This weekend we celebrate Antonelli, who’s now the 2026 driver world champion, the youngest ever. What a fantastic job he’s done in only his second season. He is celebrated by his country of Italy, by his team and by his family.
Now we’re moving onto the Constructors’ Championship, which Mercedes could take the win at this weekend depending on how many points Ferrari are able to score.
Norris is quick in FP1, and it’s a rookie field practice session, including Haas’s new rookie, Camara, who is Brazilian, so he’s hoping to do well at his home Grand Prix as well; it’s Bortoleto’s home Grand Prix. There was a warm welcome for Antonelli in FP2 as the new world champion, and he came out on top as many other drivers struggled to stay on track. Verstappen looked strong in FP3, whereas Hamilton’s car started billowing with smoke, ending his session early.
With a heavy forecast of rain, the qualifying session could bring out some exciting and unexpected contenders.
Penalties galore
This weekend we see many drivers taking a variety of penalties. Verstappen and Hamilton are starting at the back of the grid for using more engine parts than allowed in a season. Whilst Leclerc also gets a 10-place penalty for taking more power unit components for his car, Russell receives a 5-place penalty for a late change to an engine component.
A wet and wild qualifying
We begin Q1, but it’s quickly red-flagged due to the heavy amount of rain in Brazil, making it undriveable for the drivers.
The qualifying is finally restarting after an hour and a half delay. The weather is still pretty rainy. All drivers are on wet tyres. It’s really important that the driver sets a good first lap as we’re not sure how long this qualifying session will be. We may only get to finish one round instead of three.
A few drivers go off track, including Bortoleto and Stroll, bringing out a brief yellow flag. Unfortunately, Bortoleto has damaged his rear wing and is out of qualifying. It seems that the drivers who are last over the line are setting the fastest laps, so it will be a battle to see which driver will be the last to go over.
Joining Bortoleto out in Q1 are both Cadillac drivers in 21st and 20th, and Stroll in 19th. Both Williams make it through, as both Alpine drivers fall short and are out of Q1, a shock for Gasly, his first Q1 elimination of the season. A superb job from Haas’ debut Camara, who in these tricky conditions makes it through to Q2 even after a spin.
Verstappen has decided not to continue in Q2 due to his penalty that’ll put him at the back of the grid. A few minutes in, Lindblad has stopped on track but managed to get behind the barrier, so no yellow flag; it seems to be an engine problem, but he’ll be out of qualifying.
Alonso makes the call for intermediate tyres, as does Hadjar and then many others are called in to change onto these tyres; we’ll see how this plays out. And it’s a disaster for Camara as he crashes on his final quick lap; he’s okay but has ruined Piastri’s lap, bringing out a red flag, and he’s out in P12.
Joining Lindblad and Piastri are Verstappen and Hamilton, who will be starting at the back of the grid. Camara is out in 13th along with Sainz in 15th, but his teammate Albon has made it through to Q1 for the first time this season, as well as Alonso.
We begin Q3 shortly, and all cars are desperate to get a quick fast lap in case the session is red-flagged due to the heavy rain, which is increasing again. Halfway through, it’s Norris in provisional pole position, with Russell annoyed in 2nd place and his teammate and the 2026 driver world champion in 3rd.
Q3 finishes earlier, but so it’s Norris who takes pole position at the Brazil GP. Russell finished 2nd and Leclerc 4th, but due to their penalties, Russell will start 7th, and Leclerc will be in 14th. Which puts Antonelli up to 2nd place and a fantastic qualifying for Lawson, who will be starting 3rd tomorrow.
Superb job from Hulkenburg for Audi, starting 4th, their highest position yet. Hadjar takes 5th, and Bearman sits in 6th, and to finish the top 10 we have Alonso in 9th and Albon in 10th place.
A wild and wet qualifying in Brazil this weekend, and we have the 2025 and 2026 driver world champions starting side by side. But let’s not underestimate where Hamilton and Verstappen will end up after starting from the back of the grid.
A riveting race
All cars are starting on intermediate tyres, but some cars are reporting that the track is dry in some areas, so it could be a worrying start. There are already problems for Cadillac, as Bottas’ car has a wheel which is stuck and unable to be removed, so he will not be starting the race today.
Norris is off quickly but not quick enough as Antonelli flies ahead of him, taking pole position. Norris has a disastrous start, losing another place to Lawson, who’s now in 2nd place; the McLaren are struggling with the cold tyre temperature.
Bearman had a bad start and nearly lost the car in doing so; he and Alonso went into each other, and Alonso sustained some damage, and Bearman went off track and has fallen down to 10th, such a shame for him as Alonso also fell down to 14th.
