A trip to Brazil for the penultimate Formula 1 Sprint weekend saw yet another big moment in the Championship, but who are the ones dancing to the Samba rhythms after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Lando Norris: 10
Another exemplary weekend from Lando Norris saw the Brit lead nearly every racing lap across the weekend as he won both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
Converting both his pole laps to victories in a weekend full of hurdles like the weather and multiple safety car restarts now sees Norris extend his lead in the Championship to 24 points over Oscar Piastri.
With nearly a race win in hand over his team-mate and just four weekends remaining, Norris almost has one hand on a maiden World Title, deservedly so on recent form.
Oscar Piastri: 5
The consistency king for the most the season now looks like a shadow of his former self with a fifth consecutive weekend off of the podium for Oscar Piastri.
A second consecutive Sprint DNF after getting caught out on a damp patch over the kerb on the exit of the Senna S, conveniently flicked up by team-mate Norris, put the Aussie on the backfoot on a weekend where he looked to be recovering some lost performance.
However the Grand Prix would only dampen Piastri’s spirits more as a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision on the safety car restart put pay to a return to the rostrum.
A bold move on the inside of Antonelli’s Mercedes in a three-wide situation with Charles Leclerc saw Piastri squeezed to the inside and make contact with Antonelli and launching the Italian into Leclerc’s Ferrari.
An off-set strategy had the Australian homing in on George Russell in the closing stages however Piastri was unable to clear the Mercedes and finished fifth to lose even more ground in the title race and continued his dramatic slump in form.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 9.5
Antonelli secured his best ever Formula 1 finish in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, securing second place in both as well as double front row starts.
The Italian looked to be the quicker Mercedes all weekend and made the most of struggles by some other drivers around him to claim a second GP podium in 2025.
The Silver Arrows driver survived his tangle with Piastri and Leclerc at turn one remarkably unscathed and held off a charging Verstappen in the latter stages to hold on to second place.
With 122 points to his name, Antonelli also now holds the record for the most points by a rookie in their debut season, overtaking a long standing record held by Lewis Hamilton which was set under the old points system.
George Russell: 8.5
Despite issues for multiple other top cars in Brazil, Russell was unable to convert a top three finish in the Sprint to a podium at the venue where he claimed his maiden F1 victory.
The Brit looked to be lacking compared to Antonelli all weekend and was unable to hold back Verstappen in the latter stages of the Grand Prix, coming home in fourth ahead of Piastri by just a few tenths.
Max Verstappen: 9
Verstappen came perilously close to bettering his monumental drive from 17th to first in Sao Paulo in 2024, making the podium from a pit lane start.
After a rather quiet Sprint race in fourth, Red Bull would shockingly see both of their cars fall at the first hurdle in Q1 for the first time since 2006 with Verstappen on able to manage 16th.
It was a first Q1 knockout for the Dutchman since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, a first without a grid penalty since the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix, and a first ever on pace alone.
A setup change and a brand new engine saw Verstappen start from the pit lane and despite an early puncture, he quickly moved himself into the top four.
Switching to the soft tyre late on, Verstappen charged past George Russell but didn’t have enough left in the tank to pass Antonelli, completing another remarkable drive from the back to the podium.
Yuki Tsuonda: 4
With Red Bull still yet to make their decision on who will partner Max Verstappen in 2026, Tsunoda did nothing to improve his chances with a dire weekend saw him prop up the field on race day.
Knocked out in Q1 twice and an incident filled Grand Prix, picking up two 10 second penalties for a collision with Lance Stroll and unfortunately another for his crew failing to serve the first penalty correctly saw Tsunoda finish a distant 17th and last.
Ollie Bearman: 8.5
Another stunning weekend for Bearman saw him make it back-to-back top six finishes on a weekend where he was arguably the fastest Ferrari powered driver.
Unfortunate to miss out on SQ3 due to a spin for Leclerc bringing out the yellow flags, Bearman at times looked like a threat to the McLaren’s come Grand Prix Qualifying, eventually starting from eighth.
In the end the Brit would have a strong but rather lonely race in Brazil, coming home in sixth place after some bold overtaking in the opening stages of the race.
A five second penalty for driving in a potentially dangerous manner in the Sprint did see the Brit pick up another point on his license, now on nine points and only three away from a race ban.
Esteban Ocon: 6.5
Ocon had a rather quieter weekend compared to his team-mate, just missing out on the top 10 in both the Sprint and Grand Prix after a double Q1 elimination.
Starting on the unfavoured hard tyre as well as from the pit lane for a new engine saw the Frenchman on almost a trademark alternate strategy as he recovered from an early puncture, coming home 12th yet just a few seconds away from seventh.
Liam Lawson: 8
After a disappointing Sprint race, where an early collision with Bearman saw the New Zealander pick up a five second penalty, Lawson converted the one stop to perfection in the Grand Prix, holding off a train of faster cars come the chequered flag to convert his starting position of seventh.
