News Summary

Max Verstappen had already gained 19 places by the time he had a clear run at Lando Norris in the São Paulo Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver could see what had worked in the opening stint. What he wanted to understand afterwards was why the car felt so different once the field went onto slicks.

Verstappen lined up 21st after power-unit penalties reshaped the Interlagos grid. He passed Lewis Hamilton on lap three and was already in the top five by the time the race moved from intermediates to slicks. That opening stint put him in position to capitalise when Andrea Kimi Antonelli went off for a second time.

Verstappen questions what changed after the tyre switch

“I don’t know if we picked up some kind of damage,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. He described the balance as “completely opposite to anything that I felt the whole weekend”. Verstappen raised damage as a possibility and said Red Bull needed to understand what had changed.

Red Bull asked Isack Hadjar to let Verstappen through on lap 38. That gave Verstappen second place and an opportunity to chase Norris, but he was unable to close the gap. Rain returned late and the leaders went back onto intermediates. Norris held the lead through the final tyre change and took the flag 14.602s ahead.

It was Verstappen’s third consecutive Interlagos podium after starting 17th or farther back, counting his pit-lane start in 2025. This time, second gave him 18 points and stretched his advantage over George Russell to 17 in the fight for second in the championship.

GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix in Formula 1 live from Interlagos.