Lando Norris triumphed in treacherous conditions at Interlagos as Mercedes were crowned the 2026 Constructors’ champions. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Lando Norris made it back-to-back wins at Interlagos after a thoroughly dominant performance on Sunday. Max Verstappen pulled his RB22 from 21st on the grid to second, as Isack Hadjar rounded off the podium for a chaotic Sao Paulo GP.
Lando Norris: 10
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P1
Barring a sluggish start to the 71-lap race, Norris drove a commanding race at Interlagos. Closer to the crossover point for the slicks, and when the track had essentially dried out, Norris’ MCL40 was unbeatable.
A good strategy on the pit wall, as the McLaren driver jumped Antonelli for the switch onto the slicks embedded his advantage and the outgoing F1 World Champion showed everyone why he had the No. 1 on his car this season with a dominant performance.
Oscar Piastri: 8
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P6
Piastri was impeded by a red-flag during Q2, meaning he could only post the 12th-fastest lap of the session and failed to get himself into the top-10 shootout on Saturday.
That said, he was elevated into the top-10 for the race, and the Australian made the most of that opportunity.
Piastri had found himself in the top-five, but a call to pit for a new pair of Soft tyres, and the resultant downpour in the dying embers of the race meant he took the chequered flag in sixth.
A solid drive by the McLaren driver but with promising dry-running pace, one could have wondered if he would have challenged his team-mate for the race win if not for a curtailed qualifying.
Max Verstappen: 9.5
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: P2
It was yet another masterclass by Verstappen in treacherous conditions at Interlagos. He had won the Sao Paulo GP from 17th on the grid in 2024, and this time he put in a similarly stellar effort.
A massive 30-place engine-related grid drop had set the scene for a Verstappen-esque recovery drive, and the Dutchman sliced through the field from P21 to take the chequered flag in second.
The RB22 did, however, prove to be a handful on the slicks, and on Sunday, Norris and McLaren were in fact the faster driver-car package than Red Bull. Nonetheless, it was a hair-raising shift by the 29-year-old.
Isack Hadjar: 8.5
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P3
The French-Algerian racing driver bagged his third podium of the season behind his team-mate Verstappen. In fact, for a substantial chunk of the 71-lap race, Hadjar was the lead Red Bull.
The 22-year-old was eventually asked to move over for Verstappen, but Hadjar was pretty much in contention for going toe-to-toe with the Dutchman if he had been allowed.
Another solid result for the Red Bull driver as he looks forward to his sophomore year with the Milton-Keynes-based team in 2027.
George Russell: 8
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P4
Interlagos was yet another chapter in the series of self-inflicted hardships for Russell this season. At Mexico, last weekend, the Briton finally had to give up on his championship ambitions. At Sao Paulo, he understood why.
Russell had a strong qualifying, posting the second-fastest lap of Q3. But a five-place grid drop for the race on Sunday had him on the back foot already.
Russell’s race unraveled when he chose to pit for slicks and spun just as he exited the pit lane. Drivers before him had tip-toed around that wet bit of asphalt, somehow Russell did not.
What really is a shame that once proper dry, the Mercedes driver was arguably his strongest, and one wonders what the result could have been if he had not wasted crucial race time trying to pirouette himself out of that embarrassing pit lane gaffe.
Kimi Antonelli: 7
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P5
Interlagos turned out to be a rude awakening for the 2026 F1 World Champion.
A strong start (probably helped by being on the grippier left-hand side of the grid) saw him slip past into the lead at Turn 1. And with Liam Lawson acting as a worthy stop-gap between himself and Norris, the Mercedes driver had clean air and a substantial chance to put considerable distance between himself and the MCL40.
But, balance troubles, and Norris’ blistering pace in the dry undid all the good work from the start.
Antonelli and Mercedes were left scratching their heads as to the cause of his problems, but whatever they were, his spin into Turn 1 after locking his rears sealed the deal against him as Norris swooped past and into the distance with the race lead.
Liam Lawson: 8.5
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P7
It was a valiant performance by Lawson at Interlagos. After a superb qualifying effort, the Kiwi racing driver was elevated to his career-best third-place grid slot.
He had a fantastic getaway off the line, swallowing the MCL40 of Norris in the Senna esses. From there on, he did in fact manage to keep his distance to the McLaren behind, in P2, and was making minor inroads into Antonelli’s lead.
But as the weather eased up and the track started to dry, the real competitive landscape became clear and Lawson bowed out of the podium places.
The last lap saw the Racing Bulls driver put up a staunch defence against the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, but the Monegasque’s aggressive wheel-banging saw Lawson relinquish P7.
That said, the stewards took a dim view of Leclerc’s move, and a post-race penalty meant Lawson was reinstated into seventh – a heroic result given the circumstances.
Arvid Lindblad: 7
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P11
It was an incident-ridden Sao Paulo GP for Lindblad. PU issues in qualifying and a subsequent engine change meant he had to start the race from 18th on the grid.
And while he did make a spirited drive back into the points, a late-race overtake by Nico Hulkenberg in tricky conditions meant the British-Swedish driver finished just outside the points in 11th.
