Lando Norris Masters the Rain to Win São Paulo Grand Prix as Mercedes Seal Constructors’ Title

Lando Norris mastered a treacherous wet-dry-wet São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday to claim his third victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season, while Mercedes sealed the constructors’ championship with three races still to run. The McLaren driver, who started from pole position at Interlagos, beat Max Verstappen by 14.6 seconds after a race that began in the rain, dried out in the middle and ended in a late downpour, according to Formula 1 and Reuters.

Norris led for 47 of the race’s 71 laps at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace and crossed the line in 1 hour 35 minutes 23.504 seconds, with Verstappen’s Red Bull second and Isack Hadjar completing a double podium for Red Bull in third. George Russell and the new world champion Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth for Mercedes, a result that was enough to clinch the team’s ninth constructors’ title and its first since 2021, according to Reuters.

It was Norris’s first victory since the Dutch Grand Prix in August and his second consecutive win at Interlagos, where he also triumphed 12 months ago on his way to the 2025 drivers’ championship. “It was a very tough race, very, very tough,” Norris said afterwards, according to Formula 1. “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.”

The victory was all the more striking because Norris had lost the lead before the first corner and then had to fight his way back past the man who had just taken his crown. Antonelli, who sealed the drivers’ championship in Mexico City a week earlier at the age of 20, becoming the youngest world champion in the sport’s history, jumped the polesitter at the start and led the early laps. But the Italian’s race unravelled in the changeable conditions, and Norris’s calm, error-free drive in the rain proved decisive.

Chaos from the first lap

The drama began before the race had even started. On his reconnaissance lap to the grid, Antonelli ran wide at Turn 12 and spun his Mercedes onto the wet grass, scrambling for grip before recovering to the circuit and returning to the garage for precautionary checks, according to Formula 1. There was no lasting damage, and any lingering thoughts about the error were immediately dismissed when the lights went out, as Antonelli swept into the lead from second on the grid.

Norris, beaten off the line, eased his McLaren into Turn 1 and allowed Liam Lawson to move around the outside from the second row, giving the Racing Bulls driver the inside line into Turn 2 and second place. Behind them, the opening lap produced two of the drives of the season. Lewis Hamilton, starting 20th on his 400th Formula 1 start, climbed to ninth before the end of the first lap, while Verstappen, who had started 21st on the grid, moved up to 13th, according to Formula 1.

Verstappen’s charge continued relentlessly. By lap five, the four-time world champion had moved up to eighth, demoting both Oscar Piastri and Alex Albon in the space of two corners. Hamilton, meanwhile, was placed under investigation for passing Ollie Bearman off the track on the exit of Turn 5 on the opening lap, and dropped to 11th after handing the position back to the Haas driver.

Out in front, the intermediate tyres were beginning to overheat and lose grip on a track that was damp but drying quickly. Lawson was struggling with tyre wear, and Norris, Hadjar and Russell all moved ahead of him in quick succession, with Verstappen soon overtaking as well. Hamilton became the first driver to pit for slick tyres at the end of lap 14, bolting on a set of soft Pirelli tyres, with Albon following a lap later and prompting a flurry of pit-lane action.

Norris, Russell and Hadjar pitted at the end of lap 16, with the McLaren driver seven seconds behind Antonelli, who stayed out for an extra lap along with Verstappen. But Russell’s race came undone at the pit-lane exit, where the Mercedes driver spun backwards, losing crucial time and positions as he recovered, glancing the wall in his attempts to point the car the right way again, according to Formula 1.

Antonelli and Verstappen both pitted at the end of lap 17. Antonelli rejoined in the lead from Norris, but by only a two-second margin, with Verstappen dropping back into fourth behind his team-mate Hadjar. With warmer tyres, Norris closed on Antonelli’s out-lap, reducing the gap to just 0.6 seconds across the line at the end of lap 18. Antonelli, reporting that “something is weird with the car” and suggesting a possible suspension issue, could not hold him off.

Antonelli spins and Norris takes control

The decisive moment came at the start of lap 20. Heading into Turn 1, Antonelli spun, handing Norris the lead as the Mercedes driver rejoined just ahead of Hadjar. The Frenchman gained second place at the start of the next lap as Antonelli ran deep at Turn 1 once more, with Verstappen the next to challenge. By lap 23, with overtaking assistance enabled and the track deemed completely dry, Norris held a 3.3-second lead over Hadjar, with Antonelli off into the Turn 1 run-off again and slipping back behind Verstappen.

Norris now controlled the race. His margin grew steadily, reaching 9.2 seconds by lap 38 as Hadjar conceded second place to Verstappen into Turn 1. Behind them, the midfield produced its own battles: Piastri moved ahead of Lawson for fifth, Albon and Fernando Alonso traded places, and Hamilton, who had set the fastest laps on fresh soft tyres, eventually unlapped himself on lap 44 after being stuck behind the race leader.

