McLaren’s Lando Norris took his second consecutive São Paulo Sprint win to extend his championship lead over team-mate Oscar Piastri as the Australian sensationally crashed out of the race in damp conditions soon after the start. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took second place with team-mate George Russell in P3 ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. 

Polesitter Norris reacted well to the lights going out at the start, and the McLaren driver took the lead ahead of Antonelli, Piastri and Russell. Behind them, Verstappen, on Soft tyres, got the jump on Medium-tyre starter Fernando Alonso, and as the Spanish driver made a poor start, the Dutchman powered into fifth. 

As the opening laps unfolded, Norris established a small gap back to Antonelli, who was being hunted down by Piastri. However, on lap 6, Piastri took too much kerb on the inside of Turn 3, the Curva del Sol and with water standing in the hollows of the kerb, the McLaren immediately lost grip and he spun off into the barriers. 

Behind him, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto made the same mistake and with all three damaged cars stranded in the run-off area, a momentary Safety Car deployment quickly turned to red flags and the field streamed back to the pit lane. 

After a 25-minute delay to recover the stricken cars and repair the barriers the Sprint got underway again with a rolling start. 

When the Safety Car left track Norris controlled the restart well to hold the lead but Antonelli came under heavy pressure from team-mate Russell. Verstappen, in P4 and now on Medium tyres, was struggling for grip and behind him Alonso sensed an opportunity. 

As Verstappen almost hit the back of Russell’s Mercedes and went wide in Turn 1 Alonso attacked. The Red Bull driver snapped the door shut in Turn 2 but after tucking in behind the Red Bull, Alonso went for it again into Turn 4. Verstappen was again alive to the threat and after blocking Alonso’s lunge, the Dutchman weas able to settle into a rhythm in P4. 

As the Mercedes drivers squabbled, Norris began to eke out a gap at the front and by lap 15 he was 1.3s clear of Antonelli, with Russell another 1.5s further back in third. 

On lap 17 Norris radioed the McLaren pit wall to complain that he was struggling with rear tyre war and as he battled worn rubber Antonelli began to close in. On lap 20, the Italian driver hauled his way well into DRS range of the McLaren but though he tried to force an error from Norris, the McLaren driver used his battery superbly to keep the Italian rookie at bay.

Any hopes Antonelli might have had of outdragging the McLaren to the flag were extinguished when Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto crashed on the way to Turn 1 on the final lap. 

The Brazilian was closing in on Williams’ Alex Albon under DRS, but when the local hero pulled out from the racing line to make his move, he immediately lost grip and smashed into the wall on the left and then flew across the track and into the barrier on the exit of Turn 1. 

Double waved yellows were quickly shown and the order froze. 

Norris crossed the line to take the third Sprint win of his career, and his second in 2025, with Antonelli second ahead of Russell and Verstappen. After a long mid-race battel Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc got past Alonso in the closing stages to take P5, while behind the Aston Martin man seventh place went to Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari and Pierre Gasly took a valuable point for Alpine in P8. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix – Sprint 
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 24 - 
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 24 0.845
3 George Russell Mercedes 24 2.318
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 24 4.423
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 24 16.483
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 24 18.306
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 24 18.603
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 24 19.366
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 24 23.933
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 24 29.548
11 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 24 31.000
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 24 31.334
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 24 38.090
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 24 38.462
15 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 24 38.951
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 24 42.349
17 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 24 55.456
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 23 – Accident
     Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 5 – Accident
     Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 5 - Accident