Norris beats Verstappen in wet Sao Paulo GP thriller as Mercedes win Constructors' Championship

Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen to victory in a thrilling wet Sao Paulo Grand Prix as Mercedes clinched the 2026 Constructors' Championship.

Norris claimed his third win of the season during Sunday's 71-lap race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, which began wet and dried out before the McLaren driver had to navigate a late rain shower, eventually claiming victory by 14.6 seconds after starting from pole.

Verstappen climbed to the podium from P21 on the grid during a frenetic Grand Prix, as team mate Isack Hadjar made it a double podium for Red Bull.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth, the latter having spun twice – once even before the start – after leading early on, but with the result enough for Mercedes to claim the title.

Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was P6 ahead of Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver passing Liam Lawson on the penultimate lap after the Racing Bulls driver had run second in the opening laps.

Lewis Hamilton finished P9 on his 400th Formula 1 start, the Ferrari driver reaching the points after starting P20 and also suffering a spin, with the top 10 completed by Nico Hulkenberg's Audi.

Arvid Lindblad just missed out on the points for Racing Bulls but finished clear of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and the two Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.

Alex Albon was P15 for Williams, ahead of Brazilian home hero Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), Ollie Bearman (Haas), Sergio Perez (Cadillac), Carlos Sainz (Williams), and Rafael Camara who finished P20 on his F1 debut for Haas.

Lance Stroll retired once again mid-race for Aston Martin, while Valtteri Bottas was wheeled off the grid before the start due to an issue with his Cadillac.

AS IT HAPPENED

There was drama even before the start of Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with new World Champion Antonelli running wide at Turn 12 on his reconnaissance lap as drivers assessed the damp but drying track, the Mercedes driver spinning his car and scrambling for grip on the wet grass.

The Italian eventually recovered back to the circuit and returned to the garage for precautionary checks with no lasting damage. If there were any lingering thoughts about the error, they were immediately dismissed once the red lights went out at the start as Antonelli jumped into the lead from second on the grid.

Having been beaten off the line, polesitter Norris eased his McLaren into Turn 1, allowing Lawson from the second row to move around the outside and giving the Racing Bulls driver the inside into Turn 2 and second place.

Further back, Hamilton was on an incredible charge, moving up from P20 on the grid to P9 before the end of the opening lap, while Verstappen moved up from P21 to P13.

Verstappen's charge continued and by Lap 5 the four-time World Champion had moved up to P8, demoting both Piastri and Albon in the space of two corners.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was placed under investigation for passing Bearman off track on the exit of Turn 5 on the opening lap, the Briton dropping to P11 and handing the position back to the Haas driver.

But the Ferrari driver was beginning to struggle with tyre wear, as the intermediate tyres began to quickly overheat and lose grip in the damp but quickly drying track.

Out in front, Lawson was also struggling with tyre wear, as Norris, Hadjar and Russell all moved ahead of the Kiwi in quick succession, with Verstappen soon overtaking as well having already cleared Hulkenberg.

By the end of Lap 14, Hamilton had dropped to P14 and became the first driver to pit for slick tyres, bolting on a set of soft Pirelli tyres, with Albon following in the next lap and prompting a flurry of pit lane action.

Norris, Russell and Hadjar pitted at the end of Lap 16, the McLaren driver having been 7s behind Antonelli, who along with Verstappen stayed out for an extra lap.

But Russell's race came undone in the pit lane exit, the Mercedes driver spinning backwards and losing crucial time and positions as he recovered, which included glancing the wall in his attempts to point the right way again.

Antonelli and Verstappen both pitted at the end of Lap 17, the former rejoining in the lead from Norris but by only a 2s margin, with Verstappen dropping back into P4 behind team mate Hadjar.

With warmer tyres Norris closed on Antonelli's out-lap, reducing the gap to just 0.6s across the line at the end of Lap 18, with Antonelli reporting "something is weird with the car", and suggesting a suspension issue.

Heading into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 20, Antonelli spun, giving Norris the lead as he rejoined just ahead of Hadjar, the Frenchman gaining P2 at the start of the next lap as Antonelli ran deep at Turn 1, with Verstappen the next to challenge.

Behind the leading quartet, Lawson was P5 from Piastri, with Hulkenberg heading the recovering Russell, Albon, Lindblad and Hamilton, who had made up ground after his early stop, with Alonso and Leclerc chasing.

