The Weekend Debrief: The São Paulo Grand Prix – Dominance, Defiance and Déjà vu.

Interlagos – a throwback circuit full of banked corners and long straights. It is a favourite among fans and drivers alike for a good reason, the racing always delivers. Heat, altitude and weather: the ingredients that make Brazil’s Grand Prix a theatre of extremes. This weekend saw a dominant Lando Norris tighten his title grip, a wounded Red Bull resurrected by Max Verstappen’s genius, Ferrari imploding once more, and a young Kimi Antonelli reminding Mercedes that the future is very much here.

A Champion’s Rhythm

Lando Norris did not only win in São Paulo, he conducted it. Pole, a sprint win, another pole and the race – all providing more of an assurance that no longer looks like surprise form, but instead, control once again.His seventh win of the season came with less drama, without as much as a foot wrong, and without ever looking as though anyone really had a chance of getting close to him.

He is learning to win despite the noise. The frustration that once coloured his radio and interviews has seemed to dissipate. In its place is the language of a driver who knows where he belongs. Being disappointed the gap was not bigger at the end of the race is a statement that shows, despite the win, he wants more.

A year ago, this feels like one of the moments Norris would have cracked, allowing a charging Max Verstappen or his teammate a chance. However, he looks like someone assured behind the wheel of that papaya McLaren. Twenty-four points clear, three races to go. He now has a lead to protect.

But, while Norris crafted a perfect weekend, another driver stole the crowd’s love.

The Art of Recovery

From the pit lane to the podium, in the dry. In a car no one thought quick enough. That was Max Verstappen’s Sunday, and it might just be the most complete drive of the season.

A setup gamble that was “clearly worse” in qualifying and a new power unit forced Red Bull into a pit lane start. Then, just six laps in, a slow puncture sent Verstappen to the tail of the field. Most drivers at this point would have accepted their fate, but Max Verstappen is not most drivers.

Lap by lap, overtake by overtake, the four time world champion carved through the pack, as clinical as ever.The podium was on and he knew it. By the time the chequered flag fell, he was a lofty third – bumper to bumper with Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, a car that had started on the front row.

This felt like vintage Verstappen, reminding the paddock that, even stripped of mechanic superiority, his craft and brilliance remains.

Driver of the Day was a formality. But this may have been the drive of the season.

Mercedes Maturing?

There have not been many smiles from the likes of Toto Wolff  in the Mercedes garage this season, but, finally, Kimi Antonelli gave them a reason to. Still just nineteen, Antonelli continues to show why the team view him as the present and the future. Quick all weekend and frustrated to start second twice, he was aggressive when it mattered – underlining his most impressive performance yet.

However, it was not all smooth sailing, as his race could have ended after the McLaren of Oscar Piastri clipped him into the side of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, ending the Monegasque’s race. For some, Antonelli was lucky to escape sanction, with the stewards opting to give the McLaren driver a ten-second penalty. Nevertheless, Antonelli’s pace was undeniable and this was rewarded with second place in both the sprint and the Grand Prix.

For Mercedes, whose years of dominance feel distant, this felt like one more step closer, with hopefully the victories to follow.

Ferrari’s Familiar Falter

For Ferrari it was a weekend that felt like déjà vu. Another which began with hope and ended in broken carbon fibre and more broken confidence.

Lewis Hamilton’s first season in red continues to feel like a cruel nightmare. Any promise on Sunday unravelled almost immediately, being hit by the Williams of Carlos Sainz, before uncharacteristically misjudging an overtake on Franco Colapinto’s Alpine moments later. The result: a damaged floor, a penalty and ultimately, a retirement from last place on lap 39.

In a rare moment of candour, Hamilton himself admitted that it was a “nightmare” season, with the seven-time world champion still chasing that elusive, first Grand Prix podium for Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc’s day was no better. He was collected in the turn-one chaos when Oscar Piastri clipped Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes into the side of his Ferrari, causing his front suspension to snap and, in turn, forcing an early exit. Two Ferraris out before the race had even found its rhythm; two storylines which sum up a season of unfulfilled potential yet again.

There are glimmers, however – Leclerc’s one-lap pace and Hamilton’s occasional showings of his former self – but they remain few and far between. Ferrari leave Brazil fourth in the constructors’ standings, a team haunted by its own expectations and still searching for that long lost stability.

For Hamilton, São Paulo felt somewhat symbolic. It was a weekend that mirrored his time so far at the Scuderia: a dream car, a nightmare reality, and a severe lack of performance and results.

Interlagos in Summary

Lando Norris looks every inch the champion-in-waiting, which would not have been muttered just a few races ago, driving with the kind of calm that wins titles. Verstappen, from the pit lane to the podium, reminded everyone that class does not fade, even when the car does.

Kimi Antonelli’s rise continues to gain momentum, hinting at a Mercedes revival built on youth, meanwhile, for Ferrari, an all too familiar outcome. Two DNFs, no points, and the same uneasy questions being asked.

Three rounds remain, and Lando Norris must feel he has one hand on the trophy he has always dreamed of. However, this is Formula One. Momentum shifts fast.

For now, Norris leads, Verstappen and Piastri chase, and everyone else fights for hard earned points. The season is entering its final stint, but the fight is far from over.