Formula 1’s 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix Review
The 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix delivered another unforgettable weekend at Interlagos — a circuit steeped in drama, passion, and history. Under overcast skies and before a sea of roaring fans draped in green and yellow, Lando Norris produced a flawless performance to claim his seventh victory of the season and strengthen his grip on the World Championship. Behind him, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli stunned once again with a mature drive to second, while Max Verstappen electrified the crowd with a spectacular recovery from the pit lane to finish third. As the season edges toward its finale, Sao Paulo’s famous roller-coaster of elevation and emotion once again proved why it remains one of Formula 1’s most beloved battlegrounds.
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Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying
Lando Norris once again showed his class around Interlagos, delivering a scintillating performance to secure pole position for the Sprint at the 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix. The McLaren driver set the pace early in SQ3 with a 1:09.243 — a lap that proved untouchable despite a late charge from Mercedes’ teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli, who fell just 0.097s short of top spot. Oscar Piastri completed a strong day for McLaren in third, while George Russell and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top five in a tightly contested session that saw mere tenths separate the frontrunners.
Under dry and sunny conditions, the session unfolded with the usual Interlagos unpredictability. Carlos Sainz suffered a nightmare in SQ1, locking up on his final attempt and dropping to last, while Lewis Hamilton’s struggles continued as the Ferrari driver failed to advance beyond SQ2 — later facing investigation for a possible yellow-flag infringement triggered by teammate Charles Leclerc’s spin. Aston Martin’s pace was one of the pleasant surprises, with Alonso and Lance Stroll both advancing comfortably, while rookie Isack Hadjar impressed once again by breaking into the top 10 for Racing Bulls.
Norris’s pole marks his first Sprint pole of the 2025 season and the fourth of his career, coming after a fine display of control and confidence through Interlagos’s tricky elevation changes. Mercedes will take heart from Antonelli’s P2, another sign of the young Italian’s growing composure under pressure, while Piastri’s P3 sets up McLaren for a strong push in Saturday’s Sprint showdown.
Final Sprint Qualifying Classification — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:09.243 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:09.340 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:09.428 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:09.495 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:09.496 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:09.580 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:09.671 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:09.725 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 1:09.775 |
| 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Kick Sauber | 1:09.935 |
Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint Race
Lando Norris extended his championship lead with a composed yet hard-fought victory in the Sao Paulo Sprint, fending off Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli in an eventful 24-lap dash that featured changing conditions, a red flag, and a dramatic crash for Oscar Piastri.
Starting cleanly from pole, Norris led comfortably into Turn 1, with Antonelli holding second despite early pressure from Piastri. Behind them, Max Verstappen climbed from sixth to fourth after a strong launch, while both Ferraris advanced into the top 10. However, the calm start quickly gave way to chaos on Lap 6 when Piastri lost control on the damp kerbs at Turn 3 and hit the barriers. Moments later, Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto also went off at the same corner, triggering the Safety Car and ultimately a red-flag stoppage to repair the barriers.
After the restart, all remaining drivers had changed tyres, with most switching to softs for the final 15 laps. Norris again managed a perfect rolling start, keeping Antonelli and George Russell at bay. Further back, Alonso battled Verstappen for fourth, while Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton engaged in a tight Ferrari fight just behind.
As the race entered its closing stages, Norris’s soft tyres began to degrade, allowing Antonelli to close within four-tenths of a second. Leclerc finally passed Alonso for fifth, and Verstappen maintained fourth to salvage key points for his title bid. A late crash for home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto brought out double yellow flags on the final lap, neutralising the race. Norris crossed the line unchallenged to secure his third Sprint win of the 2025 season, just 0.845 seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Russell completing the podium.
Final Sprint Classification — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 53:25.928 | 8 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.845 s | 7 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | +2.318 s | 6 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +4.423 s | 5 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +16.483 s | 4 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +18.306 s | 3 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +18.603 s | 2 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +19.366 s | 1 |
Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying
Lando Norris continued his superb Sao Paulo weekend by grabbing pole position for the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix, leading another tense and closely fought qualifying hour at Interlagos. After Oscar Piastri briefly held provisional pole with his opening effort in Q3, Norris reset the benchmark when it mattered most, delivering a 1:09.511 lap to secure P1 on the grid and further underline McLaren’s dominance over one lap.
Just as in Sprint Qualifying, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli emerged as Norris’s closest rival. The Italian pieced together another impressive session and ended up 0.174s shy of pole in P2, repeating his front-row start and reinforcing his status as a genuine threat at the sharp end. Charles Leclerc produced a strong performance for Ferrari to claim third on the grid, while Piastri ultimately had to settle for fourth after improving but not quite matching his team mate’s final sector.
Behind them, Racing Bulls enjoyed one of their best Saturdays of the season, with Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson lining up fifth and seventh respectively, split by George Russell’s Mercedes in sixth. Oliver Bearman’s eye-catching pace for Haas carried through all three segments as he secured eighth, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly along with Nico Hülkenberg’s Kick Sauber completed the top 10.
Further back, Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon missed out on Q3 in 11th and 12th, while Lewis Hamilton endured another difficult qualifying in 13th. The big shock, however, was Max Verstappen’s Q1 exit in 16th after struggling for grip, marking his first elimination in the opening phase since 2021.