By Lap 23 Overtake Mode was enabled, the track deemed completely dry as Norris held a 3.3s lead over Hadjar, with Antonelli off into the Turn 1 run-off again, rejoining once more but slipping back behind Verstappen.

The Dutchman was just 7s away from the race lead, as further back, Piastri moved ahead of Lawson for P5, Lindblad had moved into P9 as Albon dropped outside the points, with Leclerc also struggling and finding himself in P14.

Hamilton moved back ahead of Lindblad for P9 at Turn 1 on Lap 29, while up the road, Russell was struggling to find a way around Hulkenberg but finally secured the position into Turn 1 a lap later.

Drivers began to receive radio messages of potential rain in 10 laps, with Norris nearly 5s to the good over Hadjar, with Verstappen 8s away from the McLaren driver, as Antonelli had slipped to 15s adrift of the race lead.

The status quo remained for several laps, the closest battle for P11 as Albon defended from Alonso before the Williams driver ran wide at Turn 1 on Lap 35 and lost the position.

Albon regained the position through Turn 6 before Alonso swapped the positions at Turn 7, with Gasly holding a watching brief having had to back off when Albon rejoined at Turn 1, the Williams driver handed a five-second penalty for the incident.

Albon quickly lost further places to Gasly and Leclerc, while at the front, Hadjar suffered his own wide moment at Turn 1, eventually conceding P2 to team mate Verstappen into Turn 1 on Lap 38.

Norris' margin now stood at 9.2s, with Gasly and Hamilton taking on new sets of soft tyres as the expected rain shower appeared to be missing the circuit.

Hamilton was soon setting fastest laps but was stuck behind race leader Norris as the rest of the field remained out on their first set of slick tyres, Hamilton eventually unlapping himself on Lap 44.

In the battle for second, Hadjar remained within 1s of Verstappen and asked if the positions would be reversed, while Verstappen was being asked if he was able to run to the end on the same set of tyres before pitting at the end of Lap 45.

Verstappen rejoined P5 ahead of the recovering Russell, who had just overtaken Lawson into Turn 1, while Red Bull split their strategy as Hadjar confirmed he could run to the end but reporting light drops of rain.

Norris made his second stop at the end of Lap 49, rejoining back in P4, with Hadjar leading from Antonelli and Piastri as 21 laps remained.

Norris immediately passed Piastri on his out-lap, while Red Bull decided to pit Hadjar the next lap and he rejoined P6, behind Verstappen and Russell, but gained a position when Piastri pitted on Lap 51.

Both Hulkenberg and Lindblad moved ahead of Colapinto for the final point, but the former was handed a 10s penalty after going off the track at Turn 1, serving the punishment at a later stop.

Antonelli conceded the lead at the end of Lap 53 as he also headed to the pits, rejoining behind Russell and Hadjar as the pair battled into Turn 4, the Red Bull driver moving up to P3 as the threat of rain increased heading into the closing stages.

Russell moved aside for Antonelli at the start of Lap 57, as Lawson moved ahead of Leclerc for P7 at Turn 4, the Ferrari driver having stayed out on his first set of soft tyres as light rain began to fall.

Norris' margin stood at 10s, with Hadjar 7s further adrift and under pressure from Antonelli as lap times quickly began to increase with the track grip continuously dropping in the rain.

At the end of Lap 61, Russell and Alonso became the first drivers to stop for intermediate tyres as those who stayed out scrambled back round to the pits as everyone pitted for the appropriate tyre.

Hamilton spun on the climb up the hill from Turn 12, glancing the wall but recovering back to the pit lane, while Antonelli was placed under a post-race investigation after pulling into the path of an Alpine as he left his pit box.

Russell was soon on the tail of his team mate having been on his intermediates for an extra lap, Antonelli told to swap positions which he obeyed.

While Norris claimed his third win of the season and Red Bull claimed another double podium, Mercedes secured the title courtesy of Russell and Antonelli, with Piastri completing the top-six.

Leclerc made minor contact with Lawson in their battle for P7 at Turn 12, eventually sweeping around the outside of the Racing Bulls driver on the penultimate lap at Turn 3, with the top-10 completed by Hamilton and Hulkenberg.

Key quote

"It was a very tough race, very, very tough," said Norris. "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 the main thing today was I just kept it cool and I didn't make any mistakes. And 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.

What's next

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