Verstappen pitted at the end of lap 45 and rejoined fifth, ahead of the recovering Russell. Norris made his second stop at the end of lap 49 and rejoined fourth, with Hadjar leading from Antonelli and Piastri as 21 laps remained. Norris immediately passed Piastri on his out-lap, and Red Bull pitted Hadjar the next lap. Antonelli conceded the lead at the end of lap 53 as he headed to the pits, rejoining behind Russell and Hadjar as the pair battled into Turn 4.

Then the rain returned. Light drops began to fall, lap times rose quickly and grip dropped continuously. At the end of lap 61, Russell and Alonso became the first drivers to stop for intermediate tyres, and everyone else scrambled back round to the pits to follow. Hamilton spun on the climb up the hill from Turn 12, glancing the wall but recovering to the pit lane. Antonelli was placed under a post-race investigation after pulling into the path of an Alpine as he left his pit box, and was later handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release, though he kept fifth place.

Norris, who had switched to intermediates at the right moment, was untouchable in the closing laps. He opened up a 13-second gap over Verstappen and crossed the line 14.602 seconds clear, with Hadjar a further 9.9 seconds behind in third. Brazil football great Neymar waved the chequered flag, according to the Associated Press, and Norris’s traditional champagne celebration on the podium went awry in his excitement, the news agency added.

Mercedes seal the constructors’ title

While Norris celebrated on the top step, the bigger prize of the day was being decided behind him. Mercedes needed to score only three points more than Ferrari to clinch the constructors’ championship, and the Italian team never threatened to prolong the fight, with Charles Leclerc eighth and Hamilton ninth, according to Reuters.

Russell and Antonelli’s fourth and fifth places took Mercedes to 652 points, 142 clear of Ferrari with three races remaining, an unassailable lead that secured the team’s ninth constructors’ title and its first since 2021. The title completed a clean sweep for the Silver Arrows in 2026, coming a week after Antonelli, 20, became the youngest drivers’ champion in history with four races to spare in Mexico City.

It is Mercedes’ ninth constructors’ crown in 13 seasons, following eight consecutive titles from 2014 to 2021, and it brings the team level with Williams in third place on the sport’s all-time list of constructors’ championship winners, according to Sky Sports. The title is also a measure of how completely Mercedes has recovered from the four-year drought that followed the end of its era of dominance, a period in which Red Bull and then McLaren took the sport’s biggest prizes.

For Antonelli, the afternoon was a strange coda to his championship week. The Italian spun twice, once before the start and once while leading, reported a possible suspension problem, ran wide repeatedly at Turn 1 and collected a post-race penalty, yet still finished fifth and left Interlagos as a constructors’ champion as well as a drivers’ champion. It was, in its way, a fitting snapshot of a season in which his raw speed has repeatedly outrun his polish.

The rest of the field

Piastri finished sixth for McLaren, ahead of Lawson in seventh. Leclerc, who had passed the Racing Bulls driver on the penultimate lap, was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision with him and the two swapped positions after the race, leaving the Ferrari driver eighth. Hamilton finished ninth on his 400th start, with Nico Hülkenberg completing the top 10 for Audi.

Arvid Lindblad just missed out on the points for Racing Bulls but finished clear of Alonso and the two Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. Alex Albon was 15th for Williams, ahead of Brazilian home hero Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi, Bearman of Haas, Sergio Pérez of Cadillac and Carlos Sainz of Williams. Rafael Camara finished 20th on his Formula 1 debut for Haas. Lance Stroll retired mid-race for Aston Martin, while Valtteri Bottas was wheeled off the grid before the start because of an issue with his Cadillac, according to Formula 1.

Championship standings after São Paulo

With three rounds remaining, the drivers’ championship is settled at the top but the fight for second place is wide open. Antonelli leads on 390 points, according to Crash.net. Verstappen’s second place takes him to 279 points and gives him a 17-point cushion in the battle for the runner-up spot. Russell’s fourth place moves him up to third on 262 points, with Hamilton only one point further back on 261 after his ninth-place finish. Leclerc is fifth on 251 points, and Norris, despite his victory, is sixth on 246, a reminder of how much ground he lost during the middle of the season.

In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes are champions on 652 points. Ferrari are second, 142 points behind, with Red Bull and McLaren further back. Seventy-five points remain available to each driver across the final three races, in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The Formula 1 paddock now moves to the United States for the Las Vegas Grand Prix across the weekend of 20 to 22 November. There is uncertainty over the two final races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi because of tensions in the Middle East, according to the Associated Press, which could yet reshape the end of the championship.

Analysis: Why It Matters

A champion’s answer to losing his crown

Norris arrived in São Paulo as the deposed champion. Twelve months ago he won at Interlagos on his way to the 2025 title; a week ago he watched a 20-year-old take that title from him in Mexico City. Drivers in that position have two options: they can spend the rest of the season going through the motions, or they can treat the remaining races as a statement of intent. Norris chose the second, and the manner of the win mattered as much as the win itself. He lost the lead at the start, fell seven seconds behind, reeled in the new champion, forced the error, and then drove the final wet laps without a single mistake while everyone around him was spinning, sliding and apologising to their engineers. That is the drive of a driver who intends to be back at the front next year, not one who has accepted his demotion.