Hamilton had a superb start, going from 19th up to 9th on the opening lap and Verstappen not far behind in 11th. And soon enough, Verstappen gets ahead of Hamilton after he goes slightly wide, and Verstappen is up into 9th and fighting for points.
Hadjar is holding Russell at bay in 4th place, and Hulkenberg is settled in 6th, with Albon just behind, but behind him is Piastri in 8th, and Verstappen is after him. Verstappen managed to overtake Piastri after a little battle, and that caught Albon off guard; he was able to dive down the inside and get ahead of Albon too, moving Verstappen up to 7th place on only lap 6.
Norris and Lawson are fighting hard together, and Lawson goes slightly wide, and Norris is able to take advantage and get ahead into 2nd place, but he’s already 5 seconds away from Antonelli. Hadjar dives down the inside fighting Lawson and gets ahead into 3rd; the Racing Bull is starting to struggle.
Russell also gets ahead of Lawson and moves up into 4th as Norris is driving a lot faster now he’s got some free air, and we’re told that we’re expecting rain soon. Hamilton is starting to struggle and has to let Bearman through to avoid a penalty, and Lindblad has got ahead of him, and he’s now in 12th place fighting his teammate.
Leclerc and Hamilton go head-to-head down the straight, and Leclerc gets ahead; Hamilton is struggling with these tyres. We see Alonso make a move on him and just about get ahead of him as Hamilton desperately wants new tyres.
On lap 13, Verstappen overtakes Lawson and is in 5th place behind his team-mate as Russell has got into 3rd position. Antonelli is storming away and is still 8 seconds ahead of Norris. Hamilton is called into the pits on lap 15 and changes onto new soft tyres, and he’s running in 20th place, so we’ll see if these tyres can get his race going.
Hamilton is setting the quickest laps, and it looks like the soft tyres are working well. A flurry of cars are called in to change onto soft tyres, such as Norris, Russell, and Hadjar, but Antonelli and Verstappen have stayed out and are called in a lap later, with Antonelli still in the lead.
Russell has a tricky moment coming out of the pit lane exit and spins, not used to the new tyres that have just been put on, and he’s pushing them too hard. He manages to spin around the correct way and gets going, but a few cars have overtaken him.
Antonelli comes out ahead of Norris, but Norris has an extra lap to warm these tyres up, and he’s all over the back of Antonelli whilst Hadjar is back in 3rd and Verstappen in 4th. Whilst Lindblad and Albon nearly have a collision as Lindblad makes a daring move to get ahead, he doesn’t quite manage it, so he stays in 10th behind Albon.
On lap 20, Antonelli spins out and has been complaining about some car issues and spins off the track. Luckily, he rejoins, but behind Norris, Hadjar is right behind Antonelli. Hadjar is able to get ahead as Antonelli goes wide, still having problems with his car and is in visible discomfort, asking Bono (his race engineer) to find a solution.
Hamilton has got up to 11th place; the soft tyres were clearly the right call at the right time. Whereas both Mercedes are struggling, as Verstappen is gaining on Antonelli and Russell has fallen to 8th place. Camara is struggling as he’s in last place and going off the track.
A few laps later, Antonelli goes off the track again at the same corner, and Verstappen glides through and into 3rd place. As Lindblad goes down the inside of Albon and gets ahead, up into 9th place. Colapinto also goes wide and nearly makes contact with Leclerc, and he went for an overtake.
A tough battle between Hulkenberg and Russell fighting for 7th place, and Hulkenberg is defending hard as Hamilton gets ahead of Lindblad and moves up into 9th on lap 30. Russell powers down the straight and gets ahead of Hulkenburg and moves up.
Verstappen is 3 seconds behind Hadjar and isn’t gaining on his teammate, and Redbull are reporting that he’s having a rear downforce problem. Norris is out in front and is 4.5 seconds ahead of Hadjar and is setting the quickest lap, enjoying the clean air.
Stroll comes into the pits and retires due to another engine problem, but his teammate Alonso is making moves on Albon as he goes wide and Alonso gets up into 11th place, but he is fighting back, and Alonso makes it stick. Leclerc and Albon are fighting now, and Leclerc gets ahead and up into 12th place as his teammate Hamilton is fighting Hulkenberg.
We’re over halfway now, and Hamilton is called in for a 2nd pit stop and comes out 14th, and we see Norris just come out ahead and lap Hamilton. Albon is given a 5-second penalty for rejoining unsafely after going wide and rejoining just in front of Gasly.
