Norris storms to wet Sao Paulo GP victory as Mercedes seal Constructors' title

What a chaotic, magnificent race. Lando Norris mastered a treacherous, drying-then-drenching Autódromo José Carlos Pace to take victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix by 14.6 seconds, securing his third win of the season. But while the McLaren driver controlled the chaos from pole position on the 71-lap afternoon, the bigger picture unfolded right behind him as Mercedes clinched the 2026 Constructors' Championship.

Things were wild before the red lights even blinked. Newly crowned World Champion Kimi Antonelli spun his Mercedes at Turn 12 on his reconnaissance lap on the damp track, scrambling across the wet grass before recovering to the garage for checks. Yet any nerves were instantly erased when the race actually started, with Antonelli launching past polesitter Norris from second on the grid into Turn 1. Norris then got squeezed further, allowing Liam Lawson to muscle his Racing Bulls machine around the outside and snatch second place into Turn 2. Further down the order, the grid went completely berserk: Lewis Hamilton launched himself from P20 all the way to P9 on the opening lap alone, while Max Verstappen tore through the field from P21 to P13.

Verstappen's relentless march continued as the four-time World Champion climbed to P8 by Lap 5, carving past Oscar Piastri and Alex Albon. Out front, tyres were crying for mercy on the drying asphalt. Lawson began to fade, allowing Norris, Isack Hadjar, and George Russell past in a brutal flurry, with Verstappen soon following them through. The pit lane opened for slicks on Lap 14 as Hamilton became the pioneer for soft Pirelli tyres, triggering a wave of stops. Drama immediately bit Russell on his pit exit, the Mercedes driver spinning backwards, glancing the wall, and throwing away precious time.

Antonelli and Verstappen pitted a lap later, leaving Antonelli just 2 seconds ahead of Norris upon rejoining. But the youngster reported something felt weird with his car, suspecting a suspension issue. On Lap 20, Antonelli spun at Turn 1, handing the lead to Norris and letting Hadjar through to second. By Lap 23, Overtake Mode was enabled on a fully dry track, with Norris stretching his lead to 3.3 seconds over Hadjar. Verstappen kept clawing closer, eventually wrestling second place away from Hadjar on Lap 38 as his Red Bull teammate ran wide at Turn 1.

As the race wore on, the clouds decided to join the party. Teams received warnings of rain arriving in 10 laps, setting off another strategic chess match. Verstappen pitted on Lap 45, rejoining in P5, while Norris made his second stop at the end of Lap 49. Antonelli finally pitted from the lead on Lap 53, plunging back into traffic just as the promised rain finally began to fall. Grip evaporated instantly, and lap times soared.

By Lap 61, Russell and Fernando Alonso dove into the pits for intermediate tyres, sparking a mad scramble as the rest of the field followed suit. Hamilton spun and glanced a wall on the climb up from Turn 12 before limping to the pit lane, while Antonelli drew a post-race investigation for an unsafe release into the path of an Alpine. Through the spray, Norris took the checkered flag to claim his third victory of the year.

Behind him, Verstappen completed a stunning recovery drive to finish second from P21 on the grid, with Hadjar making it a double podium for Red Bull in third. Russell and Antonelli brought home fourth and fifth places respectively—enough to officially crown Mercedes as the 2026 Constructors' Champions. Piastri took sixth for McLaren, while Charles Leclerc crossed the line seventh for Ferrari after passing Lawson on the penultimate lap at Turn 3. That late move cost the Monegasque driver, however, as a five-second penalty for causing a collision swapped him back behind the Racing Bulls driver in the final classification. Hamilton salvaged ninth on his milestone 400th Formula 1 start after starting P20 and spinning, leaving Nico Hulkenberg's Audi to round out the top 10.

"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 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."