Hello! Welcome to the latest Formula One live blog from Express Sport after yesterday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris converted pole position into a race win for the second straight year at Interlagos for McLaren as the team secured its first victory since August. Red Bull rounded out the podium places, with Max Verstappen coming through from 21st place to finish second ahead of team-mate Isack Hadjar, the Dutchman earning himself driver of the day too.
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli came fifth and sixth, respectively, which was enough for Mercedes to claim the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 2021. Ferrari were the only team that could stop them from celebrating at Interlagos, but Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished eighth and ninth.
The former finished seventh on the track but was found to have caused a collision with Liam Lawson while going wheel-to-wheel for that position, and has thus received a five-second time penalty. Antonelli also received the same penalty for an unsafe pit lane release by Mercedes into the path of Franco Colapinto, but remained sixth.
The third and final post-race penalty was for Oliver Bearman for a separate unsafe release from Haas, but adding five seconds to his time did not change his position, with the Brit staying 17th. The stewards also investigated Hamilton during Sunday’s race for going off the track while overtaking his fellow countryman. They found he gained no advantage and gave Bearman the position back, so no further action was taken.
Fernando Alonso’s phenomenal claim
Fernando Alonso praised Aston Martin’s cornering performance at the Brazilian GP, despite struggling with a huge straight-line speed deficit.
Looking back on the rase, he said: “It was better in the rain, for sure, better than the dry. But all in all, I think the pace was quite okay, and it was a good surprise. The car was performing well throughout the race.
“We’re still missing a lot of straight-line speed, and that’s difficult to compensate. But at one point, we were in some kind of fight with the Ferraris at the beginning and even at the end with the Mercedes.”
“Taking into account that we lose a lot on the straights, that means that the car was phenomenal today in the corners. So it was a nice feeling.”
Oscar Piastri’s ‘scary’ moment at Brazilian GP
Oscar Piastri admitted it was “scary” when he and George Russell almost collided with each other at the Brazilian GP. The changing weather conditions caused havoc in Sao Paulo, but one of the most terrifying moments came when Russell span out of control and was stranded in the middle of the track.
Piastri had to think quickly to get past the Mercedes ace. Looking back in it, Piastri said: “Scary. Obviously, he was stuck in the middle of the road, so it didn’t make things easy at all. But glad I could avoid.
“I think after the first ten laps or so, things felt pretty good. The pace was strong at some points. Honestly, for the rest of the race, the pace was pretty good.
“Some of the decisions we made weren’t maybe the best. But I think, honestly, it was nice to just be able to say we’re quick in a large part of the race.”
