Norris takes crucial win in Brazil as Verstappen goes from pitlane to third; Piastri fifth

Lando Norris consolidated his lead in the 2025 Formula 1 world championship with a comfortable victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen completed a sensational recovery to third after starting from the pitlane.

Norris’s cause was aided by team-mate and championship rival Oscar Piastri getting a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Antonelli, the Australian having to settle for fifth place.

Norris completed a perfect weekend after winning the sprint and taking victory on Sunday from pole position.

It means the Briton now has a 24-point championship lead over Piastri and 49 over Verstappen, who finished on the podium despite starting from the pitlane and having to pit early due to a puncture.

The Red Bull driver finished right behind Antonelli, who scored his best result in F1 with second place.

George Russell was fourth in the second Mercedes, with Piastri right under his rear wing at the finish.

Oliver Bearman completed another superb weekend after his fourth place in Mexico, finishing in sixth ahead of the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar

Nico Hülkenberg in the Sauber and Alpine ‘s Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.

Ferrari failed to score after both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were involved in incidents.

Leclerc was taken out in the accident involving Piastri and Antonelli, while Hamilton damaged his car after hitting the back of an Alpine, the Briton finally retiring on lap 38 while running at the back of the field.

The result meant Ferrari started the weekend second in the standings, but dropped to fourth by the end of it.

Story of the race

There were no changes in the top four at the start as Norris easily kept Antonelli behind him into Turn 1, but the safety car was deployed after just one lap when Bortoleto crashed out.

The Brazilian’s nightmare home race ended as he hit the wall after being squeezed off the track by Lance Stroll at Turn 10.

“He just turned into the corner like I wasn’t there,” said Bortoleto after his second crash of the weekend.

Also on the opening lap, Hamilton lost his front wing when he hit the back of Franco Colapinto ‘s Alpine as he attempted to overtake on the start-finish straight.

The Ferrari driver, who had been bumped by Carlos Sainz at Turn 1 at the start, had to pit to fit a new wing, dropping to the back of the field while the safety car was still on track.

The team told Hamilton on the radio that he also had floor damage, and the Briton struggled to keep his car on the road from then on.

Over 28 laps after the incident with Colapinto, Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty by the stewards, although the Ferrari driver was running 16th at the time.

Hamilton was put out of his misery on lap 38 when Ferrari asked him to retire the car.

At the restart, Piastri dove down the inside of Antonelli at Turn 1 but hit the Mercedes driver, his car pushed into Leclerc’s Ferrari, damaging the Monegasque driver’s front left.

Leclerc was forced to retire seconds later while Piastri and Antonelli managed to continue in second and third as a virtual safety car was deployed.

Verstappen, who had made a strong first restart to move up the order, picked up a puncture and had to pit, dropping to the back of the field.

The race was relaunched on lap 9, with Piastri putting Norris under pressure at Turn 1, but the Briton kept his team-mate at bay and then proceeded to open a more comfortable gap.

On lap 16, stewards announced a 10-second penalty for Piastri for his incident with Antonelli while the Australian ran over three seconds behind Norris.

Verstappen, meanwhile, made incredible progress after his unscheduled pitstop, the Red Bull driver moving up to fifth place by lap 21, benefitting from other drivers in front making their first planned stops.

Norris pitted on lap 30, switching from mediums to softs while running around seven seconds ahead of Piastri, returning to the track right behind Verstappen, on old mediums, in fourth. Norris had no issues overtaking Verstappen into Turn 1 on lap 33.

Verstappen stopped again for mediums on lap 35, dropping to 12th position but soon starting to move up the order.

Piastri made his stop four laps later, switching to softs despite his team asking him for his thoughts on the hard tyres. The Australian served his penalty and rejoined the track down in eighth, three places behind Verstappen.

By lap 50, Norris had a 14-second gap over Verstappen, with Piastri another three seconds behind. The British driver pitted for the second time on the following lap, moving to mediums and rejoining in third.

Piastri stopped on the following lap, leaving Verstappen in the lead with an eight-second gap to Norris in second.

However, the Dutchman made his third stop a couple of laps later, dropping to fourth behind Norris, Antonelli and Russell, but on new soft tyres.

Verstappen moved into a podium position on lap 63 with a superb move around the outside of Russell on Turn 1.

The Red Bull driver caught Antonelli with four laps remaining, but was unable to overtake him, having to settle for third.

2025 Sao Paulo GP race results