The Sao Paulo Grand Prix was full of frenetic action, overtaking and controversy throughout, and it didn’t even need rain.
Apart from the wider track surface, improved curbs and general drainage improvements, the layout of that circuit has thankfully remained unchanged since I first raced an F1 car there in 1991. And the old-fashioned nature of this counter-clockwise short track has always continued to work well, even though there have been serious incidents there over the decades.
Getting in and out of this spot is still harrowing, with the venue’s natural bowl and contour changes, a layout that demands high top speeds in sectors 1 and 3, but a technical, cambered middle sector that requires a lot of downforce and grip, posing plenty of challenges on a 4.4-mile stretch with just 12 corners (15 in case of heavy rain).
Norris performs again on perfect weekend
The king of the weekend was Lando Norris, who took pole position and won both the sprint and main races, but he wasn’t as dominant as he was in Mexico two weeks ago.
The highlight of his weekend for me was his final qualifying run in Q3 after wasting his first set of new tires by locking up in the first corner.
This was a moment of great pressure, the pack was closing in hard, and he was the fastest in all three sectors, passing through the top speed traps, showing off careful and fast laps, and recently taking the pole position that seemed essential for victory. Sunday was his seventh consecutive victory from pole position.
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Lando Norris analyzes the Sao Paulo GP qualifying pole lap on Skypad with Sky Sports’ Karun Chandhok.
Norris made two perfect starts and actually made several safety car restarts, winning both races in style and ultimately scoring a total of 33 points, effectively putting him one race ahead of Oscar Piastri and two races ahead of Max Verstappen in terms of points, with three GPs and one sprint remaining.
But if there’s a shunt or reliability issue, things can turn around in no time. I expect McLaren to be very strong in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but the cold and slippery roads in Las Vegas could throw them a curveball.
“Oscar is now in the danger zone more often.”
Piastri was once again unlucky. No dice were cast for him.
His last podium was at Monza in September. He had finished on the podium in 13 of the previous 15 races, including seven wins. Norris was faster at Monza, but his pace hasn’t improved much since then, following the horror story of a double shunt and jump start in Azerbaijan, a first-lap skirmish with Norris in Singapore, and a sprint race in Austin that caused significant damage to both cars.
Was it Oscar’s head, just some unlucky sport driving, something wrong with the car’s set-up, or a set of tracks that just didn’t suit him? It was probably a little bit of each at the same time that Norris found his excess drive and confidence.
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Let’s take a look back at the big moments this season that gave Oscar Piastri the lead in the title race.
By failing to get pole position and front row, Oscar found himself in the danger zone more often, which hurt him. He was unlucky to have spun on a wet curb in Turn 3 of the Brazilian Sprint, and two other drivers also spun and crashed into the dispersing water and were caught by the serrated curb, which the other drivers managed to overcome.
Then in the main race, he made a great run heading into Turn 1 after the safety car restart and had a chance to pass both Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc on the inside and take the all-important second place. He just had to go for it and I’m sure if given the same opportunity 20 more times he would do it.
Antonelli had Leclerc on his right but there was space and he must have known Piastri would be on the inside as he swept towards the top. Piastri locked up and there was contact. If his confidence had been higher, he might have released the brakes and claimed the apex of the corner and managed from there, but he was driving into a wedge and instinctively braked.
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A new look at the 10-second penalty collision between Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli that caused Charles Leclerc’s DNF.
The problem for Oscar was that his initial optics weren’t good at all, locking up and hitting the front of Antonelli’s rear axle, resulting in the immediate retirement of two cars, including one, which cost him two places. Stewards found him 100 per cent at fault and handed him a 10 second penalty and two license points. This leaves six of the 12 points allowed before the race was banned.
It was very harsh. There were clear mitigating circumstances that he was in a chokehold on the Mercedes and this act contributed to his lockup and contact. It would have been easy to justify reducing it to a five-second penalty – as Oscar said, “It can’t just go away.”
Few would consider this a typical racing incident. There is no penalty at all, so by default it is entirely Antonelli’s fault, which is not realistic.
Antonelli’s breakthrough, Verstappen’s long-standing driving force
The 19-year-old Antonelli had a great weekend, a real breakthrough following his excellent performance in Mexico two weeks ago.
With two front-row starts, he honestly held off Norris in a 24-lap sprint to take second place. After that, in the main race, he overcame the confusion and was brilliantly quick-witted, pulling away from Verstappen, who was driving as if he had everything in the race, in the final stages and taking another 2nd place.
Max tried every distraction trick, but you remained silent.
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Kimi Antonelli stops Max Verstappen from taking second place in final lap drama as Lando Norris wins in Sao Paulo
Verstappen started from the pit lane because his car looked so miserable in qualifying. We decided it was better to try something with the set-up and fit a new power unit than to stay 16th on the grid with a package that is known to slow us down.
Thus began the best drive in history, running through a close group in completely dry conditions.
Once he caught up with the pack, Max avoided all confusion and contact with Sainz, Hamilton, Stroll and Bortleto, and thanks to the safety car, at least Max was quickly in the middle of the pack, allowing him to close the gap to the leaders. But then, like a game of snakes and ladders, he suffered a slow puncture and had to pit again.
The downside to this was that he was once again behind the remaining runners, but at least he had parked the unfavorable hard compound tire and ticked the legal checkbox to use two different dry tire compounds by lap seven.
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Check out the best overtakes from Max Verstappen’s incredible performance from the pit lane to the podium at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
He then started hurtling through the pack at breakneck speeds, clearly happy with the car and its motor. His movements were clinical, unrelenting at his speed, and it quickly became clear that a podium finish was coming, and within a few more laps a podium finish was almost certain.
It wasn’t because it was wet, or because he pulled off a red-flag-free tire change in a similarly mesmerizing drive at this track last year, but it was a drive for the ages, pure pace, through the most competitive field in F1 history.
Red Bull also made a smart move, using a total of four different tire sets, ultimately fitting a new set of soft tyres, which had failed to make it through Q1 the previous day but were still available.
These soft tires had to be run at full speed for 17 laps, and without a gentle introduction, he started riding them from the pit exit. He had enough grip to overtake George Russell’s Mercedes, which had been a little off the pace all weekend, and quickly caught onto Antonelli’s tail, but could not find a way to overtake the teenager.
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Max Verstappen praised the Red Bull team for the changes they made ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after the Dutchman finished the race in third place after starting from the pit lane
Norris was calm at the front, but he was in no position to feel safe against Mercedes and the onrushing Verstappen. I have to say that if Max had been in front with a healthy car, he probably would have won the race. In fact, he was just 10.7 seconds slower at the flag.
Piastri was unable to pass Russell and returned home in a dejected fifth place. Russell’s Mercedes team had a dream weekend in the constructors’ race against Ferrari, who lost both cars in the race.
In 6th place, Haas’ Ollie Bearman showed an even more mature performance. It looked like he could earn a spot on Sunday’s mega-grid, but he probably went into overdrive on his last qualifying run on Saturday. But once again he avoided the melee and made several strong overtakes.
Liam Lawson pitted on lap 19 for a one-stop finish and finished in an excellent 7th place with seven cars desperately trying to pass him. As you can imagine, I crossed the line with almost no grip.
Nico Hulkenberg also made a one-stop and took a few points in 9th place, replacing Sauber.
Now we wait to see who rolls the dice best in Las Vegas, but Norris definitely has the advantage in the championship.
F1’s thrilling title race continues until the Las Vegas Grand Prix from November 21-23, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
