This past weekend, November 7th-9th, was the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. With both a sprint race and Grand Prix, a lot of points were up for grabs. It’s a bumpy track with an iconic sequence of corners known as the Senna S.

Sprint 

This was the 5th sprint race this season. The Autódromo José Carlos Pace is a relatively short track, measuring 2.67 miles. The sprint race was 24 laps, still wet from rain earlier in the day.

Lap 6

The wet curbs led to 3 drivers crashing. First was Oscar Piastri, then Nico Hulkenberg, then Franco Colapinto. Both Piastri and Colapinto ended up retiring from the sprint race. Their crashes led to a red flag, stopping the session at lap 8 and giving Hulkenberg time to fix his car and continue.

Lap 24                                                                                                              On lap 24 Gabriel Bortoleto crashed, unfortunately losing 10th place.

Sprint Podium

1st- Lando Norris

2nd- Kimi Antonelli

3rd- George Russell

Qualifying Unfortunately, Gabriel Bortoleto did not make it to qualifying due to car issues. This was a big disappointment for Brazilian fans as he was born in São Paulo and this was his home race.

Q1

Shockingly, Verstappen was out of Q1 for the first time since 2021. This was the first time Verstappen was out of Q1 due to a pace. He finished 16th, but started 19th in the Grand Prix. This is due to the fact that Red Bull made significant changes to his set up (fitted a new power unit) due to his poor qualifying performance, leading to him starting from the pit lane.

Q2

Hamilton also had a poor qualifying, finishing 13th.

Race

Retires

Bortoleto had a rough weekend, hitting the barriers at the start, forcing him to retire from the race. Hamilton also got a hit that messed up his front wing, ultimately leading to him retiring as well.

On lap 6 after the safety car ended, Piastri was tight on space and locked up, hitting Antonelli who hit Leclerc. Leclerc lost a tire, leading to him retiring                                                                    as well. Piastri did receive a 10 second penalty for this.

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen had an incredible race, working his way up from P19 to P3. Despite a tire puncture forcing an early pit stop during the safety car, he still performed beautifully. This comeback helped save his chances for the Driver’s Championship. Rookie driver Kimi Antonelli had incredible defense against Verstappen, holding P2.

Conclusion

Only 3 rounds remain. With Las Vegas up next, points matter more now than ever before. Norris has grown the gap between him and Piastri. If Piastri and Verstappen want to stay in the running for the Driver’s Championship, they’ll need to work harder than ever before.

Grand Prix Podium

1st- Lando Norris

2nd- Kimi Antonelli

3rd- Max Verstappen

Driver of the Day- Max Verstappen (19th → 3rd)

Fastest Lap- Alex Albon

Career Best- Kimi Antonelli (2nd)