Norris Masters the São Paulo Rain to Win Again as Mercedes Seal the Constructors' Crown

Interlagos did what Interlagos always does. It rained, it dried, and then, just when everyone thought the race was settled, it rained again. And through all of it, Lando Norris never really looked like losing.

The McLaren driver won the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday, converting pole position into his third victory of the season and his second in a row in Brazil. He crossed the line 14.602 seconds clear of Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar completing the podium behind them. It was Norris's 14th career win and the 50th podium of his career.

It did not start the way he would have wanted. Norris got away poorly from pole and lost the lead to the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls car in the mix too. On a wet track, that could have been the moment the race slipped away from him. Instead, it was the moment he settled.

"It was a very tough race, very very tough," Norris said afterwards in parc ferme. "I didn't have the best of launches off the line. A lot of challenges today with the conditions and going onto slicks in the wet is always tough, especially when you are pushing for the lead and trying to catch up a little bit. The main thing today was I kept it cool and didn't make any mistakes and had the pace when I needed to. Nice to be back on the top step and what a place to do it as well."

A year ago Norris won here on his way to the 2025 drivers' championship. This time the win came the hard way. Antonelli, the 20-year-old who clinched the drivers' title in Mexico City last weekend to become the youngest champion in the sport's history, led early on but spun while out front and never threatened again. Norris worked his way back to the front and controlled the long dry middle of the race, leading 47 of the 71 laps.

Behind him, Verstappen was producing one of those drives that reminds everyone why he is still the benchmark even in a season when the championship has gone elsewhere. Starting 21st on the grid after an engine penalty, he carved through the field and kept coming, settling into second as the rain returned for the final stretch. Hadjar backed him up with third, giving Red Bull a double podium.

The result that mattered most, though, belonged to Mercedes. George Russell came home fourth and Antonelli fifth, and that was enough. Mercedes are constructors' champions again — their ninth title, and their first since 2021, clinched with three races still to run. They only needed to outscore Ferrari by three points, and the Italian team never threatened: Leclerc finished seventh after passing Lawson on the final lap, and Hamilton was ninth, undone by a late switch to intermediates and a spin into the pits.

Elsewhere, Russell survived a spin coming off pit road on his first stop, narrowly avoiding contact with Oscar Piastri, who finished sixth. Lance Stroll retired with a suspected battery problem, Fernando Alonso came home 12th, and Nico Hülkenberg took the final point in 10th for Audi. Valtteri Bottas never even got started: his Cadillac suffered a cross-threaded wheel nut on the grid.

For Norris, the win is a reminder that the 2025 champion has not gone anywhere. For Mercedes, the title completes a comeback four years in the making. Both championships are now decided, and the season closes with a triple-header beginning in Las Vegas on November 19-21.