Antonelli’s brilliance, and the rough edges that remain

Antonelli’s season has been defined by a paradox: he is fast enough to be the youngest world champion in history, and erratic enough to spin on a reconnaissance lap, spin while leading a grand prix, and collect a penalty for an unsafe release in the same afternoon. None of that should diminish what he achieved in Mexico, where he clinched the title with four races to spare, but São Paulo was a useful reminder that a championship is not the same thing as completeness. The great champions learn to win ugly and to finish weekends that refuse to go their way; Antonelli’s next step is not more speed, which he plainly has, but the discipline to bring home the points on the days when the car is telling him that something is wrong. Mercedes will know this, and so will he.

Verstappen, from 21st to second, yet again

There is a point at which a comeback drive stops being surprising and becomes simply what a driver does. Verstappen started 21st, was 13th at the end of the first lap, eighth by lap five, and second at the flag, 14.6 seconds behind a driver who had started on pole and made no mistakes. It was, as the Associated Press and others noted, a typically brilliant recovery from the Dutchman, and it underlined why his move to second in the championship matters: with 75 points still available, the fight for the runner-up spot between Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton is the most competitive contest left in 2026. Verstappen’s season has been a story of a great driver in a car that has not always been able to match him; his São Paulo drive was the latest evidence that the gap between the two is narrower than the standings suggest.

Mercedes, back where they believe they belong

Nine constructors’ titles in 13 seasons is a record that puts Mercedes among the great teams in the sport’s history, level now with Williams and behind only Ferrari and McLaren on the all-time list. But the context matters: this is the team’s first constructors’ crown since 2021, and it ends a four-year spell in which the Silver Arrows watched others take the prizes. The double in 2026, drivers’ and constructors’ titles in the same season, is the first time Mercedes has swept both championships since the peak of the Hamilton era, and it has been achieved with a 20-year-old lead driver and a team principal structure rebuilt around him. The question now is whether this is the start of another era of dominance or a single peak season; the answer will depend on whether the team can keep its young champion’s speed and sand down the rough edges that São Paulo exposed.

What Interlagos keeps proving about Formula 1

There is a reason the São Paulo Grand Prix keeps producing the season’s most memorable races. Interlagos is a short, undulating circuit where the weather can change three times in 71 laps, where the pit-lane exit can end a driver’s race, and where starting at the back is not the same as being out of the contest, as both Verstappen and Hamilton proved on the opening lap. The 2026 race had all of it: a spin before the start, a lead change, a spin at the pit exit, a spin while leading, a late rain shower and a five-second penalty decided after the flag. Formula 1’s modern era is often criticised for processional racing, but Interlagos remains the exception that tests every skill a driver has, and Norris passed the test more completely than anyone else on the day.

What to Watch Next

1. The fight for second in the drivers’ championship: Verstappen leads Russell by 17 points and Hamilton by 18, with Leclerc and Norris still in mathematical contention. Las Vegas will be the first chance to see whether Verstappen can consolidate his hold on the runner-up spot.
2. Antonelli’s response: the new champion has a week to reflect on a messy weekend. How he drives in Las Vegas will say a lot about whether he has absorbed the lessons of São Paulo or whether the errors are a pattern.
3. Mercedes’ team orders and development: with both titles secured, will Mercedes let Russell and Antonelli race freely in the final three rounds, and how much attention will already have shifted to the 2027 car?
4. Las Vegas, 20 to 22 November: the next round under the lights on the Strip, where the championship’s remaining battles move to a street circuit that rewards a very different set of skills from Interlagos.
5. Qatar and Abu Dhabi: uncertainty remains over the final two races because of tensions in the Middle East, according to the Associated Press. Any change to the calendar would reshape the run-in and the championship’s conclusion.
6. Hamilton’s 400th-start milestone: the seven-time champion reached 400 starts in São Paulo and finished ninth after starting 20th. His battle with Russell for third in the standings is one of the closest fights left this season.
7. McLaren’s end-of-season form: Norris’s win was McLaren’s third victory of the campaign. Whether the team can carry that pace into Las Vegas will determine whether it can challenge Red Bull and Ferrari for second in the constructors’ standings.

Sources

• Reuters — Norris wins in Brazil as Mercedes take constructors’ title
• Formula 1 — Norris beats Verstappen in wet Sao Paulo GP thriller as Mercedes win title
• Associated Press via Sportsnet — Lando Norris wins Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Mercedes clinches constructors’ title
• Sky Sports — Sao Paulo GP: Norris wins wet race as Mercedes seal 2026 F1 Constructors’ Championship
• Autosport — F1 Brazilian GP: Norris wins in mixed conditions, Mercedes clinch constructors’ title
• Crash.net — New F1 championship standings after the Brazil Grand Prix