--- title: "Rain at Interlagos: Norris wins a race that was supposed to mean nothing" description: "The titles were settled, but rain, grid penalties and two Mercedes spins turned the São Paulo Grand Prix into one of 2026’s best races" author: "Jan Sokol" published: 2026-11-09T15:16:31Z modified: 2026-11-09T23:12:22Z url: https://rews.cc/a/rain-at-interlagos-norris-wins-a-race-that-was-supposed-to-m-f2aa2b language: en tags: ["sports", "formula-1", "racing", "weather", "mercedes", "world"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Rain at Interlagos: Norris wins a race that was supposed to mean nothing *The titles were settled, but rain, grid penalties and two Mercedes spins turned the São Paulo Grand Prix into one of 2026’s best races* By Jan Sokol · November 9, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/rain-at-interlagos-norris-wins-a-race-that-was-supposed-to-m-f2aa2b ## In brief - Lando Norris won the São Paulo Grand Prix from pole on 8 November, his third win of 2026 and second in a row at Interlagos - Grid penalties for Verstappen, Hamilton and Leclerc and rain in qualifying left an unusual starting order - Antonelli lost the lead after a spin at Turn 1 and then spun again; Russell spun leaving the pit lane - Verstappen came from 21st on the grid to finish second, 14.602 seconds behind; Hadjar was third - Mercedes clinched the constructors’ title, its ninth and first since 2021, with Russell fourth and Antonelli fifth In sport they call it a dead rubber: a match played after the verdict is already in. The people who sell championships dread it. Once a title is settled with races still to run, the audience drifts off, because nothing is left to decide. By the time the cars reached the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo in November, Formula 1 had its verdict. A week earlier, in Mexico City, Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes had taken the drivers’ crown, and at 20 he became the youngest champion the sport has had, [according to ANI](https://www.aninews.in/news/sports/others/mercedes-clinch-2026-f1-constructors-title-as-norris-wins-sao-paulo-gp20261109073814/). All that remained was a formality for the constructors. Yet anyone who skipped Sunday, 8 November, missed one of the year’s most entertaining races, [as Jonathan M. Gitlin wrote in *Ars Technica*](https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/11/f1-in-brazil-drivers-at-their-very-best-in-tricky-conditions/). The rain came, went away, and came back. The grid had been shaken up like dice in a cup. Some of the fastest drivers in the world started at the very back. ## The champion without a car Start with Lando Norris. He won the 2025 title after a tense fight with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and he carries the number 1 for it. But McLaren began this season unable to win races, and even after several upgrades its car remains very tricky to drive. Here is one of the sport’s quieter cruelties, offered as reflection: the crown belongs to the man, but the means of defending it belong to the factory. A title, once won, describes the past. Saturday’s qualifying broke the usual order. The rain fell hard enough for full wet tyres, the deep-treaded kind that normally throw up so much spray that drivers can’t see and sessions are halted. This time, with fewer cars left in the later knockout rounds, the running went on. Then came the rulebook. Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton both took grid penalties for using power unit components beyond the season’s allowance. Charles Leclerc, Hamilton’s teammate, took a 10-place engine penalty of his own and started 14th, ANI reported. So the grid looked strange. Norris was on pole with Antonelli beside him. Behind them sat Liam Lawson’s Racing Bull and Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi, then Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman’s Haas, then George Russell’s Mercedes and, more unusually still, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, a car normally found much further back. Williams’ Alex Albon was ninth, ahead of Piastri. Hamilton lined up 20th and Verstappen 21st, out of 22 cars. ## Three corners At first it all seemed to slip away from Norris. Antonelli got the better start and passed him into Turn 1. Lawson came through at the next corner. Two places gone in the opening corners. But Norris stayed calm. By lap six he was back past the Racing Bull, about five seconds behind the leader. Mercedes was in trouble. Its two drivers seemed unable to get enough heat into their tyres, the cars looked hard to handle, and both Russell and Antonelli complained to the garage over the radio. Russell had climbed into the top three early on, then spun on leaving the pit lane after his first stop and ended up facing the wrong way. A few laps later Antonelli spun from the lead into Turn 1, on lap 20 according to [Formula 1’s race page](https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2026/brazil), and Norris was in front again. Four laps after that Antonelli spun a second time and fell to fourth. ANI reported that he had told the team his car was pulling to one side under acceleration. Norris made none of these mistakes. His stops came at the right moments, he was on the right tyres each time, and he stayed clean when the rain returned in the final laps. His only slip came on the podium, when he tried to fizz his champagne and shattered the bottle instead. He won by 14.602 seconds, according to the [official classification published by PlanetF1](https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-results-sao-paulo-grand-prix-2026-race-brazil). It was his third win of the season, [ESPN noted](https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/50389160/sao-paulo-grand-prix-2026-live-updates-results-analysis-commentary), and his second in a row at Interlagos. ## From the back of the field This was Hamilton’s 400th Formula 1 start, and he has won more than a quarter of them. By the end of the first lap he had gone from 20th to ninth and made it look easy. Within four laps the charge was over. Everyone had started on intermediate tyres, and on a drying track those tyres don’t last. He had gained ground by getting heat into his rear tyres, and that same heat wore them out. He began sliding backwards and twice found himself racing Leclerc. This time the two Ferraris raced each other cleanly, unlike in Mexico, Italy and the Netherlands. Neither managed his tyres well. On the road Leclerc finished seventh and Hamilton ninth. Leclerc was then given a five-second penalty for rejoining the track unsafely after running off while fighting Lawson, and dropped to eighth. Verstappen’s first lap was less dramatic. His Red Bull was never quite in its setup window all weekend. But his car took longer to bring its rear tyres up to temperature, and that probably made them last. While Hamilton faded, Verstappen was ninth by lap 4 and second by lap 24, after taking advantage of Antonelli’s second spin. He finished there. His teammate Hadjar was third, putting both Red Bulls on the podium. ## The arithmetic For Mercedes the afternoon was mediocre by its own high standards and decisive all the same. The team needed to outscore Ferrari by at least three points, ANI reported. Near the end it told Antonelli to let Russell through, and they finished fourth and fifth. A five-second penalty Antonelli received afterwards for an unsafe pit release left his position unchanged. It was enough. Mercedes took the constructors’ championship with three rounds left, its ninth such title and its first since 2021, [Motorsport.com reported](https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-crowned-2026-f1-constructors-champion-at-brazilian-gp/10873044/). So the team celebrated, even though both its cars had spun. Formula 1 now takes a weekend off. Then it goes to Las Vegas to race at night.