Extended Highlights | 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

For so often, this venue was the scene of a deciding moment in a Formula 1 campaign, sometimes at the final race, others with a symbolic move that left the outcome in no doubt. In this season of upended narratives, the echoes of this racetrack remind us that with four rounds to go, everything is possible. Here is the reigning world champion Max Verstappen will start his race when the green light illuminates. There are 18 on the grid, two in the pit lane, including the world champion. Green flag at the back, and our battle in Brazil begins when the five red lights go out. The Sao Paolo Grand Prix is underway and we're racing down to turn number one. Antonelli does not get the launch off the line, but Lando Norris felt the need to go to the inside line. He chops across. It's very, very close between Hajar and Piastri, and Hajar backed out of it there significantly, knowing that he was racing a championship contender. Liam Lawson has got up to sixth position. Antonelli's weaving to try and get temperature in the tyres. Still Hajar puts the pressure on Oscar Piastri, but he's maintained fourth position. Norris, Antonelli, Leclerc and Piastri, the top four. That's George Russell trying to go side by side with Pierre Gasly, who pinched the position off him, and Russell's back up to P7. But he's lost a place to Liam Lawson, who's come through, so both racing bulls went on the offense from the start. Alonso's running wide, will rejoin there, but also trying to scrap for a place in the top ten. Brave from Piastri on that first lap. Hajar's got nothing to lose. He's on a soft tyre. They went wheel to wheel, and turning it in for the right-hander in turn two just felt like a risky move, but he left the space and is rewarded with fourth position still. Oh, the home favourites in the barrier. What disappointment. The man from Sao Paulo will be out. That front left was broken. Yeah, it is broken, so he's trying to get it going again. Gasly checking the mirrors. He's checking the mirrors because there was big pressure there from Oliver Behrmann. Oh, that is so tight between George Russell and Lawson, and Behrmann got by. Yeah, he's had so much pace through the weekend. Gasly had a good start and got ahead of him, but that place is reversed, and Behrmann takes the position. Russell still frustrated behind Liam Lawson, who's never easy to pass. We had a mixed up grid. We got a safety car. Max Verstappen is P17, for your information. There's Lewis Hamilton with loads of damage in the background, so Hamilton has tripped over someone. Bortoletto started from the back of the field, so has he somehow made his way to Hamilton? Has Hamilton made his way to Bortoletto? Bortoletto had a damaged suspension, so he reversed it back, but was never going to get further than that. What a miserable home weekend. Oh, and that is such a shame for Gabriel Bortoletto. That's the closest a barrier is really at any part of the infield section, and then in the end, the contact with the Aston Martin. It's front pushed me out. Yeah, he just turned if I was not there. Oh, that's big speed. 15th and final turn of the racetrack. Hamilton trying to pull out of the slipstream and get past the Alpine. This is what it looked like on board. Colopinto is the car ahead. Oliver Behrmann getting to the inside of Pierre Gasly. Behrmann hoping for more yesterday. Still equaled his personal best in Formula 1 qualifying. Norris, he decides when we go racing once more. This time Antonelli has soft tyres as well, so he's going to have that little bit extra bite of rear grip when Lando decides to floor it. And here he goes, but I don't think there's going to be much breathing room down to turn number one. Charles Leclerc's got to run. Oscar Piastri's got to run three wide into turn number one. How brave is Piastri feeling? He hits Antonelli, who hits Charles Leclerc, and Piastri will be up to second position, but that's a dramatic moment and there's no tyre on the Ferrari for Charles Leclerc. Piastri went all in and contact with the top two as they plummet down the hill. It's Norris and Piastri, the top two in the race. Antonelli holds on ahead of Hajar, so the racing bulls move on even more. Has he got damage? Hajar applying pressure. Lawson applying pressure too. Oh, it's a brave move from Piastri again. I think he had to go for it there. He had such a good run on the safety car restart. Verstappen is up to 13th position, running the hard tyres. He is up to 13th. Charles Leclerc drops down. It's a tough one for Ferrari at the moment. We went three wide into the first turn and Piastri made contact with Antonelli, who made contact with Charles Leclerc, and still the racing continues with Alexander Albin all over the