Brazilian Grand Prix: A Dismal weekend for the home-town hero; Norris continues his storm ahead in the championship.
- Cassandra Nicholls
- Nov 11
- 4 min read
What a weekend full of weather concerns and worrying results. For Oscar Piastri his sprint race did not go according to plan, with an unfortunate DNF, along with Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto with a terrifying crash on the last lap. All drivers were okay, but unable to attempt to score points and for Bortoleto, it was a tough day with also not being able to qualify properly.
With Lando Norris starting in P1, Kimi Antonelli in P2 and Charles Leclerc in P3 it was going to be interesting. With various safety car periods and virtual safety car periods, Norris was able to make the most of those winning the Brazilian Grand Prix. Joining Norris in P2 was Antonelli and storming through the field from the Pitlane to P3, was Max Verstappen. A brilliant result for the RedBull driver, given the Q1 exit and changes under Parc Ferme.
George Russell did great at defending his P4 result from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. With a quiet weekend for him, extending the lead in the constructors was their priority. It was a long race, with little weather compared to previous years and it worked in the Mercedes favour. Oscar Piastri had a tremendous result finishing in P5, even after his early lockup that gave him a 10 second penalty. It was going to be a hard weekend, but he needed to prioritise gaining as many points as possible, if he wanted to stay in the championship fight.
Ferrari with another shocking weekend with a double DNF. Lewis Hamilton received damage off initial contact with Carlos Sainz and floor damage after running into Franco Colapinto and breaking his front wing. Hamilton was eventually stuck at the back of the grid, with very little he could do to help himself. He would retire on lap 37. Charles Leclerc was clipped by Antonelli after Piastri locked up and ran into the rookie. Leclerc would be forced to retire given too much damage, on lap 5.
VCARB’s duo had a great weekend with a double points finish. They were both able to defend brilliantly to maintain their position on track. Liam Lawson would drag the remaining field over the line and finish P7, whilst Isack Hadjar would finish P8.
The two lone drivers representing their teams in the top 10 was Oliver Bearman and Pierre Gasly. Oliver Bearman was great, defending and attacking the field with some great overtakes from him. Bearman would finish in P6. Pierre Gasly was the final driver to take the top 10, in P10. He was a quiet result, but with some of the best racing I had seen from the Alpine driver this season.
Home-town hero Gabriel Bortoleto unfortunately could not even race having DNF on lap 1. It was a tough result given he had been squeezed slightly by Lance Stroll. He will have plenty more opportunities in the future to race in his home Grand Prix, just disappointing it was not meant to be this year. As for his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, he had a great result having managed to get to P9 and assist himself and the team with a couple extra points.
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz would both just miss out on an opportunity for points. Albon had a quiet day, driving his own race, whilst Sainz did get some damage during his initial contact with Lewis Hamilton on the first lap. Albon would finish in P11, whilst Sainz finished in P13. Similarly, the Aston Martin pairing would also have a tough race, given Stroll was hit by Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso was struggling for pace. Alonso would go on to finish P14, whilst Stroll would finish P16.
Your final 3 solo drivers during the race were Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda. Ocon was an unfortunate case of bad luck, given his teammate had some decent pace to keep within the top 10. If Ocon had qualified within that area, his weekend may have looked a little better. Ocon finished in P12 between the two Williams drivers. Colapinto once again beaten by his teammate and remains as the only driver (aside from Jack Doohan) with 0 points this season. A very tough result, especially given this is the closest to a home Grand Prix for the young driver. He would finish in P15.
Tsunoda was given the difficult task starting at the back end of the grid. With little pace in the car and 2 10 second penalties given, initial one for causing a collision and a second one for not serving the first one properly, a good result was near impossible. In the end, Tsunoda would go on to finish at the back end of the grid in P17.
This weekend proved that it is going to be a close championship battle between the remaining 3 within the title battle; Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. Our next race weekend takes place in Las Vegas and has previously been a favourable track for the RedBull car. Can Verstappen make that work in his favour?
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