Brazil - Race

Anyone who has ever watched the Sao Paulo Grand Prix can contest that it's a race in which anything is possible. This year was no different. The hour and a half long spectacle had everything a fan could dream of. Incredible recoveries, dramatic DNFs, and fights all over the track. So, who impressed under the cloudy, Brazilian sky?

18 drivers lined up on the grid, with Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon deciding to make some changes to their cars and start the race from the pit lane. The tire strategies seemed to be different for all drivers, with the grid presenting an almost even split of softs, mediums, and hards. 

The race start was good for the leader, Lando Norris, but terrible for two other drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Gabriel Bortoleto. The former made contact with Carlos Sainz and fell all the way to the back of the field. This wasn't the end of his problems. He then drove into the back of the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, losing his front wing in the process. The latter noted an even worse beginning to his home Grand Prix. Before the end of lap one, he hit a wall and eliminated himself from contention. His incident brought out the first safety car of the afternoon.

Racing was resumed at the end of lap five. Norris was pretty safe in the lead, but behind him, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, and Oscar Piastri went into turn one side by side. The situation turned disastrous when the McLaren hit the side of the Mercedes, which drove into the Ferrari. Although Piastri and Antonelli managed to get out of the situation relatively unscathed, the same couldn't be said about Leclerc. The Monegasque lost his wheel and damaged his suspension. His race ended there, much earlier than anyone would have expected. A virtual safety car was brought in as the marshals began working on clearing up the debris. Piastri was later given a 10-second penalty for causing the accident. 

A few of the drivers used the occasion to pit. One of them was Verstappen, whose tires got punctured by the debris that had come off the Ferrari. What seemed like an already tough afternoon for Red Bull only became worse when Yuki Tsunoda was given a 10-second penalty for a collision he had had with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. 

This is where the situation gets tricky. There was no set strategy for the Brazilian Grand Prix, with drivers pitting at completely different moments. The leaderboard was constantly shifting and rarely ever showed the true order of the 18 remaining drivers. One thing worth noting was that Verstappen was rapidly making his way up the field, reaching an astonishing P4 about a third of the way through the race. 

By lap 26, Norris, Piastri, Russell, and Verstappen made up the top three. The sole remaining Ferrari was on the other end of the grid, having been given a 5-second penalty for the lap one incident involving Colapinto. Hamilton spent most of his race there and finally boxed to retire the car, making the weekend a true nightmare for the Italian team.

Norris pitted on lap 33, with Russell and Verstappen following his lead on lap 35. This made Piastri the race leader, although his position was only temporary, as he still had a penalty hanging over his neck. Having changed his tires on lap 38, he tumbled down the order, ending up in a disappointing P8. The race was a rare for this season, two-stopper, so the real order of the grid was revealed long after the first wave of pit stops. 

As the two Mercedes and two McLarens all pitted for the second time, Verstappen became the temporary race leader, a truly impressive feat given his pitlane start. Although many of his fans hoped that he could make his medium tires last until the very end, and put himself in contention for the lead, it just wasn't a feasible strategy. The Dutchman bolted on new softs on lap 54 and came out fourth, behind Norris and the Mercedes, but ahead of Piastri. 

It quickly became clear that no one would be able to take the victory away from Norris, so the eyes of all those gathered at Interlagos or in front of their screens turned towards the two fights that could yet bring a significant change in the order. Verstappen managed to clear Russel on lap 63 and quickly set his sights on the young Italian, who had found himself right in front of him. Behind the two, Piastri began closing in on the Brit, hoping to move into P4 and get the few additional points that could end up being the difference between winning the Drivers' Championship and going home empty-handed. 

In the end, neither of them managed the order-changing move. Lando Norris crossed the finish line first, winning the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time in his career. Behind him was Kimi Antonelli, noting his second-ever podium finish, and Max Verstappen, who managed a truly astonishing recovery drive.

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Kimi Antonelli

3. Max Verstappen

4. George Russel

5. Oscar Piastri

6. Oliver Bearman

7. Liam Lawson

8. Isack Hadjar

9. Nico Hulkenberg

10. Pierre Gasly

11. Alex Albon

12. Esteban Ocon

13. Carlos Sainz

14. Fernando Alonso

15. Franco Colapinto

16. Lance Stroll

17. Yuki Tsunoda

DNF: Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Gabriel Bortoleto