Norris takes his third win of the year, Mercedes win the Constructors’ Championship for the ninth time and Verstappen is the first driver to finish on the podium from 21st on the grid in over a decade. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix!
NORRIS WINS THE 2026 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
Lando Norris won the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, securing the 14th victory of his F1 career. He equalled Graham Hill, Jack Brabham and Emerson Fittipaldi for 20th on the all-time win list.
This was Norris’ third win of the season, after the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix. It is the second year in a row that Norris has won at Interlagos.
Norris became the 14th driver to record as many as 50 podium finishes in Formula 1, equalling Jenson Button for 18th on the all-time podium list.
Norris overtook Lewis Hamilton for fifth on the list of most podium finishes with McLaren and equalled Jenson Button for fourth on the list of most top three finishes for a British driver.
McLaren became the first team to record as many as ten victories at the Interlagos circuit. This is the first time since 1998 and 1999 that McLaren have won two successive races at the track.
MERCEDES WIN NINTH CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Mercedes won the Constructors’ Championship at the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. This is the ninth season in which the team have won the title, equalling Williams for third on the list of most Constructors’ Championship wins. This was their first title win since 2021.
2026 is the sixth time – after 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2018 – that the Constructors’ Championship has been decided at Interlagos. The Sao Paulo track equals Watkins Glen for third on the list of circuits which have decided the teams’ title on the most occasions.
Toto Wolff becomes only the second Team Principal, after Frank Williams, to have won the Constructors’ Championship on as many as nine occasions.
ON THE PODIUM
In the first podium of the season not to feature a Mercedes driver, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar joined Lando Norris in the top three at the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. It ended the sixth longest podium streak for a team in F1 history, at 19 races. Mercedes also equalled their record from 2014 of most successive podium finishes from the start of a season.
Driving from 21st on the grid to second at the chequered flag, Max Verstappen became the fourth driver to record a podium finish from 21st on the grid. He follows Wolfgang von Trips at the 1958 French Grand Prix, John Watson at the 1983 Detroit Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.
This was the first time Verstappen gained as many as 19 places in a Grand Prix. His previous record was 18 positions gained, at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix.
In the last three years, Verstappen has gained a total of 51 positions from where he has started in the three Grands Prix at Interlagos.
Verstappen recorded an eighth consecutive top three finish, as well as a fourth successive podium finish at Interlagos.
Hadjar recorded his third podium finish of the season and the fourth podium of his career. Each time, he has finished in third place.
This was the first time since 2013 that both Red Bull drivers finished on the podium at Interlagos.
IN THE POINTS
Finishing fourth, George Russell recorded his best result – and his first top five finish – since winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
This was the fourth year in a row that Russell finished in fourth place at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli finished fifth in the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. In the last 11 races, this was only the second time he did not finish on the podium. He also finished fifth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
With seventh place, Liam Lawson finished in the points for the fifth race weekend in a row. It equals the longest scoring streak of his career, recorded earlier this season between the Canadian and British Grands Prix. Lawson finished seventh for the fourth time in the last five races.
The Miami and Dutch Grands Prix remain the only races so far this season in which neither Racing Bulls driver has scored a point.
This was the third year in a row in which the Red Bull junior team finished seventh in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
In his 400th Grand Prix start, Lewis Hamilton finished ninth. Of races he has finished this year, this was the first time he finished outside of the top six.
Hamilton’s second place finish in the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix remains the last time he finished in the top seven at Interlagos.
With Charles Leclerc eighth and Lewis Hamilton ninth, this was the first time since 2022 that both Ferrari drivers scored a point at Interlagos.
This was the first time since the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix that neither Ferrari driver finished in the top six.
Nico Hulkenberg scored the final point in the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Having scored his first point at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix, Hulkenberg overtook Jenson Button for the sixth longest points-scoring period in Formula 1 history.
This was Hulkenberg’s fifth points-scoring appearance in the last ten Grands Prix.
The four current drivers who held a 100% points-scoring rate at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix prior to this weekend – Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson – all maintained their records in 2026.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
With Fernando Alonso 12th and Lance Stroll failing to finish, this was the third year in a row that Aston Martin did not score a point in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Franco Colapinto finished 13th in the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, while Pierre Gasly finished 14th. This was the first time that Alpine failed to score a point at Interlagos, as well as the first time since 2018 that the Enstone-based team failed to pick up a point here.
Finishing 15th in the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Alex Albon remains yet to score a point in a Grand Prix at Interlagos.
Carlos Sainz finished 19th in the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix – the first time he has finished as low as 19th in a Grand Prix in which he has reached the chequered flag.
This was the eighth Interlagos race in a row in which Williams did not pick up any points.
Becoming the first driver to make his F1 debut in his home country since Markus Winkelhock at the 2007 European Grand Prix, Rafael Camara finished 20th in the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
THE RETIREES
Lance Stroll was the only driver who started the race who failed to finish. He recorded his 14th retirement of the 2026 season. The Miami and Canadian Grands Prix are the only times so far this season that Stroll has reached the chequered flag at successive races.
Valtteri Bottas failed to start the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. This was his 11th non-finish of the season, as well as his fifth non-finish in the last six Grands Prix.
This was the seventh Did Not Start of the season – the first since Arvid Lindblad failed to start the Canadian Grand Prix.
Cadillac have now recorded 16 non-finishes so far this season, while Aston Martin have recorded 21.