Hadjar is sitting in 3rd after being told to let his team-mate get ahead to catch Norris, but Verstappen is still 10 seconds away. Norris is considering doing a one-stop strategy and seeing if he can go the rest of this way on one set of tyres, whereas Verstappen is firmly against this strategy for his car and demands that he needs to do a two-stop.
On lap 46, Verstappen pits for his 2nd pit stop and comes out 5th and, just behind Russell, overtakes Lawson on the straight and is up into 6th. Hamilton is the quickest car on track currently, and he’s up into 9th place behind his team-mate.
There’s a three-way battle between Lindblad, Hulkenberg and Colapinto, all fighting for 10th place, the last available point, but it is so crucial to all of these teams. Hulkenberg is forced wide by Colapinto, and they regain their positions on track whilst Lindblad attempts to overtake but isn’t able to yet.
Norris pits for a 2nd time and comes out in 4th just behind his team-mate, and Hadjar now leads the Grand Prix with Antonelli 2nd. Piastri moves out of the way quickly to let his team-mate get up to speed, and he’s 8 seconds from Antonelli. Hadjar is called in to pit again with 20 laps to go and comes out 6th behind Russell.
Lindblad overtakes Colapinto as he goes wide and off track, and the Racing Bull is up into 11th. Hulkenberg receives a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. As Mercedes calls Antonelli in to pit again, he comes out in 5th behind his team-mate.
Russell and Hadjar are fighting hard for 3rd place, but Hadjar, with the newer tyres, gets past him. As Russell is ordered to allow Antonelli to go past him so Antonelli can fight for a podium place. Leclerc is up to 7th place after doing a one-stop strategy and is trying to hold out another 14 laps on his old tyres. Lawson makes a move on Leclerc and is up into 7th as he’s got newer tyres on.
Again, more rumours of rain starting soon, and the drivers are being told to prepare for a heavy shower, which means they might need to change onto the intermediate tyres with only 11 laps to go, which could change the order of everything.
Antonelli is flying and is within 0.3 seconds of Hadjar in 3rd place and on much newer tyres. Whilst Norris is 12 seconds ahead of Verstappen in 2nd. As Antonelli gets very close to shutting his car down but just about holds the car on track, he’s pushing very hard to make it onto the podium.
9 laps to go and Russell has come into the pits on intermediate tyres as the rain has started to fall. The top 4 cars have missed their pits as the rest of the field are pitting to change, and a lap later Norris stops to put on the intermediate tyres and comes out 1st still. Antonelli pits and comes out very close to Colapinto in the pit lane, which could be an unsafe release and comes out in 4th with his team-mate just behind. Hamilton spins just as he’s due to come in to pit to change tyres; he manages to get into the pit but has lost time.
Russell is in 5th place, and his gamble of waiting to have his 2nd pit stop and pitting a lap before the front runners has worked well and brought him back into podium contention. 7 laps to go, and Antonelli has been told to let Russell through since Antonelli is still having problems managing his car.
Norris is still going strong in 1st place with Verstappen in 2nd, who’s 10 seconds away, and Hadjar is in 3rd place with Russel 3.5 seconds behind him, but his team-mate Antonelli is 2 seconds behind Russell and not ready to give up.
Hulkenberg, despite having a 10-second penalty, is still defending his position from Lindblad and trying to hold on to 10th place and the last point available. Leclerc is 0.6 seconds behind Lawson, and his one-stop strategy has brought him back into this race as he’s fighting for 7th place.
2 laps to go and there are still many battles going on track. Leclerc and Lawson get very close together, banging wheels as Leclerc is desperate to get ahead. Lawson can’t keep up and falls behind Leclerc, conceding.
Norris wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in a fantastic drive, a wet race and a chaotic ending, but Norris has kept calm and composed to take this win. Verstappen had a superb drive starting from P21 and finishing 2nd; as always, he’s calm under pressure, and his team-mate Hadjar took 3rd place, a great team win for Redbull.
Russell secured 4th; after a disastrous spin, he salvaged some good points, and I’m sure Antonelli will be happy to have finished in 5th; he seemed to have a chaotic time today. Piastri made good moves to get to 6th, and Leclerc’s one-stop paid off, placing him in 7th. Lawson clung on to 8th, and Hamilton managed to get 9th, which is pretty good from starting last as well. It was a tough fight for the final 10th spot, but Hulkenberg held off the rest and took 10th.
A massive congratulations to Mercedes, who have now won the Constructors’ Championship as well as the driver championship. A whopping 652 points; they are uncatchable and have demonstrated an ideal season with these new cars and 2026 regulations.
Not many races left to go, but we have Las Vegas coming up in a couple of weeks’ time, and it will be one not to miss.
For those in the UK, it’ll be an early start to the day, and I’m looking forward to it!
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