F1 is perhaps one of the most electrifying sports in the world. With endless loads of drama and high stakes races, no Grand Prix is ever the same. The 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix was no different. If you didn’t catch any of the race, here are the highlights and what’s next for the drivers and the teams with just three races remaining.
Lap 1
To paraphrase Chandler Bing, could there BE any more chaotic of a race start? This race was perhaps one of the most chaotic of the 2025 season, and a majority of it happened in the first lap. To start things off, the hometown hero, Gabriel Bortoleto, crashed into the barriers and ended his first ever home race without completing a single lap. The grid was too crowded at Turn 1 and Lance Stroll forced Bortoleto to crash. A safety car was then deployed, slowing the race down to almost a halt. Just seconds later, Lewis Hamilton came into contact with Franco Colapinto, causing severe damage to Hamilton’s car and forcing him to pit early to fix his front wing. He also incurred a 10 second penalty for the incident. After that, during the safety car reset, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc decided to drive on either side of Kimi Antonelli, causing him to be caught off guard and defend Piastri. This defense caused Piastri to hit Antonelli, who then hit Leclerc and forced him to retire from the race. Leclerc and fans alike were devastated, as Leclerc started this race in P3 and was expected to get a podium finish.
Lap 6
Just five laps later, when the safety car was still in effect, Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the back of Lance Stroll, incurring a 10 second penalty. He ended up not serving this 10 second penalty properly, causing him to receive another 10 second penalty. This pretty much ended his race and he finished last of all of the drivers that finished the race. During this same lap, Oscar Piastri finally received his 10 second penalty for his initial crash, but many are saying it was uncalled for and came too late. Personally, I think it was necessary because he shouldn’t have locked up Antonelli like that. The kid’s a rookie, cut him a break and let him try to win the race. This 10 second penalty dropped Piastri to P5, losing all hope of overtaking Lando Norris in the Driver’s Championship. If you are not familiar with the Driver’s Championship, it’s the year-long race among the drivers to rack up the most points from winning Grand Prix’s. The top 10 finishers from each race earn points to add to this total. P1 gets 25, P2 gets 18, P3 gets 15, P4 gets 12, P5 gets 10, P6 gets 8, P7 gets 6, P8 gets 4, P9 gets 2, and P10 gets 1. Before the race started, Lando Norris was in the lead by 1 point, mainly because he had won the Mexico City Grand Prix the week prior and Oscar Piastri finished in P5. This closed the gap that Piastri had held for weeks. Now, because of this penalty and his finish in P5 yet again, the gap is now 24 points, with only 3 races to go. Alas, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll circle back to this at the end of the article.
Lap 37
Ferrari truly did not catch any breaks this race. With Leclerc retired, all eyes were on Hamilton. After pit stopping and getting his front wing fixed, he managed to race another 36 laps before being forced to retire. The damage to his car was too great and it was a risk to drive it any further. For the second time ever, Ferrari DNFed an entire race before the end of lap 1, causing them to drop to 4th in the Constructor’s Championship. If you are not familiar with the Constructor’s Championship, it’s the other year-long race, only this one is for the teams. McLaren was declared the outright winner of the 2025 Constructor’s Championship at the Singapore Grand Prix after having an enormously successful season with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The drivers earn points for themselves and the team at the end of every race, and the majority of the races this year have been won by either Norris or Piastri. After being declared the outright winner, the fight was on for 2nd. Ferrari held that position prior to the São Paulo Grand Prix, but the double DNF of the Ferrari drivers dropped them into 4th. Mercedes and Red Bull Racing are now 2nd and 3rd respectively after their incredible finishes at the São Paulo Grand Prix. More on that below…
Max Verstappen
The man is so good, he gets his own heading. Prior to the race on Sunday, Red Bull decided to make several changes to Verstappen’s car. F1 did not like that at all. For their punishment, Verstappen was to start from the pit lane. Now, if you’re a major F1 fan like me, this story sounds all too familiar. At the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix, Max Verstappen started P19 at the beginning of the race due to the exact same reason: the team decided to make major changes to his car. This didn’t slow down Verstappen one bit: he went from P19 to P1 and won the race. The narrative was quite similar this year: he started from the pit lane and finished P3 after an incredible race. The only two reasons he didn’t finish higher were one, Kimi Antonelli held his own, and two, Lando Norris was 10 seconds ahead of the entire grid and couldn’t be caught by anyone. Spoiler, Lando Norris won the race. Kimi Antonelli started the race P2 after having an incredible weekend at the sprint race and the qualifying race, finishing P2 in both. Despite his setback in lap 1, Antonelli held his own the entire race and managed to hold off Verstappen for the last few laps. His grace in managing turns 2 and 3 were his biggest advantage and he secured P2 for the first time ever. Oh, and if you thought that wasn’t impressive enough, Antonelli is a 19-year-old rookie and Verstappen is a 28-year-old four-time World Champion. Antonelli already had my respect, but now he really has it. Let’s wrap up this article with the last lap and what’s in store for the final 3 races.
Lap 71
In addition to Antonelli holding Verstappen off, George Russell also managed to hold Oscar Piastri off. Piastri was out for revenge, and he was less than a second away from overtaking Russell. However, time was not in Piastri’s favor, and Russell held him off to finish P4. The top 10 ended up being Norris, Antonelli, Verstappen, Russell, Piastri, Bearman (who for the second week in a row had an incredible race), Lawson, Hadjar, Hulkenberg, and lastly, Gasly. The incredible finishes by both Antonelli and Russell shot Mercedes up to 2nd place in the Constructor’s Championship and Verstappen’s comeback for the ages moved Red Bull Racing up to 3rd. With three races left in the season (Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi), the race is on (literally and metaphorically) to finish out the 2025 season strong. Will Mercedes continue to do well and finish 2nd in the Constructor’s Championship? Will Max Verstappen continue to be the beast he is and win the Driver’s Championship and place Red Bull Racing 2nd in the Constructor’s Championship? Will Ferrari get their act together and retake their 2nd position? Will McLaren continue to dominate? Who will win the Driver’s Championship: Norris, Piastri, or Verstappen? Only time will tell, and I absolutely cannot wait for the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend. May the best team and driver win!