There are difficult ways to win a Formula 1 race, and then there’s spending 71 laps trying not to turn your $15 million racing car into an expensive lawn ornament while the weather changes its mind every 20 minutes. Welcome to Interlagos, where Lando Norris discovered that sometimes the best way to win a Grand Prix is simply to keep your head while everyone else loses theirs.
Norris took his third victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season Sunday, converting pole position into a commanding win in a chaotic São Paulo Grand Prix that featured changing weather, multiple tire strategies, several spins and enough drama to keep a Formula 1 psychiatrist busy for weeks.
The McLaren driver crossed the finish line 14.602 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, who delivered one of the afternoon’s most impressive performances by charging from 21st on the starting grid to second. Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar completed the podium, giving the team two drivers among the top three.
Mercedes, meanwhile, had something considerably bigger to celebrate. George Russell finished fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth, results that officially secured the 2026 Constructors’ Championship with two races remaining.
Not a bad afternoon’s work for a team that spent much of the race looking as though it had misplaced its instruction manual.
Norris didn’t exactly enjoy a perfect getaway. Despite starting from pole, Antonelli rocketed into the lead at Turn 1, while Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson swept around the outside of Norris to grab second. The McLaren driver suddenly found himself third, watching two competitors disappear ahead of him.
Verstappen, starting 21st after a difficult qualifying session, wasted little time making up ground. The four-time world champion climbed to 13th on the opening lap and was already eighth by Lap 5. Lewis Hamilton, celebrating his 400th Formula 1 start, was having an equally entertaining opening, climbing from 20th to ninth before being instructed to give a position back to Oliver Bearman after passing the Haas driver off the track.
The opening stint was run on intermediate tires as the circuit gradually dried. That meant the usual Formula 1 exercise of trying to extract maximum performance from tires that were increasingly unhappy with the conditions.
Hamilton became the first of the front-running group to gamble on slicks, pitting at the end of Lap 14. Others quickly followed, including Norris, Russell and Hadjar two laps later.
Russell’s pit stop was followed by an especially expensive moment. The Mercedes driver spun at the pit-lane exit, briefly making contact with the wall before recovering. It was hardly the sort of thing you’d put in a championship-winning team’s highlight reel.
Antonelli and Verstappen stayed out one additional lap before switching to slicks. Antonelli retained the lead, with Norris now just two seconds behind and Verstappen rejoining fourth.
That lead wouldn’t last.
Norris began closing immediately, taking nearly a second out of Antonelli’s advantage on the following lap. Then the young Mercedes driver spun at Turn 1 on Lap 20, handing Norris the lead.
Antonelli’s afternoon continued to unravel. He ran wide at the same corner one lap later, allowing Hadjar through into second. Verstappen soon followed, dropping the Mercedes driver another position.
By Lap 23, race control had declared the circuit completely dry and enabled Overtake Mode. Norris had established a 3.3-second advantage over Hadjar, with Verstappen another seven seconds behind.
The McLaren driver was beginning to look rather comfortable, which in Formula 1 is usually the precise moment something goes horribly wrong.
Verstappen eventually found his way past Hadjar on Lap 38, taking second place and setting his sights on Norris. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, the McLaren driver had already built a lead exceeding nine seconds.
The expected rain continued to play hide-and-seek with the circuit. Teams were left guessing when it would arrive, how hard it would fall and whether another tire change would be necessary.
Verstappen made his second pit stop at the end of Lap 45, dropping to fifth. Norris followed four laps later, returning in fourth before quickly passing teammate Oscar Piastri. Hadjar stopped on Lap 50 and rejoined sixth, eventually moving back into the top five as the remaining pit stops unfolded.
Antonelli temporarily inherited the lead but surrendered it when he pitted on Lap 53. Hadjar then passed Russell, putting the Red Bull rookie back into podium contention.
And then the weather finally decided to participate.
Rain intensified during the closing stages, turning the circuit into the sort of place where even the most talented Formula 1 driver might briefly consider taking up golf instead.
Russell and Alonso were among the first to return to intermediate tires at the end of Lap 61. The rest of the field soon followed as grip disappeared.
Hamilton’s impressive recovery suffered another setback when the Ferrari driver spun on the climb toward the final sector, brushing the wall before managing to return to the pits. Antonelli also found himself under investigation after emerging from his pit box into the path of an Alpine.
Mercedes subsequently instructed Antonelli to surrender fourth place to Russell, who was running on fresher intermediate tires. The Italian complied, ensuring the team maintained its finishing order and avoided an unnecessary argument over a championship celebration.
Up front, Norris remained untroubled.
The McLaren driver kept his car pointed in the right direction, negotiated the final laps and crossed the finish line in 1:35:23.504 to secure victory.
Verstappen finished 14.602 seconds behind, an extraordinary recovery considering he started 21st. The Red Bull driver admitted afterward that the car’s balance changed dramatically during the race, particularly after his first pit stop.
“The first few laps, of course, were very important,” Verstappen said. “I overtook a lot of cars, and actually, that first stint, I think on the intermediates, was really, really strong.”
He added that he suspected the team might have picked up some damage because the car subsequently felt completely different.
Still, second place from 21st is hardly something to complain about. Well, unless you’re the driver who finished first.
Hadjar finished 24.485 seconds behind Norris, securing his second podium of the season and completing a strong afternoon for Red Bull.
Russell and Antonelli followed in fourth and fifth, respectively, delivering the points Mercedes needed to clinch the Constructors’ Championship. Piastri finished sixth, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who passed Lawson on the penultimate lap to claim seventh.
Lawson settled for eighth, Hamilton recovered to ninth on his milestone appearance, and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 for Audi.
Norris described the race as particularly challenging, pointing to the changing conditions and the difficulty of switching to slick tires while the circuit was still damp.
“The main thing today was I just kept it cool and I didn’t make any mistakes,” Norris said. “And I had the pace when I needed to.”
That’s a rather understated way of describing a race in which several other drivers apparently forgot where the brakes were.
For Norris, the victory provides another important boost as the 2026 season approaches its conclusion. For Verstappen, it was a reminder that starting near the back of the grid doesn’t necessarily mean spending the afternoon staring at the exhaust pipes of the midfield.
And for Mercedes, the trip to Brazil delivered something considerably more valuable than a race trophy.
The 2026 Constructors’ Championship is theirs, with two races still remaining.
Interlagos delivered a little bit of everything Sunday. Rain, sunshine, spins, tire gambles, championship celebrations and one rather spectacular drive from a Dutchman who started 21st.
Formula 1 rarely does boring. Fortunately, neither does Brazil.
FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRANDE PRÊMIO DE SÃO PAULO 2026 – RACE RESULT
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
- Lando Norris Survives the Brazilian Grand Prix’s weather lottery - November 8, 2026
- Max Verstappen wins the race but Kimi Antonelli steals history - November 1, 2026
- Caraganza First Drive Review 2025 Cadillac CT5 V-Series Blackwing: A Love Letter to V8 Glory - November 1, 2026
Greg Engle
Latest posts by Greg Engle (see all)
- Lando Norris Survives the Brazilian Grand Prix’s weather lottery - November 8, 2026
- Max Verstappen wins the race but Kimi Antonelli steals history - November 1, 2026
- Caraganza First Drive Review 2025 Cadillac CT5 V-Series Blackwing: A Love Letter to V8 Glory - November 1, 2026
- Photos: NHRA at the Texas Motorplex Sunday Oct. 18, 2026 - October 18, 2026