Norris win, Verstappen masterclass, Mercedes title mark F1 race

Mercedes expectedly won the F1 Drivers’ Championship at the Sao Paulo GP on Sunday, despite both their drivers having the noses of their cars pointing in the opposite direction during a chaotic and wet race in Brazil.

While George Russell finished fourth, after starting fifth and spinning in the pitlane, teammate Kimi Antonelli finished fifth, seven days after becoming the youngest champion.

The 20-year-old had started from the front row alongside pole-sitter McLaren’s Lando Norris, the eventual winner, and endured a difficult race, spinning on a couple of occasions, but it was enough to ensure that Mercedes outscored Ferrari to take a ninth teams’ title.

However, the Driver of the Day was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who produced another spectacular drive in the rain to finish second after starting from 21^st. This was the Dutchman 58^th DOTD award – former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel sits a distant second at 23 – and his 10^th this season, showing exactly why he is considered one of the greats of the sport.

But it was Norris who had his second consecutive victory in Brazil after a race he led for 47 of 71 laps, with Brazil football great Neymar waving the chequered flag. "It was one of my best races in terms of execution," Norris said. "It was a race where things could easily change.

"The main thing today was to keep it cool."

Verstappen, who wasn’t too pleased with the state of the car despite his stirring recovery drive, said: "It was a challenging race! The first laps were so important. We were strong on the inters, but then it was not so good but starting P21 and finishing on the podium is a good result."

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, having taken his third podium of the year and having led a Grand Prix for the first time, added: "That was so difficult. The switching from inters to softs and then back again! Very tricky to drive and then more rain."

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, though, made a subdued exit from Interlagos after a weekend to forget, the third race in a disappointing 'triple-header' for Ferrari.

The seven-time champion finished ninth after starting 20th on the grid, two places behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The result saw Hamilton slip from third to fourth in the drivers' title race behind new champion Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell. Leclerc is fifth.

The next race will take place in Las Vegas on Novomber 21, with the two final races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.