Final Qualifying Classification — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:09.656 | 1:09.616 | 1:09.511 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:10.192 | 1:09.774 | 1:09.685 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:09.934 | 1:09.801 | 1:09.805 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:09.928 | 1:09.835 | 1:09.886 |
| 5 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 1:10.083 | 1:09.970 | 1:09.931 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:09.935 | 1:09.880 | 1:09.942 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:10.108 | 1:09.950 | 1:09.962 |
| 8 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 1:09.891 | 1:09.755 | 1:09.977 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:09.885 | 1:09.857 | 1:10.002 |
| 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Kick Sauber | 1:10.337 | 1:09.985 | 1:10.039 |
2025 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Review
Lando Norris capped off a near-perfect weekend at Interlagos with a commanding victory in the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, extending his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship. Starting from pole, the McLaren driver controlled a race defined by early incidents, strategic variety, and a stunning recovery drive from Max Verstappen, who charged from the pit lane to the podium.
Norris made a clean launch from P1 and comfortably held the lead into Turn 1 ahead of Kimi Antonelli, while Oscar Piastri came under pressure from Isack Hadjar in the opening corners. Further back, the field immediately descended into chaos. Lewis Hamilton was tagged by Carlos Sainz and later clipped the rear of Franco Colapinto, sustaining front-wing and floor damage that forced a long stop and dropped him to the back. At the same time, home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto made contact with Lance Stroll and hit the barriers, bringing out an early Safety Car and ending his race on the opening lap.
When racing resumed after five laps, Norris again nailed the restart, but the battle behind him quickly boiled over. Into Turn 1, Piastri locked up while running alongside Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, hitting the Mercedes and launching Antonelli into Leclerc’s Ferrari. Leclerc lost a tyre and was forced to retire on the spot, while the stewards issued a 10-second time penalty to Piastri for causing the collision. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed, during which Verstappen — already starting from the pit lane after Red Bull made extensive parc fermé changes and fitted a new power unit — pitted due to a puncture and dropped back to last once more.
Once the race settled, Norris led from Piastri and Antonelli, with Hadjar, George Russell, Liam Lawson, Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sainz forming the rest of the top 10. Russell soon cleared Hadjar for fourth, while Bearman made progress by overtaking Lawson. Verstappen, meanwhile, began to carve through the midfield on fresh mediums, picking off Hamilton and Colapinto and climbing into the points as pit stops unfolded.
As the first round of stops cycled through, Verstappen’s pace brought him up to the fringes of the lead fight. Antonelli switched from softs to mediums, Russell and others followed onto softer compounds later, and Norris managed his lead from the front while McLaren juggled multiple strategy options. Piastri’s race was complicated further when he had to serve his 10-second penalty in the pits, dropping him back into traffic and forcing a recovery drive of his own.
In the middle phase, Norris maintained a comfortable buffer over Antonelli, while Verstappen’s alternate stops — including another switch to mediums and, later, a final stint on fresh softs — put him on a charge in the closing laps. Hamilton’s difficult afternoon ended with retirement in the pits, confirming a double DNF for Ferrari after Leclerc’s early exit. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, received two separate 10-second penalties: one for causing a collision with Stroll and another for failing to serve the first correctly.
The final stint set up a thrilling finish. After his last stop, Verstappen emerged behind Russell and Antonelli but with a clear tyre advantage. He first swept past Russell around the outside on the main straight to grab third, then set his sights on Antonelli. The Mercedes rookie defended superbly, initially keeping the Red Bull out of DRS range, but Verstappen eventually closed to the Italian’s rear wing as the laps ticked down. Behind them, Piastri recovered to fifth and began to pressure Russell for fourth.
Norris, however, was untouchable at the front. Managing his final medium stint to perfection, he rebuilt a double-digit gap and crossed the line with a margin of just over 10 seconds to claim his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season. Behind, Antonelli resisted relentless pressure from Verstappen — including a wide moment on the final lap — to secure a career-best second place, while Verstappen completed a remarkable drive to third from a pit-lane start.
Russell held off Piastri to finish fourth, giving Mercedes a strong double top-five result. Bearman capped an excellent weekend with sixth for Haas, ahead of Lawson and Hadjar in seventh and eighth for Racing Bulls, their late-race incident noted but requiring no further action from the stewards. Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly rounded out the points-paying positions, while Albon, Ocon, Sainz, Alonso, Colapinto, Stroll and Tsunoda finished outside the top 10.
Final Race Classification — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time / Retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:32:01.596 | 25 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +10.388 s | 18 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +10.750 s | 15 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +15.267 s | 12 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +15.749 s | 10 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | +29.630 s | 8 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +52.642 s | 6 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +52.873 s | 4 |
| 9 | Nico Hülkenberg | Kick Sauber | +53.324 s | 2 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +53.914 s | 1 |
Conclusion
Lando Norris’s commanding win in Brazil capped a near-perfect weekend for McLaren, further solidifying his status as the driver to beat in 2025. Kimi Antonelli’s career-best P2 highlighted Mercedes’ growing resurgence, and Max Verstappen’s podium from the pit lane underlined Red Bull’s refusal to fade quietly. With Ferrari enduring a double DNF, the Constructors’ fight tightened even further — a reminder that nothing is certain as the final rounds approach. Formula 1 now turns its attention to the glittering streets of Nevada for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking place from November 20 to 22, where the title battle and season narrative will reach yet another fever pitch.
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Sources
- Norris wins thrilling Sao Paulo GP from Antonelli as Verstappen climbs to third from pit lane — Formula1.com
- Race Results — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix — Formula1.com
- Norris grabs pole position in Sao Paulo ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc — Formula1.com
- Qualifying Results — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix — Formula1.com
- Norris wins action-packed Sprint in Sao Paulo from Antonelli as Piastri crashes out — Formula1.com
- Sprint Results — 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix — Formula1.com
