It was hardly a secret in the Formula 1 paddock last year: Mercedes looked set to benefit from the sweeping technical changes coming this season. At the São Paulo Grand Prix, that expectation became reality.
A week after Kimi Antonelli secured the Drivers’ Championship, Mercedes clinched the Constructors’ title. Lando Norris won at Interlagos, with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar completing the podium, but George Russell and Antonelli scored enough for the Silver Arrows to claim their ninth team championship.
Russell finished fourth and Antonelli fifth. Mercedes needed to outscore Ferrari by just three points, and the odds looked favorable: both Mercedes drivers started in the top ten, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc began at the back after engine penalties.
Still, it wasn’t a straightforward afternoon. Rain meant the field started on intermediate tires, and both Mercedes drivers had tense moments. Antonelli spun while leading early in the race. Russell also spun as he left the pit lane after changing from intermediates to soft tires.
By Lap 56, both drivers were back in the top five. But Interlagos has a way of springing surprises, and dark clouds were gathering again. Drivers were warned that heavier rain could arrive before the finish.
The rain began on Lap 57. Mercedes told Antonelli that conditions might force him to pit for intermediates again, even as he chased Hadjar for the final podium spot. The two drivers continued battling as the track grew wetter.
By Lap 62, both were struggling for grip. Several drivers further back, including Fernando Alonso, Leclerc and Liam Lawson, had already gambled on switching to intermediates. Russell followed, then Norris pitted from the lead, with Verstappen, Hadjar and Antonelli also making the change.
Once the order settled, Mercedes asked Antonelli to let Russell through into fourth so the more experienced driver could have a shot at the podium. Russell soon reported a problem with his car, though, similar to an issue Antonelli had mentioned earlier.
Race control also announced an investigation into whether Antonelli had been released unsafely during his final pit stop. He was nearly 20 seconds clear of Oscar Piastri, however, so a possible penalty was unlikely to affect his finishing position.
Norris took the win as heavier rain arrived, ahead of Verstappen and Hadjar. Russell held on to fourth, with Antonelli fifth—enough to secure the Constructors’ title for Mercedes. Leclerc finished seventh and Hamilton ninth.
“Great to see what we’ve achieved this year,” Russell told team principal Toto Wolff over the radio.
Piastri finished sixth, Lawson was eighth, and Nico Hülkenberg took the final points position in tenth for Audi.