back of Pierre Gasly. So Albin's up into the points as well and Williams has not been very happy so far. Leclerc's got race ending damage then, so it's a bad restart from Antonelli. That allows Leclerc, but Leclerc has to back off because he's going to clear Antonelli before the start-finish line. Piastri's down the inside. It's obviously unlucky there for Leclerc. It's a tangle between Antonelli and Piastri. Piastri is there on the inside. He locks up in the end because he realises Antonelli's going to come across and he doesn't want to tangle. Oscar Piastri has been given a 10-second time penalty. The contact with Antonelli and then into Charles Leclerc has been adjudged by the stewards to warrant a 10-second penalty and Lando Norris' dream weekend just got even better. This is Yuki Tsunoda. Oh, with the instant and then he's going to tag ground stroll. It's a 10-second time penalty for Yuki Tsunoda for causing a collision. Verstappen has come into the pit lane and he has changed to the medium tyre. So we think we picked up a front right puncture, Max, and that was the reason for the box. The virtual safety car is out. Antonelli down to third position but crucially able to continue, unlike Charles Leclerc who's our The virtual safety car is ending. It can be withdrawn at any moment. It's not the start-finish line for this and the two contenders for the title are separated by hardly anything down at turn number one. Lando Norris having to check his mirrors because Oscar Piastri will just continue the aggressive form. He's got no choice now. DRS is enabled. There are a crucial couple of laps coming your way. George Russell is P6 but he's squirming all over the road. Top two battling. Piastri in the wheel tracks. Russell's just cleared Lawson. That's what's happened on that restart. So Lawson dropped back and Russell came through. Albon's cleared Gasly. Yeah, he's got past Pierre Gasly for the moment. Gasly will try and respond. Does respond further back. You can see the Alpine gets back past the Williams. You've got Norris, Piastri, Antonelli, then Hadjar who's looking in the left-hand mirror because George Russell's thinking about the move to the inside. He'll get another DRS zone in a few meters. Yeah, Hadjar just hovering one car width away from the racing line. Problem is that scuff is your exit. Russell's got more grip and more speed and he'll get DRS again. And this time he's got an inside line which is dry in sharp contrast to yesterday. Through goes George Russell to fourth position. Verstappen on Hamilton. This is the battle for 15th position but Hamilton's looking for moves. That's a lay-breaking move from Oliver Behrmann to take P6. And if we wait back, we'll see Max Verstappen doing the same thing. 15th position for Max Verstappen. He gets past Hamilton who's got damage on the car. Behrmann getting past one racing bull. His next task will be ahead with Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton seeing Verstappen sail on by. He's got the medium tyre on. He's got the fastest lap as it stands. This time the late move works for Max Verstappen who's got another place. He is up to P12 right now. Late on the brakes, making the move past the Sauber. And he's enjoying today way more than yesterday. Another position about to be gained by Max Verstappen. Oliver Behrmann has come into the pits. Carlos Sainz has come into the pits and it now means that Max Verstappen takes his place back in the points. He's P9 right now as he gets past Fernando Alonso. Max Verstappen now up to eighth position because we are getting pit stops for those who started on the soft tyre. Hadjar and Gasly are in. Racing bulls were not expecting a strong weekend at the beginning of this one but they had a great qualifying yesterday. Mixed up positions. This is going to be a crucial drop down the hill now and they're racing on the exit. You can see having gone earlier to the rubber that's going to be Oliver Behrmann getting past. That was a straight fight and Oliver Behrmann climbs ahead. Ocon climbs ahead and Hadjar loses track position. This is Pierre Gasly having a great weekend in the Alpine. This is crucial for him. This is a fight for the points and a good move for Gasly. Getting past Liam Lawson. You saw it at Lando from our side. We think it's more like plan A, plan B, possibly even plan D. Well Max Verstappen is chasing Alexander Albon. This is a circuit that Albon described as having weird tarmac. It changes year to year. The reason that they built this racetrack at this part of the world is because the ground shifts all the time. Another position shifts for Max Verstappen who's goes Nico Hülkenberg. He goes past Fernando Alonso. Yeah good move from Hülkenberg trying to make up. They started 10th and 11th but Hülkenberg was ahead and finally on lap 21 he clears Fernando who's on the hard tyre. So going a long way into this race Fernando in the reverse strategy. We're having a barnstormer in Brazil and we've got a long way to go. Antonelli gets rid of the soft tyres. 