Key events
Lando Norris wins the São Paulo Grand Prix!
The McLaren driver wins from pole to extend his title lead after a dramatic race! Kimi Antonelli is second, Max Verstappen in third having started from the pit lane.
Final lap! Antonelli is holding on here, Verstappen may have to settle for third. Piastri is still behind Russell in fourth …
Lap 70/71: Verstappen has is down to his last chances to pass Antonelli in second.
Lap 69/71: Antonelli is defending well so far, Verstappen is struggling with the grip of his tyres. Russell is still defending as well, trying to hold on to fourth with Piastri on his gearbox.
Lap 68/71: Verstappen is in DRS range behind Antonelli in second. He’s hunting the young Italian – but does he have enough laps left?
Lap 67/71: Norris lays down his fastest lap, stretching his lead. Will we see one more big move further back in this overtake-filled race?
Lap 66/71: Piastri is closing in on Russell, looking to take fourth. The gap between Verstappen and Antonelli in second is 1.2sec.
Lap 65/71: Bearman is in sixth, by the way – and looking good for it. Norris looks to be cruising to victory. Has Verstappen got enough left in his tyres to catch and pass Antonelli?
Lap 64/71: Piastri closes in on Russell – fast, Verstappen in on Antonelli. The gap is just over two seconds, but the laps are ticking down.
Lap 63/71: Verstappen swoops around the outside and takes third from Russell! That was a thrilling move. Now he’s after Antonelli.
Lap 62/71: Verstappen is on third-placed Russell’s gearbox. How are the Red Bull’s tyres though? Norris is out on his own up front, barring any late drama.
Lap 61/71: Ten laps to go. Piastri is in fifth, he’s not catching Verstappen – but maybe he can get to Russell if Max goes past first. What a great race this has been.
Lap 60/71: “P2 is on here Max,” Red Bull inform Verstappen. Norris is firmly in the lead, barring anything dramatic, but clearly they fancy their chances against the Mercedes.
Lap 59/71: George Russell in third is on the radio to Mercedes, concerned about a break issue. He may well have a Verstappen issue pretty soon – the gap is down to 2.5sec.
Lap 58/71: “I’ve got nothing to lose,” says Verstappen when Red Bull warn him to look after the “fragile” tyres. The fastest drivers on the track? Max and Piastri in fourth and fifth.
Lap 56/71: So, 16 laps to go. Norris leads, Antonelli second, Russell third – but with Verstappen soon to be all over him like a cheap suit, you suspect. Can Piastri make any inroads from fifth?
Lap 55/71: Piastri is all over Lawson – the McLaren driver takes fifth place with a dashing move. Verstappen is fourth but on fresh tyres. Now: can he get past the two Mercedes ahead of him?
Lap 54/71: Piastri overtakes Bearman, he’s up to sixth. Norris is indeed gaining first on the leader Verstappen. Red Bull are out in the pits! Max is coming in again.
Lap 53/71: The big question: will Verstappen stop a third time? Red Bull could leave him out there but Norris on fresh rubber could well track him down … Antonelli is third, by the way, Russell fourth, Lawson fifth.
Lap 52/71: Piastri indeed comes in – a fine stop by McLaren again. He’s back out in seventh. There’s no driver between Verstappen the leader and Norris in second.
Lap 50/71: Norris is coming in to the pits. Yes, his times were not up to scratch – now he’s third behind Verstappen (the leader!) and Piastri, who likely still has to pit. Now, can Max hold on to his pace?
Lap 49/71: Verstappen is second – within 16 second of Norris, the leader, and taking half a second a lap out of the leader. Piastri is third with the Mercedes.
Lap 48/71: “Don’t shout at me OK?” says Isack Hadjar on the team radio, as they tell him to keep his head down in 12th. Yeah, don’t shout at Isack. (They didn’t appear to be.)
Lap 47/71: Franco Colapinto with the fastest lap of the race so far, albeit he’s last of the runners in 17th. As you were at the top.
Lap 45/71: we’re past halfway, the first pit stops all played out. Here’s the top 10:
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
3) George Russell (Mercedes)
4) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
6) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
7) Esteban Ocon (Haas)
8) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
9) Alex Albon (Williams)
10) Ollie Bearman (Haas)
Lap 43/71: Ollie Bearman pits from fourth; Verstappen is up to fourth, Piastri up to fifth. It’s all intriguingly poised!
Lap 42/71: Norris is still in control in the lead, but he’s not pulling out a big gap like he did in Mexico – he’s babysitting the soft tyres, perhaps. Verstappen’s lap times are far quicker.
Lap 41/71: Norris leads, Antonelli second, Russell third, Bearman fourth – Verstappen is now up to fifth, Piastri is sixth.
Lap 39/71: Piastri comes in, serves his penalty – he’s eighth but on soft tyres. Hmm, let’s see about that one-stopper. Lewis Hamilton retires – yep, that looked inevitable. His Ferrari was clearly not operating corrretly.
Lap 38/71: Piastri is coming in for his pit stop. He’s on a one-stopper.
Lap 37/71: Verstappen is charging back up towards the front. Up to ninth, eighth … he’ll finish this race with an astonishing number of overtakes, if nothing else.
Lap 36/71: Piastri, no stops and penalty pending, leads – Norris is second. Antonelli is in third.
Lap 35/71: Russell pits; Verstappen pits. Max is clearly backing himself to charge through the field once again – Red Bull having to be aggressive with their strategy, of course.
Lap 34/71: Nico Hülkenberg overtakes Alex Albon to go up to sixth, a fine racing move.
Lap 33/71: Lando Norris flies past Verstappen, Max deciding not to really defend his position as his tyres are worsening and Norris is on fresh rubber – no point slowing them both down.
Lap 32/71: Piastri leads but with a penalty to come – Russell is second. Both yet to stop.
Lap 31/71: A smooth pit stop for the incoming race leader Norris. He’s back out in fourth, behind Verstappen, but the McLaren driver is on the fresh soft tyres.
Lap 30/71: The McLaren pit crew is out. Lando Norris is coming in.
Lap 29/71: Antonelli passes Hülkenberg up to sixth. A reminder that Norris is in control of this race up top – but Verstappen is doing similar times in fourth. He’ll be eyeing the podium.
Bill Taylor emails: “Nothing against Lando Norris and it would be great to see Kimi Antonelli on the podium, but wouldn’t you just LOVE to see Max Verstappen win this race? I wouldn’t bet against it.”
From the pit lane, it would be some achievement.
Lap 25/71: Antonelli is on the back of Fernando Alonso, who is seventh – but possibly not for long.
Lap 24/71: Antonelli is making up a few places after pitting, he’s made up two places and is ninth. Hamilton is last and really struggling with a damaged car. A bad day for Ferrari.
Lap 23/71: Norris (first) and Verstappen (fourth) are doing similar lap times here. This is a different Red Bull to the one we saw in qualifying for sure.
Lap 22/71: Kimi Antonelli pits and he’s back out in 11th. We’re going to see some strategy variety here.
Lap 21/71: Verstappen flies past Alex Albon, no point in trying to hold them up and slow them both down. Now, Russell is in front of him: this might be trickier.
