Lando Norris took his third win of the Formula 1 season, beating Max Verstappen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday.
Mercedes clinched the 2026 Constructors’ Championship with three races remaining.
Battling wet conditions, Norris leveraged pole position to earn a 14.6-second victory for McLaren.
“It was a very tough race, very, very tough,” Norris said. “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. So it was good.”
Verstappen vaulted from a 21st starting position all the way up to second, while teammate Isack Hadjar finished third, giving Red Bull two of the top three.
Yet it was Mercedes perhaps celebrating hardest with its two drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, landing in fourth and fifth, respectively. That was a good enough result for the team to secure the season title.
Russell and Antonelli both rank in the top three of individual points-getters, with Antonelli already clinching the championship with 390 points. Russell has 262. Norris is sixth with 246.
Antonelli spun his car in reconnaissance, but no problems were identified by his crew, and he leaped into the lead from the go.
But he spun again ahead of Lap 20, providing Norris an early advantage.
A late rain shower, on a track that had been wet early but had dried in the meantime, provided little drama as Norris closed things out.
“The main thing today was I just kept it cool and I didn’t make any mistakes,” Norris said. “And I had the pace when I needed to.”
Lance Stroll retired early and Valtteri Bottas had car issues with his Cadillac that prevented him from starting.
–Field Level Media
