6 Winners and 5 Losers from Sao Paulo – Who acquired the social gathering began in Brazil?

Lando Norris prolonged his lead within the Drivers’ Championship with a ruthless efficiency within the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, nevertheless it wasn’t so good for his rivals – together with McLaren group mate Oscar Piastri. Lawrence Barretto selects his winners and losers from Interlagos.

Winner: Lando Norris

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend was near perfection for Lando Norris, who led observe, took Dash pole, received the Dash, took Grand Prix pole and received the Grand Prix.

It was his second consecutive win from pole place and seventh Grand Prix victory of the season, tying Piastri’s tally for the 12 months.

Since his mechanical DNF within the Netherlands seven races in the past, Norris has overwhelmed Piastri in each single race weekend.

Having arrived at Interlagos main the championship by only one level, Norris leaves 24 away from Piastri with simply three Grand Prix weekends to go.

Loser: Oscar Piastri

This was one other irritating weekend for Piastri, who misplaced but extra floor to group mate Norris within the championship struggle.

The Australian was unfortunate to get caught out by a puddle in a kerb within the Dash, which triggered his crash and that ache was compounded when he was handed a 10-second penalty for a collision with Kimi Antonelli when preventing for P2 within the Grand Prix.

He noticed the chequered flag in fifth for the third Grand Prix on the bounce, extending his run with no podium to 5 – and trails Norris by 24 factors, which is his greatest deficit all season.

Winner: Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli’s race might have been over when contact with Piastri speared him into Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – however he survived to struggle on and from there delivered the strongest race of his quick profession to this point to take a best-ever second.

He absorbed the strain from a really quick Max Verstappen within the closing levels to safe a second successive P2 end in as many days, following a formidable Dash efficiency.

With group mate George Russell taking fourth place – and P3 within the Dash – Mercedes went from one level behind Ferrari within the Groups’ Championship to 36 factors clear in P2.

Losers: Ferrari

Whereas rivals Mercedes starred, Ferrari toiled in Interlagos, with the group struggling their third point-less Grand Prix weekend of the season.

Leclerc was a sufferer of the Piastri-Antonelli collision, the Monegasque retiring instantly after his Ferrari was struck.

Lewis Hamilton made contact with Franco Colapinto which broke his entrance wing and triggered a five-second time penalty earlier than he later retired the automobile.

It was a painful weekend for a group that arrived within the nation positioned second within the Groups’ Championship however left in fourth, with Purple Bull additionally leaping them.

Winner: Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen will go away Brazil pondering what may need been regardless of a heroic drive from the pit lane to the rostrum, as he completed third within the Grand Prix.

The reigning four-time World Champion did not progress past Q1 on pure tempo for the primary time in his profession as Purple Bull struggled to get the perfect set-up.

However following large adjustments in a single day, which triggered a pit lane begin, Verstappen got here alive within the race – and at one level appeared like he would possibly even win.

It was solely the eighth time {that a} driver ranging from the pit lane has made the rostrum – and the primary since Hamilton achieved the feat in 2014.

The draw back, in fact, is that Verstappen now heads to Vegas additional behind the Championship lead (he trails Norris by 49) – however there isn’t any doubt he’s driving at his peak.

Loser: Gabriel Bortoleto

This wasn’t the house Grand Prix weekend that Gabriel Bortoleto would have hoped for.

The Brazilian had an enormous crash on the finish of the Dash, and whereas he was unscathed, his automobile was so broken his Kick Sauber group could not get it prepared in time for Qualifying.

His Grand Prix did not final very lengthy both as a conflict with Lance Stroll ended his participation with the race not even a lap outdated.

Winner: Ollie Bearman

Ollie Bearman goes from energy to energy in Formulation 1, with the Briton delivering one other sensational drive to safe back-to-back top-six finishes.

The Haas driver delivered some excellent overtakes and utilised the tempo of his VF-25 to offer the group their best-ever end at Interlagos.

It moved him into P11 within the Drivers’ Championship – whereas Haas at the moment are simply two factors behind seventh-placed Aston within the Groups’ Championship.

Losers: Aston Martin

The weekend began so brightly when Aston Martin acquired two vehicles into the highest eight in Dash Qualifying, with Fernando Alonso changing the robust begin to take sixth.

They could not carry that efficiency into Qualifying for the Grand Prix although, with each lacking out on Q3.

Within the Grand Prix, Alonso’s determination to begin on the exhausting tyre price him, whereas Stroll was unfortunate to be the sufferer of contact with Bortoleto and Yuki Tsunoda – and thus they ended up with nothing.

Winners: Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls had gone three race weekends with no level heading to Brazil, however they managed to covert their robust midfield tempo at Interlagos.

Liam Lawson was a brilliant seventh after a monster 52-lap stint on the mediums as a part of a one-stopper, with Isack Hadjar taking eighth.

The double rating pushes them 10 factors away from Aston Martin within the struggle for P6 within the Groups’ Championship, with Lawson and Hadjar’s robust displaying coming on the proper time as Purple Bull and Racing Bulls weigh up their respective 2026 driver line-ups.

Losers: Williams

Within the phrases of Williams boss James Vowles, this was a “race that had a lot promise however didn’t ship outcomes”.

Carlos Sainz had an uncharacteristically off weekend, with the Spaniard’s race basically over at Flip 1 following contact that broken his entrance wing and led to “a big loss in aero load”.

Alex Albon had tempo, as he set the quickest lap, however Vowles admitted the group did not “get all of it proper” with him – and thus he prolonged his run of point-less finishes in Grands Prix to 5.

Winner: Pierre Gasly

The Alpine has been a tough and gradual automobile to drive for a lot of this 12 months, however the Enstone-based group confirmed a flip of tempo in Brazil and Pierre Gasly brilliantly capitalised.

The Frenchman secured the group’s first level within the final eight race weekends with P8 within the Dash.

He then adopted that up with a battling drive to tenth within the Grand Prix for an additional level.

Whereas it did not assist transfer them off the underside of the Groups’ Championship, it was an ideal reward for the massive quantity of labor the group are placing in to try to compete.