Max Verstappen's all-time great Sao Paulo GP drive, Oscar Piastri's 'harsh' 10s penalty, Lando Norris' title lead assessed by Martin Brundle

It was a cracking Sao Paulo Grand Prix all round, with a frenzy of action, overtaking and controversy, and it didn't even need rain to spice things up.

Other than a better and wider track surface, improved kerbs and general drainage, that circuit layout hasn't changed, thankfully, since I first raced an F1 car there in 1991, and the old school nature of this anticlockwise short track has always worked well even if we've seen some serious incidents there over the decades.

It's still a misery to get in and out of the place, but the natural bowl of the venue along with the contour changes, and a layout which demands high top speeds in sectors one and three, but lots of downforce and grip for the technical and highly-cambered middle sector, provide plenty of challenges in its 2.7 miles containing only 12 corners (which becomes 15 in heavy rain).

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Norris delivers again in perfect weekend

The king of the weekend was Lando Norris with pole position and victory in both the Sprint and the main race, but with nothing like the dominance of Mexico two weeks earlier.

His highlight of the weekend for me was the final qualifying run in Q3 after he'd wasted his first set of new tyres with a lock up into the first corner.

This was a big pressure moment, the pack was intensely close, and he delivered a measured but fast lap, fastest in all three sectors and through the top speed trap, to claim pole position which seems essential these days for victory. Sunday was the seventh consecutive race won from pole.

Norris would make two perfect starts, and indeed several safety car restarts, to win both races in style and end up with a full haul of 33 points in total, leaving him virtually the equivalent of a race ahead in points terms over Oscar Piastri and two races ahead of Max Verstappen, with three GPs and a Sprint to go.

But a shunt or reliability issue can turn that around in a heartbeat, and although I would expect McLaren to be very strong in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, it's the cold slippery surface of Vegas which could throw them a curve ball.

'Oscar has been in the danger zone more often'

Piastri was so unlucky again, the dice simply won't roll for him.

The last time he was on the podium was back in September in Monza. He'd been on the podium 13 of the 15 races prior to that including seven victories. Norris was quicker than him in Monza, followed by the double shunt and jump start horror story in Azerbaijan, the first-lap skirmish with Norris in Singapore, the Sprint race in Austin which cost both cars heavily, and his pace simply hasn't quite been there since.

Is it Oscar's head, just a sporting run of bad luck, has there been a set-up problem with the car, or has it been a series of tracks which don't suit him so well? Probably a little of each just at the same time as Norris found overdrive and confidence.

By not nailing the pole positions and front rows Oscar has been in the danger zone more often and this has hurt him. The spin on the wet kerb in turn three in the Brazilian Sprint was unfortunate, two other drivers spun and crashed on the dispersed water too which was captive in the serrated kerbs, but others made it through.

Then in the main race, at the safety car restart he had a tremendous run towards turn one with a good chance to pass both Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc down the inside to seize an important second place. He simply had to go for it, and I'm sure given the same opportunity 20 more times he would do it every time.

Antonelli had Leclerc to his right but with space, and he must have known Piastri was on his inside as he swept towards the apex. Piastri locked up and there was contact. Had his confidence have been higher he might have released the brakes and claimed the apex of the corner, and sorted it out from there, but he was driving into a wedge and instinctively braked.

The problem for Oscar is that the initial optics didn't look at all good in that he'd locked up, hit Antonelli's rear axle with his front, skittled two cars including one into instant retirement, and gained two places. The Stewards decided he was 100 per cent at fault and dished out a 10-second penalty and two points on his licence, which leaves him with six of the permitted 12 before a race ban.

That was very harsh, there was a clear mitigating circumstance that he was squeezed by the Mercedes, and that this action contributed to his lock up and contact, It would have been easy to justify reducing that to a five-second penalty - as Oscar said, 'I can't just disappear'.

Considering it as a typical racing incident would be marginal. No penalty at all, and therefore by default wholly blaming Antonelli, not realistic.

Antonelli's breakthrough, Verstappen's drive for the ages

Nineteen-year-old Antonelli had a stellar weekend, a real breakthrough to follow up on his fine performance two weeks earlier in Mexico.

With two front-row starts, he kept Norris more than honest in the 24-lap Sprint to claim second place, and then in the main race survived the chaos and kept his head impressively well to detain Verstappen, who was driving like a man possessed all race, behind him in the closing stages for another second place.

Max tried every distraction trick, but Kimi kept his head.

Verstappen had started from the pitlane because his car looked so dismal in qualifying it was better to try something different on the set up and fit a new power unit rather than being stuck 16th on the grid with a package known to be off the pace.

And so began one of the all-time great drives through a closely-matched pack in what would be entirely dry conditions.

Once he caught the pack, he had avoided all the chaos and contact between the likes of Sainz, Hamilton, Stroll, and Bortoleto, and the safety car at least allowed Max to close the gap to the leaders as he was already mid-pack pretty much straight away. But then, like a game of snakes and ladders, he had a slow puncture and had to pit again.

The downside of this is that he was now at the back of the remaining runners again, but at least he'd parked the unfavoured hard compound tyre and ticked the legality box of having used two different dry tyre compounds by lap seven.

Then he set about charging through the pack at great speed, clearly much happier with his car and motor. He was clinical in his moves and relentless with his speed and it quickly became apparent that a podium finish was on, and within a few more laps, pretty much a certainty.

It was a drive for the ages, and not because it was wet or that he aced a red flag-free tyre change in a similarly mesmerising drive at this track last year, but on sheer pace through the most competitive field in F1 history.

Red Bull played some smart hands too and he would use four different sets of tyres in total, finally onto a brand-new set of soft tyres he still had available having not survived past Q1 the day before.

Those soft tyres had to do 17 laps flat out, and with no gentle introduction either, he was on it from the pit exit. He had enough grip to catch and pass George Russell's Mercedes which had been missing a little pace all weekend, and he quickly latched onto the tail of Antonelli but couldn't find a way past the teenager.

Out front Norris was serene but at no time did he have a comfort zone to Mercedes or the charging Verstappen. If Max had started up front with a healthy car you'd have to say he would most likely have won the race. As it was, he was only 10.7 seconds behind at the flag

Piastri would come home a dejected fifth having been unable to pass Russell, whose Mercedes team were having a dream weekend regarding the constructors' fight with Ferrari who lost both cars in the race.

In sixth was another mature performance from Ollie Bearman for Haas. He looked like having a mega grid slot for Sunday but perhaps over drove on his final runs in Saturday qualifying. But again, he avoided the melee and made some strong overtakes.

Liam Lawson one-stopped having pitted on lap 19 and finished a fine seventh with seven cars on his tail desperately trying to pass him and each other as he crossed the line with very little grip I'd imagine.

Nico Hulkenberg also one-stopped to steal a couple of points in ninth for Sauber.

Now we wait to see who will roll the dice best in Vegas, but it's definitely advantage Norris in the championship.

Formula 1's thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Max Verstappen's all-time great Sao Paulo GP drive, Oscar Piastri's 'harsh' 10s penalty, Lando Norris' title lead assessed by Martin Brundle