2.2 seconds is great stuff. That's Gasly going past Ocon. The two of them who shared the podium for Alpine here in 2nd and 3rd one year ago sharing racing room and Gasly gets by. He's up to P14. Ocon's made a pit stop as well but pitted the lap after Verstappen to get off hard tyres. So started from the pit lane, took an early stop. Wonder if he had a puncture as well or something but he's on a different strategy and now dropping back. Max Verstappen up 15 places to P4. He made a stop because of a puncture and there's room, just about room, for Liam Lawson who's able to get by. Plenty of overtaking at corners you wouldn't have expected. Lawson able to get past Ocon. Lando Norris, race leader, trying to sweep the weekend and top every single session. Comes in to get rid of the mediums and he will bolt on the soft tyre, crucially. So that'll be a two-stop for Norris as well but he's got a good margin to everyone else that's knocked Piastri. It's 15 seconds back to George Russell and Lando Norris is coming down through getting back up to racing speed and Max Verstappen clears his rival for the title on track for the moment. Verstappen who started from the pit lane now finds himself P3. Norris with a huge tyre advantage. Yeah it's just going to be too easy for him. He can turn it in, bounce over the kerb, the car's nice and settled. This will be as good as it feels in this stint on a brand new soft. He'll get DRS now and he takes the outside line. He's got so much more pace and he's got third position. Lando Norris gets past Max Verstappen. Wasn't a contest. Traction off that corner is difficult. You bounce over the kerb, you've got the kerb on the exit as well that can just upset the rear axle and then you go like Nico Hülkenberg here for a braking down into one. That was defensive from Alexander Albon. Oh it's tight between the two of them but Hülkenberg gets by and takes P6. Both drivers yet to stop. Another great move at the first turn. Here's the P3 man George Russell. His teammate Kimi Antonelli has come back and taken third position. Max Verstappen in for a stop as well for 2.3 seconds. This will be agony for Oskar Piastri and then it is going to be such an important stop for McLaren. An exit of the pit lane because Max Verstappen will be right with him. Verstappen going at a quicker rate on this lap. Should emerge ahead. It's a misleading pit lane here because Piastri going at such low speed as Max roars through. Max Verstappen takes the position on track. The driver who started from the pit lane goes past the man who started P4 on the grid and Kimi Antonelli has been in for another stop. His stint on the medium tyres is complete. 2.3 second stop for Mercedes trying to claim second place in the World Championship for Constructors. It's already been won back in Singapore by McLaren. Oh is there going to be a gap? Always epic when we cut to it late. Oliver Behrmann getting to the apex. Got to leave a width for a car. Behrmann trying to get past Hülkenberg. Hülkenberg who's been on these soft tyres for 12 laps. Behrmann on the more durable medium and it's fresher. Now can he go around the outside as we go to turn four? Behrmann's run and Behrmann gets by. He's up to P7. It's a nice bit of racing. It's a good hustle from Hülkenberg as well to try and keep Behrmann behind but in the end there's not enough he can do. Behrmann with the fresher tyres can sweep around the outside and clear that Sauber. Lap 51 of 71. Lando Norris trying to win his first Formula One World Championship on a hot streak in terms of form. 2.2 seconds is exactly what they needed but how about this for a sentence? Max Verstappen who started in the pit lane leads in Brazil. Something I did think I'd say Max at the end of the pit lane earlier. You are now race leader. And this could be a costly race weekend for Oscar but I guess can Max do him a great favour now? Eight seconds between Verstappen and Norris. 19 laps to go. Verstappen on significantly older tyres. 16 lap older tyres than Norris. It's game on. Max Verstappen has climbed 18 places. No one has ever won a Formula One Grand Prix from the pit lane and Verstappen having held the lead from starting in the pit lane hands it back to Lando Norris. Lando Norris takes back the lead. 2.5 seconds. Antonelli up to second. Where does Verstappen come out? It's been a fairly vulnerable tyre this match so do your best. I'll take the loose. And Oscar Piastri is P6 having started fourth on the grid. And he'll see Max emerging as well ahead of him and it just feels like it's all getting away from Oscar. Pretty much every time he jumps into the car now. This weekend looked really promising at the start. He was back to a good pace in practice. Going for the dive bomb move on Liam Lawson. Those two made contact one year ago. No problem this time. Piastri will give it everything but he's got Verstappen on a soft tyre directly ahead. He's firing them up quickly as well. So they've gone attacking instead of defending with Verstappen and he has a new soft because he qualified so bad. He's got loads of new softs. 