Charles Leclerc: 6.5
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P8
It was a race weekend to forget for Ferrari at Interlagos. A 10-place grid drop saw Leclerc start the 71-lap race from 14th on the grid, and even though he did manage to make it into the points, it wasn’t cleanest of executions for the Monegasque.
His last gasp move on Lawson that resulted in contact with the Racing Bulls saw Leclerc catch the ire of the stewards and a post-race penalty which meant despite him taking the chequered flag in seventh, he was demoted back down to eighth.
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: P9
Hamilton seemed to have a more eventful outing at Interlagos than his team-mate but for all the wrong reasons. Granted, he made a blistering start and climbed up 11 places and into ninth on the opening lap, but it all disintegrated for him from there on.
Hamilton was in fact the first to suggest a switch onto the slicks, but Ferrari left him out a little too long for that crossover to have any real advantage.
The Ferrari driver was right to demand “answers” for such shabby race execution that left him in a lowly ninth despite apparent pace and potential in his package.
Nico Hulkenberg: 7
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: P10
After a sensational qualifying session for Audi, it was a resounding slap back to reality for Hulkenberg on Sunday.
Starting the race from the second-row of the grid, the German driver never really had any pace to challenge the top-five. But he did, however, manage to keep himself in contention in the midfield.
A late-race penalty for an incident with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto did demote him down the order at the chequered flag but despite this hindrance he was able to score a solitary point for the German marque with P10.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 6
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: P16
Bortoleto had come into his home race weekend with high expectations, but a mistake in Q1, in understandably tricky conditions, meant he crashed out and took a 19th-place grid slot for the start.
In the race, he did not have the pace to challenge the midfield and finished a disappointing 16th at the chequered flag.
Fernando Alonso: 7
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P12
It was one of the strongest performances by Alonso in the AMR26 yet, at Sao Paulo. A top-10 starting grid slot for Sunday, however, quickly turned into a tricky affair for the Spaniard as he made contact with the Haas of Oliver Bearman on the opening lap.
The resultant damage compromised him, and despite some stellar moves and battles in the midfield, Alonso was only able to take the chequered flag in 12th. Full marks for his uncompromising race craft but a disappointing result in the context of the promise he had shown otherwise through the weekend.
Lance Stroll: N/A
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: DNF
It was a sordid 13th DNF of the season for the Canadian racing driver at Interlagos on Sunday.
The opening lap melee saw him fall down to the back of the field and an issue with his battery pack meant he was forced to retire from the 71-lap race on Lap 32.
Franco Colapinto: 6.5
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P13
It was a commendable shift by the Argentinian racing driver. While Alpine lacked outright pace to challenge for points, Colapinto showed strong pace in the opening phases of the race.
His definitive moment of the race came at the second crossover point for switching from the slicks to the Intermediate tyres. He put in a stellar move on his team-mate Pierre Gasly to jump him into the pit lane, and finished in 13th, just ahead of Gasly at the chequered flag.
Pierre Gasly: 6
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: P14
Gasly was stuck behind the dirty air of the cars ahead of him for much of the 71-lap race. And even on dry tyres, his A526 never really had the pace for him to make any inroads up the field.
To make matters worse, once the rain shower hit Interlagos again, Gasly seemingly struggled for pace even more with the Intermediate tyres. At the chequered flag, he could only move up a single place from his grid slot to 14th.
Alex Albon: 4.5
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P15
Albon had impressed during qualifying on Saturday, but the dry running on Sunday exposed Williams’ pace deficit to its rivals.
The British-Thai driver was also reprimanded by the stewards for his incident with Gasly, handing him a five-second time penalty and two points on his superlicense.
Carlos Sainz: 4
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P19
It was yet another race to forget for the Spaniard with Williams. He struggled with the balance on his FW48 throughout the race and finished the Sao Paulo GP two laps down on the leaders and in 19th.
Oliver Bearman: 4
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P17
Bearman’s stellar job during qualifying was undone in the race. First, a slow pit stop during the Intermediate to slick transition cost him crucial race time and it was compounded by a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.
Rafael Camara: 3
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P20
It was a miserable F1 debut for Camara; and that too at his home circuit. The 21-year-old struggled to keep his VF-26 between the white lines as the track conditions tested him.
At the chequered flag, he finished last of the classified runners and two laps down on the leaders.
Sergio Perez: 4.5
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: P18
Perez was outpaced by his team-mate in qualifying, and an engine-related grid drop saw him start the 71-lap race from dead last. A pit stop issue (similar gremlins to what Valtteri Bottas suffered before the race had even started) saw him finish a distant 18th despite some strong pace on his opening stint with the Intermediate tyres.
Valtteri Bottas: N/A
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: DNS
It was a throwback to the 2021 Monaco GP for Bottas at Sao Paulo. This time, however, the wheel gun belonged to Cadillac instead of Mercedes.
An errant wheel gun destroyed the wheel nut on his car even before the Finnish racing driver could start the race meaning he was wheeled back into the pits and out of the Sao Paulo GP.
READ MORE – Alan Jones: The man who drove Williams towards F1’s dizzy heights
Discussion about this post