Lando Norris secures his third victory of the season at a rainy Interlagos, while Max Verstappen finishes second and Isack Hadjar third. At the same time, Mercedes celebrates its ninth Constructors' Championship title.
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| Photo by Manuel Eletto |
The pinnacle of motorsport – Formula 1 – has moved from Central America to South America, specifically to the country where many F1 legends, such as Ayrton Senna and Emerson Fittipaldi, were born: Brazil. The race took place at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, which is a very classic old-school track that almost every driver loves to race at.
Qualifying represented a real challenge for everyone, as the rain hit the track and we were forced to wait almost an hour and a half until the circuit was safe enough for driving. Lando Norris managed to set the fastest lap in very wet conditions, securing pole position for Sunday's race. George Russell set the second-fastest time, but due to a grid penalty for changing components, he dropped down to seventh position on the starting grid. He wasn't the only one to receive a grid penalty, as Ferrari's drivers also had to change components and were forced to start from the back of the grid – Lewis from P20 and Charles from P14. Max Verstappen also received a grid penalty for new components and started right behind Lewis.
Before the race even started, rain clouds were hanging over the track. Although they cleared before the start, the circuit was still quite wet, so all the drivers decided to start on intermediate tyres. When the red lights went out, the newly crowned champion, Kimi Antonelli, got ahead of Lando Norris, who was on pole position. He also lost a position to Liam Lawson.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton made a lightning start, managing to climb up to ninth position from the back of the grid. Max Verstappen was also on the move, making his way up to 11th position. After the first lap, Kimi Antonelli was leading ahead of Liam Lawson, with Lando Norris in third and Isack Hadjar and George Russell completing the top five.
Hamilton had made a lightning start, but he was under investigation by the FIA for leaving the track and gaining a position. He was then told by his team to give the position back to Ollie Bearman. Shortly afterwards, he started losing pace and positions. After 14 laps, he pitted and switched to slicks – dry-weather tyres.
Russell and Hadjar entered the pits just a few laps later and also changed their intermediate tyres for softs. An unusual moment occurred later on when George Russell lost control of his car and spun at the pit exit. His car was undamaged, but he lost a considerable amount of time.
Antonelli and Verstappen were the last of the front-running drivers to enter the pits. Antonelli was still in the lead after his pit stop; however, Lando Norris was just over a second behind him. Hadjar was third, ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen.
Antonelli then started complaining about his car, and on lap 20, he even spun at the first corner, allowing Lando Norris to retake the lead. Kimi spun again five laps later, and Verstappen moved ahead of him.
On lap 38, Isack Hadjar handed his second position to Verstappen so that he could try to catch Norris. However, the McLaren driver was too fast, and the Dutchman couldn't catch him. Meanwhile, the drivers began making their second pit stops, although a few of them stayed out on track.
As the end of the race approached, the rain returned over the circuit, and drivers were forced to switch back to intermediate tyres.
Despite the rain, Lando Norris crossed the chequered flag to claim his third Grand Prix victory of the season. Max Verstappen finished second behind him, while his teammate Isack Hadjar joined him on the podium in third.
“It was a very tough race – very, very tough, obviously, not the best of launches off the line, but a lot of challenges today, obviously, with the conditions.
“Going onto slicks in the wet is always tough, especially when you're pushing for the lead and trying to catch up a little bit.
“The main thing today was I just kept it cool and I didn't make any mistakes. I had the pace when I needed to, so it was good. Nice to be back on the top step, and what a place to do it as well,” Norris reflected.
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth. However, they collected enough points to secure Mercedes' ninth Constructors' Championship title.
"Today, it was difficult, but overall, I'm so proud of the organisation.
"We've taken a few years to be back in the top spot. Not many teams have been able to come back from such a situation, and it just shows the great work, the great people that we have in our organisation, and it's fantastic to be among them," said Toto Wolff after claiming the title.
Formula 1 will return in two weeks' time in the city of sin - Las Vegas.