2025 F1 Round 21, Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint: Norris wins amid red-flag chaos as Piastri crashes out and loses vital points

On the evening of November 8, China Standard Time (UTC+8), the Sprint for the 2025 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, Round 21 of the season, took place at Interlagos. Norris (McLaren) mastered the chaos to convert pole position into victory and extend his championship lead, while Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) was classified 13th.

Antonelli (Mercedes), who started second, closed to within DRS range of Norris in the closing stages but had to settle for second, just 0.845 seconds behind. Russell (Mercedes) finished third, giving Mercedes a double podium.

A storm classified at the “dangerous” alert level by the local weather service passed through before the start. With standing water still on the main straight making conditions difficult, tyre strategies were clearly split: six cars, mainly those in the even-numbered grid positions among the top 12, started on soft tyres, while the other 14 chose mediums.

On lap 6, an incident reshaped the championship battle: Piastri (McLaren), running third, rode the inside kerb at Turn 3, spun on his own and crashed into the barriers, retiring from the race.

Immediately afterwards, Hülkenberg (Sauber) and Colapinto (Alpine) spun in succession at the same spot. Colapinto’s car suffered severe damage, while Hülkenberg just managed to continue after hitting the wall.

For Piastri, locked in an intense title fight with Norris, a second consecutive Sprint retirement compounded the pain. Norris’s lead consequently grew from one point to nine.

Race control decided to deploy the Safety Car, but the impacts had badly damaged the tyre barriers, and a large crane was also needed to recover the cars. The race was therefore red-flagged on lap 7.

Antonelli reported over the radio: “When Norris drove over the kerb at Turn 3, a lot of standing water splashed onto the racing line.” Piastri, Hülkenberg and Colapinto all spun at that very spot, and the “spray” may well have been the trigger.

After a stoppage of around 25 minutes, the race resumed with a rolling restart. Norris, who had switched from medium to soft tyres, retained the lead. Hülkenberg used the red-flag period to repair his car and was ultimately classified 15th.

Tsunoda, who had qualified down in 18th the previous day, changed his front wing and nose under parc fermé conditions before the race and started from the pit lane.

In the early stages, the cars ahead pulled further away from him on every lap. After switching to another set of medium tyres during the red flag, he crossed the line 14th, 0.372 seconds behind Lawson (Racing Bulls). Lawson received a five-second post-race penalty, leaving Tsunoda classified 13th.

His team-mate Verstappen overtook Alonso (Aston Martin) on lap 1 to move into fifth, then inherited fourth when Piastri retired. After switching to medium tyres during the red flag, he held firm in fourth against fierce attacks from Alonso, who had changed to softs, while repeatedly complaining over the radio that “the car is bouncing and has no grip”. Red Bull plan to request a release from parc fermé restrictions before qualifying to explore setup changes.

Alonso was forced to lift and coast from the early stages to save fuel, but skilfully kept both Ferraris behind him, holding off Leclerc until three laps remained. Although he was eventually overtaken and lost the position, he still kept Hamilton behind by 0.297 seconds to finish sixth.

Those three points brought Aston Martin level with Racing Bulls in the constructors’ standings. However, Hadjar’s podium at the Dutch Grand Prix allowed Racing Bulls to retain seventh place.

Hadjar dropped to 13th amid the opening-lap chaos, then mounted a determined recovery to finish 10th.

Gasly (Alpine), meanwhile, extracted everything from his car’s performance, climbing from 13th on the grid to eighth to score his first point since the summer break.

Bearman (Haas) spun at Turn 4 on lap 1 after Lawson (Racing Bulls) clipped his left-rear wheel, sending him tumbling down the order. He angrily exclaimed “Lawson again” over the radio and eventually finished 12th. His team-mate Ocon gained a race-high seven places to finish 11th, offering encouragement for the rest of the weekend.

On the final lap, a horrific crash left the entire Interlagos crowd holding its breath. Brazilian home driver Bortoleto (Sauber) spun on the approach to Turn 1 and slammed into the inside barrier. The force of the impact sent the car bouncing up into the air before it crashed into the opposite wall, creating an extremely dangerous scene.

Thankfully, Bortoleto climbed out of the car unaided and got into the medical car himself. His car, however, was badly wrecked, leaving a race against time to repair it before the qualifying session that followed.

Qualifying took place at the same circuit in the early hours of November 9, China Standard Time (UTC+8).