2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Race Recap

Lando Norris took a masterful third win of the 2026 season in a vintage wet-dry-wet São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos. The outgoing World Champion dominated by nearly 15 seconds from the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Both Mercedes driver spun during the race, but did enough to wrap up the Constructors’ Championship for the team.

The only hiccup for Norris came at the start, where he lost out from pole to his successor Kimi Antonelli, and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in intermediate conditions. Antonelli was able to build up an 8-second lead as the track dried.

However, Norris rapidly reeled in the Mercedes following a switch to slicks, and forced the Italian into a spin at Turn 1 as he significantly struggled on the drying track. From there, the Brit never looked back and continued to extend his lead even when Verstappen was allowed past teammate Hadjar for 2nd. 

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Norris even pulled another 6 seconds on Verstappen during a late-race downpour as the drivers were forced to switch back to intermediates, cementing his authority on the race. It was a vintage wet-weather drive to secure his second consecutive victory at Interlagos, off the back of his third straight pole there.

Equally vintage was Verstappen’s drive from 21st to 2nd, the third consecutive year he’s scored at least a podium in Brazil following a grid penalty. He was 7th by Lap 6, before benefitting from mishaps from both Mercedes. Teammate Hadjar was impressively on his pace for much of the race but less consistent, allowing the Dutchman to close to a distance that inevitably led to Red Bull making the call to swap.

Mercedes seal the Constructors Championship 

Toto Wolff called it “a horrible way to seal a Championship” but Mercedes’ 4th and 5th-placed finishes in Brazil were enough to seal the Constructors’ title, despite this being their first race all season with neither car on the podium.

George Russell had stronger pace than his teammate, but was undone by a spin in the pit exit following the change to slicks that cost him at least a podium. He was able to recover to 4th after being allowed past Antonelli in the closing laps, as the Italian continued to struggle, coming home 5th ahead of the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

Mercedes were able to wrap up the title by virtue of a torrid day for Ferrari, whom they needed to outscore by 4 points. Lewis Hamilton had made a stunning start from the back, gaining 11 places up to 9th on the opening lap, but particularly struggled with overheating of his intermediates, dropping back to 14th before the track dried. 

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Hamilton did make an excellent call to jump to slicks - the first to do so - which elevated him further up the midfield. However, Ferrari called him in a lap too late for the final change back to intermediates, spinning whilst crawling back to the pits and ultimately finishing a distant 9th, a lap down as the Scuderia struggled with poor straight line speed and tyre overheating all race.

Charles Leclerc didn’t fare too much better. He briefly dropped as low as 15th on the slicks behind the two Alpines and Fernando Alonso, but recovered by only use one set of dry tyres whereas most others used two. This left him fighting with Liam Lawson for 7th after the rain returned, ultimately passing the Kiwi but receiving a 5-second penalty for making contact when doing so, dropping him back to 8th. 

Difficult day for the home drivers

Nico Hulkenberg scored the final point for Audi ahead of Arvid Lindblad after a battle that spanned more than half the race. Both cars were stuck behind the Alpine of Franco Colapinto on older tyres before the German eventually made a pass by cutting the Senna S that earned him a 10-second penalty, but was able to pull enough of a gap to just hold on ahead of the Racing Bulls man following the switch back to intermediates. 

Fernando Alonso passed both Ferraris in the early stages, but ultimately had to settle for 12th after picking up damage in an early tangle with Ollie Bearman. Both Alpines seemed glued together all weekend, with Colapinto making a great move on teammate Pierre Gasly as both cars rushed back to the pits for intermediates, meaning he benefitted from the double stack to finish 13th.

Elsewhere, both Brazilians endured difficult afternoons. Gabriel Bortoleto could only climb to 16th following his incident in qualifying, whereas Rafael Camara finished 2 laps down and last for Haas, understandably struggling in the difficult conditions on his debut, but still seeing the chequered flag.

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Williams endured another difficult day, with Alex Albon getting the better of his teammate in 15th. Carlos Sainz was 19th behind the Cadillac of Sergio Perez, and the Haas of Ollie Bearman, who was unable to maintain his strong top-10 starting position. 

Perez’s teammate Valtteri Bottas wasn’t as fortunate, not starting the race due to a cross-threaded wheel nut, similar to the issue that took him out of the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. Lance Stroll was the other retiree; his 13th of the season, now only one short of an unwanted record for retirements in a season.

Remarkably, despite the changeable conditions at Interlagos, this was the first race all season without any kind of safety car or red flag intervention.