Courtesy of Daily Utah Chronicle
The Formula One race at São Paulo, Brazil, was an exciting weekend for Lando Norris, who, after another win, increased the difference in the Drivers’ Championship with his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, by 24 points. Norris placed first in the practice and sprint qualifying round, won the Sprint, secured pole position in qualifying, and eventually won the Grand Prix.
The race wasn’t so lucky for Norris’s teammate and rival Oscar Piastri, who had a collision in the sprint and later made contact with Kimi Antonelli in the race, resulting in a 10-second penalty. The penalty knocked him out of the top three, as he had to stop in the pit while his teammate got to race on the track as the leader.
Much controversy has surrounded the penalty. Many, including former racing driver and journalist Jolyon Palmer, commented that the collision was just a racing incident and that Piastri did not deserve the penalty.
While Piastri and Antonelli both survived the collision, Charles Leclerc from Ferrari also suffered from the impact as Antonelli’s car swung and struck his front left, forcing him to retire the vehicle immediately.
And the race got even worse for Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton made early contact with Franco Colapinto, triggering a five-second penalty. Due to the damage sustained during the collision, he had to retire the car early. It was indeed a painful weekend for Ferrari and its fans, with the team suffering their third point-less GP weekend of the season.
For 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli, the pressure from the earlier incident did not seem to stop him from delivering his best career race so far. He lived to fight on, and he took this chance to give his best performance by defending a very fast Max Verstappen in the final stages to secure second position. “Let’s see the next three races. I think we’re seeing the young boy becoming the young man,” said Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, who praised Antonelli’s performance over the weekend as “faultless”. Along with teammate George Russell’s steady performance, Mercedes had overtaken Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, now holding second place in the Season Team Standing.
We also had Max Verstappen starting in the 19th position in the pit lane this week due to the car losing grip in qualifying. But he showed the audience just how good his driving skills are by overtaking driver after driver on the track, at one point even looking like he miraculously win the race, but eventually finishing in third position. Many fans had hoped Verstappen would close in further on Norris in the championship fight, but he now trails by 49 points with only three rounds remaining — making a late-season comeback unlikely.
São Paulo reshuffled the season’s storyline: Norris dominated, Piastri stumbled, Ferrari collapsed, and Antonelli emerged as the standout of Formula 1’s next generation. As the season enters the final three races, the competitive chase for the Drivers’ Championship continues, and fans are excited to see 20 of the world’s best drivers on the grid presenting their best to the world of racing.
