Lando Norris took his third victory of 2026 in a Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix in mixed weather, beating a resurgent Max Verstappen as Mercedes won the constructors’ world championship.
After taking the lead from his successor, world champion Kimi Antonelli, from his spin start, pole-sitter Norris thwarted Verstappen’s final superb comeback in Brazil in a race that started and finished in the wet, setting aside a dry spell.
After surviving a scare in the laps of the grid when he slid on the grass in tricky Turn 12, Antonelli overtook pole sitter Norris for the lead into Turn 1 as the race began in intermediate conditions. Third starter Liam Lawson also followed the Mercedes into second place.
Alonso was the biggest loser as he lost six places by going wide at Turn 3. Lewis Hamilton went the opposite direction, gaining 10 places to 11th, while Verstappen jumped to 13th after both drivers started at the back of the grid with engine penalties.
As Antonelli built a five-second buffer over Lawson and Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen quickly found each other, with Hamilton starting to struggle with worn rear tires. The seven-time world champion was unable to keep up with Verstappen ahead of Oscar Piastri and into the top 10, with the Ferrari instead overtaken by Aston Martin’s Alonso.
Hamilton urged his team to switch him to slicks and eventually got his wish on lap 15 of 71, being the first driver to make the switch. His immediate speed on the dry weather tires sparked a series of pit stops on the grid as the entire field also switched to softs, with Antonelli and Verstappen waiting a lap longer than the other favorites.
Lando Norris, McLaren, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Manuel Eletto / Getty Images
After this reshuffle, Antonelli held the lead ahead of Norris, Isack Hadjar and comeback hero Verstappen, who both overtook Lawson. Russell, however, lost out in a spin coming out of the pits, lucky to escape damage but finding himself behind Piastri and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Antonelli came under increasing pressure from Norris, reporting a problem with the suspension that caused his car to pull sideways. This became evident in dramatic fashion when he left the track in Turn 1, leaving Norris in the lead but able to rejoin him.
Antonelli’s handling issues continued as Red Bull duo Hadjar and Verstappen easily made their way to the podium positions, with Hadjar beckoning Verstappen on lap 38.
After losing five seconds behind Hadjar, Antonelli managed to stabilize the situation in fourth position with a good buffer ahead of Piastri, Lawson, Russell and Hulkenberg, while neither Ferrari driver was able to make much progress from the middle of the field.
Starting from the back, Verstappen suddenly found himself in second place just after halfway, nine seconds behind race leader Norris. Verstappen pulled the trigger during a second pit stop on lap 46 for another set of softs, while Hadjar was optimistic about making it to the end without stopping again.
As a light drizzle hit the track with 23 laps to go, McLaren continued on with a second soft pit stop for Norris. Hadjar abandoned the one-stop plan with a pit stop on lap 51 in response, leaving Antonelli in the lead while Mercedes decided to gamble on heavier rain or a safety car. But with the new world champion losing more than a second per lap, Mercedes quickly abandoned that plan with a pit stop on lap 54 for new slicks.
As strategies converged again, Norris continued to match everything Verstappen could throw at him as he defended a seven-second gap, with Hadjar another eight seconds behind in third.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
But the skies began to open again on lap 62, sparking a massive move to the intermediates in the space of two laps, Norris and Verstappen both pitting on lap 63 as Hamilton survived a spin on slicks just before stopping in the pits.
Unfazed, Norris calmly controlled the treacherous final laps to secure his third victory of the campaign, with Verstappen settling for second, 14 seconds behind the McLaren driver, while Hadjar third a further nine seconds behind.
Russell finished fourth ahead of Antonelli, with both cars overcoming late balance issues to earn Mercedes their ninth constructors’ championship, their first such trophy since 2021.
Piastri finished sixth for McLaren ahead of Leclerc and a valiant Lawson, who continues to fight for his F1 future with Racing Bulls but was unable to keep Leclerc behind in the closing laps.
Like Leclerc, Hamilton was unable to mount a real comeback settling for ninth, with Hulkenberg taking the final point in 10th despite a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and taking the lead.
Rafael Camara finished 20th and last on his home debut replacing Esteban Ocon, while Lance Stroll retired for the 14th time this season in the Aston Martin. Valtteri Bottas did not start due to a cross-threaded right rear wheel nut on his Cadillac.
Brazilian F1 GP results
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