It was a first points finish for the Kiwi since his career best finish in Baku back in late September.
Isack Hadjar: 8.5
Hadjar backed up Lawson to finish eighth after a strong lap in Qualifying saw him start in the top five for the third time this season.
Unable to collect a points finish in the Sprint from starting eighth, the Frenchman finished a few tenths behind his team-mate come the chequered flag on the two stop strategy.
Just a third double points finish for Racing Bulls see them open up a 10 point gap over Aston Martin in the huge fight for sixth in the Constructors Championship.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Despite crashing out of the Sprint from a top 10 position, falling to the same puddle of water that claimed Oscar Piastri, Hulkenberg returned to the top 10 in the race and another points finish.
Also on the one stop strategy the German was frustrated by Lawson’s Racing Bull in the latter stages, the Sauber driver unable to get ahead of the Kiwi and eventually falling to the other Racing Bull of Hadjar with just a handful of laps to spare.
Ninth at the chequered flag sees just a second points finish since the veteran’s maiden podium in Silverstone back in July.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 6
A disastrous first home race in Formula 1 for Bortoleto will be one he’ll be quick to forget.
Suffering two separate hits of 34G and 57G after a massive crash starting the final lap of the Sprint duelling with Alex Albon, it was no surprise to see the home favourite’s car not ready in time for Grand Prix Qualifying.
Starting from the back, the Brazilian’s race was short lived, being pushed off the track and into the barrier by Lance Stroll on the opening lap, retiring from his first Brazilian GP without completing a lap.
Pierre Gasly: 9
Pierre Gasly was back doing what he’s done so many times in 2025, dragging an uncompetitive Alpine into the fight to the top 10.
The Frenchman secured a point in the Sprint in eighth and backed it up with a run into Q3 and 10th and the chequered flag for a first finish since his run to the final point back in Spa in late July.
Franco Colapinto: 4.5
Having just secured his place on the grid with Alpine in 2026 it wasn’t the weekend to celebrate his new deal.
Unlike Gasly, Colapinto was no threat to the points and a crash in the Sprint was not the thank you his Enstone based team would have wanted.
Alex Albon: 7
A tough weekend for Albon saw him come away from Interlagos pointless.
After collecting a large piece of debris from Bortoleto’s horror shunt at the end of the Sprint, the Anglo-Thai driver limped to the finish having been just on the edge of the top 10.
And despite a late charge in the Grand Prix, he was unable to break into the top 10, just missing out on a point in 11th.
Carlos Sainz: 6
Unable to turn his weekend around after some poor Qualifying execution from his pit wall, Sainz never posed a threat to the points coming home in 13th on Grand Prix Sunday.
Fernando Alonso: 7.5
A rather puzzling fall off from Sprint to Grand Prix for Alonso saw him go from fighting for the top six in the Sprint to finishing a rather lowly 14th on race day.
Going long on the unfavoured hard tyre from the start perhaps contributed to the drop off for Aston Martin, but the Silverstone based squad definitely looked like something had gone missing between the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll: 6
Much like Alonso, Stroll fell away from the Sprint to the Grand Prix although his race was a bit more incident packed than his team-mate’s.
Involved in a opening lap skirmish with Bortoleto, the Canadian would later be spun around by Yuki Tsunoda.
On the backfoot and in a surprisingly uncompetitive Aston Martin on race day it was no surprise that Stroll would only recover to 16th and unfortunately leave Brazil empty handed.
Charles Leclerc: 7.5
Despite a strong lap to start from third on the grid on race day in Sao Paulo, Leclerc would be an innocent victim of the clash between Piastri and Antonelli at turn one and retiring on the spot with damage.
Having moved up from eighth to fifth in the Sprint, the Monegasque was hoping for a more competitive Grand Prix performance from his SF-25 but the early collision stole his chance at converting his position in the podium places as it was another difficult weekend in Brazil for Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton: 6.5
Having recently shown an improvement in his one lap pace it was unfortunately a return to struggles for Hamilton at his honorary home race in Brazil.
A timing slip up from his team and a rather twitchy car saw Hamilton knocked out in 11th and 13th in Qualifying.
Seventh place in the Sprint after a strong opening few corners was the only positive from the weekend for the Seven-time World Champion.
A collision at the start of the Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz saw him drop five places, and just to compound his woes the Brit then lost his front wing battling with Colapinto up the hill to the line.
Not only was the Brit penalised for the incident, his front wing got stuck under his car damaging the fragile underbelly of his SF-25 and putting any hopes of a comeback drive to bed.
A retirement on lap 38 after serving his penalty saw Hamilton retire in Brazil for the first time since his final race for McLaren in 2012 and saw the Scuderia tick off a second double DNF of the season and drop to fourth in the Constructors Championship in the process.
READ MORE – Lando Norris takes controlled F1 Brazil GP win, Verstappen goes from pit lane to podium
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