As Motorsport.com reports, the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix concluded with Lando Norris taking a convincing win as outgoing world champion, but the post-race paddock is still dealing with visits to the stewards.
Kimi Antonelli and a Mercedes representative had to appear before the stewards at 4.30pm local time over an alleged unsafe release. Mercedes released Antonelli directly into the path of Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, requiring the Argentine to give his account as well. Even if Antonelli is handed a 10-second penalty, his finishing position remains secure. As the youngest world champion in F1 history, he holds a margin of more than 20 seconds over Oscar Piastri, leaving his fifth place safe.
The Italian endured a difficult race at Interlagos that started with an excursion off the track on his way to the grid. Several moments followed at Turn 1 during the race, prompting Antonelli to tell race engineer Peter Bonnington that there was 'something wrong' with the car, though Mercedes was primarily monitoring tyre temperatures on slicks at that point. Despite a challenging outing, Mercedes secured the constructors' championship, marking the team's ninth constructors’ title. That title was clinched in Brazil partly due to a very difficult Sunday for Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc was also summoned to the stewards for potentially causing a collision during the closing stages of the race, when he made contact with Liam Lawson just before the uphill start-finish straight. While Max Verstappen dismissed the incident as “rubbing is racing” in the cooldown room, the stewards chose to investigate further. A penalty for Leclerc would carry greater consequences than for Antonelli, as even a five-second penalty would drop him behind the Racing Bulls driver given the final gap between them was just 1.816 seconds.
Finally, Oliver Bearman and Haas must answer to the stewards over an unsafe release involving Leclerc. That incident took place further down the order, leaving the Ferrari junior driving for the American team finishing 17th and already well outside the points. The officiating stewards' panel for the weekend consists of Nish Shetty, Loïc Bacquelaine, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Felipe Maluh.
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