F1 - Brazilian GP

The Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo produced another great race as per usual for round 21 of the 2025 Formula 1 season. Let's see what happened.

Performances

McLaren - another fantastic weekend from Lando Norris to cement his championship lead with just 3 races to go. Pretty much a perfect weekend from him - sprint pole and win, normal race pole and win too. Not much more to say - he's hitting form at exactly the right time he needs to win the title. Another disappointing weekend for Piastri - crashing out of the sprint and only P5 in the race. I thought he was probably a bit unlucky to get a 10 second penalty for the incident with Antonelli and Leclerc, although to be honest I can see both sides of the argument. Either way even without the penalty he was going to lose to Lando this weekend - he needs a big weekend in Vegas to have a chance of a comeback. He's really performed horribly in this clutch time at the end of the year.

Mercedes - this was easily Antonelli's best weekend so far in F1. Front row in both sprint and normal qualifying, and finishing 2nd in both races too. His second podium in F1 but the first weekend where he really outclassed his teammate. Russell just couldn't match Antonelli this weekend, P3 in the sprint was good but only P6 in qualifying ruined his race and he came home 4th. Still very good points for Mercedes especially with the performance of a certain red team this weekend... they're solidly 2nd in the WCC now.

Red Bull - a sensational drive from Max Verstappen. That Red Bull didn't look quick in the sprint to take P4, but normal qualifying was a total disaster! They went completely wrong on setup changes and both cars were out in Q1, the first time ever Max has been out in Q1 on pure pace, and Red Bull's worst qualifying since Japan 2006. They decided to completely change the car, fit a new power unit and start from the pitlane, and then Max carved his way through the field to join an exclusive club of drivers who have finished on the podium from the pitlane! (This is the perfect race to see what a good setup and balance can do for a car, going from Q1 elimination to arguably the fastest race car in Max's hands!) He also had to pit an additional time for a puncture, this was just a special drive from him, and the strategy team cooked too. The championship is looking far away now but anything could happen and he's probably the biggest threat to Norris on current form. Yuki had a very messy race with a penalty for contact with Stroll and then another penalty for not serving the first one correctly... honestly he's only 3 or so tenths off Max on pace but he's just not translating that into races.

Ferrari - I really thought that the Chinese or Dutch GPs would be the worst races for Ferrari this season. I was wrong. This was the worst race weekend so far this year!!! The pain continues! There was zero pace to limp home P5 for Charles and P7 for Lewis in the sprint. Charles managed to get something with a P3 in qualifying for the normal race but of course his bad luck strikes again and he gets taken out through no fault of his own. Lewis just had another total disaster weekend again: out in Q2, making contact with Sainz and Colapinto before limping around with an incredibly damaged car and retiring in the end. He's right: this season has been a complete nightmare!!! And with Mercedes scoring big points as well this weekend Ferrari are now 4th in the WCC. Behind essentially a one man team in Red Bull!!

Haas - Ollie Bearman again delivering a 4th consecutive Q3 appearance and a great race to finish P6. He's another driver that has really upped his game in the last few races of the season. We knew he had the pace but now he's delivering consistently - great to see. Ocon had a better weekend, a bit closer in pace to his teammate and almost scored points starting from the pitlane to finish 12th. Only 12 points away from 6th in the WCC as well - every point for the midfield teams from now to the end of the season is vital!

Aston Martin - good sprint qualifying with both cars in the top 8 and then Fernando bringing it home in P6. However in the normal race weekend this pace evaporated really, both cars failing to make Q3 and coming home in 14th and 16th.

RB - Lawson had a great race to finish P7, making a one stop work by doing an extra long stint on the medium tyres. Hadjar had another very solid weekend, P5 in qualifying and came home in P8 in the race as well to ensure RB keep their P6 in the WCC with just 3 rounds to go. This team has been doing a great job all season imo, very under the radar. Their car has been consistenly quick, with both drivers able to get into Q3 quite often and points scoring positions often.

Sauber - very unlucky first home weekend for Bortoleto, having a massive crash in the sprint that thankfully he was unharmed from and then crashing out on lap 1 of the race after not taking part in qualifying. Hulkenberg on the other hand had a pretty decent weekend, top 10 in both normal and sprint qualifying with a crazy final stint on the soft tyres to get P9.

Alpine - points!!! For the first time since Belgium! Gasly did very well to score a point for P8 in the sprint and then made Q3 and came home in P10 for a point in the race. I mean they're still dead last by a country mile but finally!!! Franco was announced to stay for 2026 and I think it's a good decision. He showed in 2024 that he can be a great driver in a competitive car and Alpine will aim for that with Mercedes engines next year. He needs to step it up a bit next year but he hasn't been miles off Gasly.

Williams - another pretty disappointing weekend. Just a general lack of pace all round and were the only team to score no points this weekend. I mean come on. Even Alpine scored!

Race rating - 8.5/10 - Interlagos delivered for us again! Very interesting with plenty of overtaking action and varying strategies.

Driver of the race - there were actually quite a few good performances! Antonelli, Norris and Bearman all deserve a shout, but I have to give it to Max Verstappen. Pitlane to podium is a truly sensational drive.

Next weekend - the Las Vegas GP at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. After the embarrasment that was the Caesars Palace GP in the 1980s (literally in the parking lot of a casino!!!), F1 returned to the Sin City in 2023 with a street circuit that passes some of the most famous landmarks in the city, such as the Sphere and the Caesars Palace Casino. Key to succeed at the circuit is good straight line speed and good aero for the hairpin and chicane turns. Even though the track isn't for everyone, I quite like it actually! I certainly think there could be worse races (looking at you Miami and Abu Dhabi👀). I wouldn't call any race there a classic but hopefully this year can be the first!

Life as a Lewis Hamilton fan in 2025...

Also this theory is pretty crazy... basically wherever Titanium Dioxide is legal in food Kimi Antonelli performs well... and the data backs it up!