points. But is Verstappen still a threat? Well, he’s 49 points off the lead — and even for him that’s probably too much this time.

Then again… Will this fascinating F1 season have another twist in its tale before it’s done? Norris will hope not, but you’d be brave to bet against it.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.