36 lap old medium tyres belong to Liam Lawson. That's why there's no contest for Oliver Behrmann to get by. Behrmann has been on those mediums for 14 laps. Lawson on 37 lap old tyres behind. Hülkenberg has done 20 laps on the soft. Hajar stuck behind Stroll for a long time. That's cost him and he's only six tenths of a second away from Pierre Gasly. And now we're in the infield section where it's harder to follow here. You've got dirty air washing off the car ahead. Starts sliding around a bit but Verstappen showing none of that. He's over the kerb. He's able to keep neat lines and straighten the car up to get on the gas as well tidily. He's close. Russell will feel this pressure as well with two corners away from DRS and a big opportunity for Verstappen to snatch third position. Verstappen just using all of the road, all of the grip. What's the exit like here? Jungsao corner absolutely crucial. The final real one of this 2.6 mile circuit. The driver who started from the pit lane who is currently in P4 with the DRS open heading to 200 miles an hour with Russell hugging the inside line and Max Verstappen getting by from the pit lane to the podium. It's inspired stuff at Interlagos once again for Max Verstappen. He won't be done yet. Covers the inside. Tries to break the toe for Russell to get back towards him. Will George send a lunge? Not this time. And now Verstappen will check Kimi Antonelli just two seconds ahead of him and think that is my ceiling today. Surely second place but what an astonishing drive. They sweep through onto the penultimate lap of the Grand Prix. Antonelli is giving it everything out of that final corner. Two DRS zones around this racetrack. Here's the second one of them. Through turn three we go down the Retta Raposta. Verstappen trying to make himself large in the mirrors. Antonelli eyes out front. Piastri not close enough to give the same treatment to George Russell. We're on to the final lap of the Grand Prix. Can Max Verstappen climb from the pit lane to P2 on the podium? Oscar Piastri trying to get close as well. He makes himself large in the mirrors trying to frighten the young Italian off the road but this has been a sturdy defense. We look to the left hand side with Oscar Piastri closing in on George Russell. Verstappen is swarming over the back of Antonelli who stands tall and gets through turn four. The charge has gone all the way to the podium but Antonelli has resisted and Piastri could not get past George Russell. Oh but he's wide in the infield. Could this yet go across the line? Hadjar gets to P7 on the last lap. Antonelli got through turn four with all the confidence in the world but he was wide on the infield and this could yet be a drag race. Lando Norris completes a perfect weekend. Fast as in practice. Sprint pole, sprint victory, Grand Prix pole and the Grand Prix win. Lando Norris wins the Sao Paolo Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli in the final meters but Max Verstappen is charging up behind. It's the final meters of the Grand Prix and it's Kimi Antonelli who hangs on by three tenths of a second. Antonelli with his best ever result in Formula One. Max Verstappen climbs 16 places from the pit lane to the podium. Fantasy Formula One for the four-time world champion. Russell beat Piastri to the line by four tenths of a second and now welcome to your final flourish with Lawson and Hadjar scrapping with this train that I've told you about but this is the first time that we can see it up through the gears. This is not after a safety car. This is how they're going to finish after 71 laps. It's Behrman in sixth. Lawson hangs on to seventh. Then it's Hadjar, Hulkenberg and Gasly. Amazing job mate. Amazing job. The whole weekend on it. Yeah well done. Nice race. Well executed. Good job all weekend. Not quite a big enough gap for my liking though so definitely some things to look at. Let's keep it going. Thanks guys. Many were praising Mexico City as his finest drive and he acknowledges the team with another weekend to be so pleased with. The message on the radio though conveyed that he knows it is not yet done. His supporters in the crowd euphoric with that one and this was the Grand Prix last year where he knew his title chances were over had been enhanced one year on.