It was another sprint Saturday, the penultimate sprint weekend of the season, in Brazil for the FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRANDE PRÊMIO DE SÃO PAULO 2025 weekend. Overnight rain made for a slippery Interlagos Circuit, although not wet enough for drivers to deviate from the slick tyres on the starting grid.
Lando Norris had a fantastic start from pole position to keep the lead into the first corner. Kimi Antonelli, starting in a career-best P2, moved to the right to cover off Oscar Piastri on the outside. There were microscopic margins as the two braked for the first corner, with Antonelli not willing to give Piastri any extra space on the outside.
Further back, Max Verstappen overtook Fernando Alonso off the line, while the Aston Martin driver narrowly managed to stay ahead of Charles Leclerc in the opening corners. Further back, Lewis Hamilton had a brilliant opening lap in the other Ferrari, climbing from P11 to P8.
There was drama in the midfield when Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman collided in turn four. Bearman had a slow run down the preceding straight. He moved to the left, squeezing Lawson, who had a mega run, slightly onto the grass. When the duo entered the fourth corner, Lawson drifted wide into the Haas, spinning Bearman around. The incident will be investigated after the race.
Antonelli initially looked like he could challenge Norris, pressuring the championship leader on the second lap. Antonelli, who started the race on the soft tyres, would have wanted to take the lead of the race while the soft tyres still had the advantage over the medium tyres used by both McLarens. But momentum shifted on the third lap, and Antonelli dropped off of Norris and came under pressure from Piastri in P3.
Piastri’s day unravelled on lap six, spinning into the barriers on the outside of turn three. He had hit a wet patch on the inside kerb, which had potentially been kicked up by teammate Lando Norris ahead. Piastri was not the only driver caught out by the water, with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto both hitting the same wet patch and also slamming into the barriers.
The race was red-flagged to allow marshals to remove the two stricken cars. Hulkenberg hadn’t suffered terminal damage, and Sauber was able to use the red flag to repair much of the damage to the car. McLaren used the opportunity to change Norris onto the quicker soft tyres, while Antonelli, George Russell, and Verstappen all changed to the medium tyres.
Crucially, the race director made the cautious call for a rolling start instead of the standing start, probably aware that additional delays could impact qualifying later in the afternoon. Norris left the restart over late down the main straight, minimizing the risk of being challenged into the first corner.
Antonelli was immediately under pressure from his Mercedes teammate. The two were side-by-side into the first corner, but Russell was stuck on the slippery outside line. Russell tried to challenge again on the run into turn four, this time taking the inside line, but he was too cautious on the brakes to make a move.
Verstappen did a good job of keeping Alonso behind in the first corner, running deep into the corner, cutting across the circuit and nearly collecting the Aston Martin. The Spaniard had used the red flag to ditch his medium tyres for a set of the quicker soft tyres, but could not keep up with Verstappen.
After a few laps, he fell within striking distance of the two Ferraris led by Charles Leclerc. Getting close is one thing, but overtaking is quite another. Overtaking proved difficult in the damp conditions. It took a lockup for Alonso in the first corner to give Leclerc a strong enough run down the back straight to get an overtake done.
Antonelli was stuck in a similar position in the closing laps. A mistake by Norris allowed Antonelli to get within DRS range of the McLaren. He kept the pressure applied, but ultimately could not get by the Brit and had to settle for P2, standing alongside teammate Russell on the podium.
The race ended in dramatic style, with the wet conditions again claiming another driver. Gabriel Bortoleto attempted to launch a dive on Alex Albon into the first corner on the final lap. The car veered into the pit wall under braking, sending the car skidding into a heavy impact with the outside barriers. Borteleto walked away uninjured, but Sauber has a lot of work ahead of them to try and get the car ready for the race tomorrow, let alone qualifying later in the afternoon.
Norris extends his championship lead slightly with the sprint win, but the real points are up for grabs tomorrow for the main event.
| 1 | L. Norris | 365 |  | |
| 2 | O. Piastri | 356 | -9 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 326 | -39 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 264 | -101 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 214 | -151 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 721 |  | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 368 | -353 |  |
| 3 | Ferrari | 362 | -359 |  |
| 4 | Red Bull | 351 | -370 | |
| 5 | Williams | 111 | -610 | |
