A rainy weekend in Sao Paulo led to an intense Grand Prix that ultimately saw the pole sitter, Lando Norris, take the win in a race that was anything but straightforward.
In the early laps in wet conditions, generational drivers among the sport's veterans took the lead, with Verstappen moving from 21st to ninth in the first 10 laps and Hamilton from 22nd to ninth on the opening lap.
Up front on the opening lap, Kimi Antonelli and Liam Lawson around pole sitter Lando Norris.
By lap nine, Hamilton found himself battling his teammate, Charles Leclerc, after the bad blood between them following the Mexico City Grand Prix. Hamilton loses out on the spot and starts to fade, asking to come in early for slicks as the track starts to fade. Hamilton asks to switch on lap 17 after losing 13th to Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin.
“I want to come in soon for some slick tires. Can I come in now?
Hamilton was told by his engineer that they are not at the crossover yet with the track still drying in difficult tires.
Hamilton is the first to pit, along with Carlos Sainz in the Williams, on lap 15.
On lap 17, Norris, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson and Piastri pit, with Russell spinning in the pits. Russell, on pit exit, hit a wet spot and slowly lost it, turning 180 into the way of Hadjar. It took a three-point turn to right it and exit the pits, losing positions in and out. Russell was running third before the mistake and seventh after.
Under pressure from Norris, Antonelli spins from the lead of the Grand Prix on lap 20 in turn one. Antonelli radioed that something felt weird moments before. Antonelli kept the spin clean and rejoined in second place.
Antonelli starts to struggle, feels like he can’t turn left in the corners and that the car is steering itself. He loses third to Verstappen on lap 25.
Verstappen, while running second, was losing speed as his teammate Hadjar had speed behind him. Verstappen asked to pit again on lap 47 for new soft tires to try and run through the grid a second time. Verstappen came out of the pits in front of Russell.
Norris also pitted on lap 50. Everyone is sticking with soft tires, but rain is threatening for the final ten laps.
Norris also pitted on lap 50. Everyone is sticking with soft tires, but rain is threatening for the final ten laps. The rain returns on lap 59 of 71. On lap 62, overtaking was disabled as conditions became mixed.
The rain squeezes everyone back in to pit on laps 62 and 63.
Hamilton, still on the slick tires, spins on lap 63 but keeps it out of the barriers and finds himself pointed at the pit lane. Hamilton pits from seventh and loses only one spot to Leclerc after his spin.
Victoria Beaver is a nomadic sports writer who spends her time hopping between race tracks and hippie farms. She’s covered every corner of motorsports that will let her in from 410 Sprints to NASCAR to Supercross. Her daily driver is a 2010 Subaru that she refused to do the smallest amount of preventative maintenance on. Instead, she spends her free time and money building a 42-foot Skoolie to one day travel the country full time.
