F1 in Brazil: You’ve got to keep your tires alive
The people in charge hate this*—if you wrap up a title two-thirds of the way through a season, the viewers evaporate, as there’s nothing left at stake.
Key points
- But anyone who decided to skip this year’s Brazilian Grand Prix this past weekend missed one of the year’s most entertaining races, as a combination of a mixed-up starting order, some very fast drivers at the back, and a wet track that dried and then saw rain again resulted in action aplenty.
- More disruption came from grid penalties for Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, both of whom needed to use extra power unit components outside of the season’s allowance.
- It was heavy enough that drivers used the wet weather tire with deep treads, which usually generates so much spray that visibility disappears and running has to be suspended.
A peculiarity of F1 is that even if you manage to win a championship, there’s no guarantee you’ll be in a position to defend it.
But this weekend in Brazil, Norris demonstrated the form that earned him the number 1.
Additional details
- Sadly for Lando, McLaren did not start this year in a position to win races, and even with several upgrades, the team has produced a car that is still very tricky to drive.
- Take McLaren’s Lando Norris, who took the crown in 2025 after a nail-biting fight with his teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
- In sports, a “ dead rubber ” is a match that takes place after the outcome of the series or championship has already been decided.
- But with fewer cars on track in the later knockout qualifying sessions, this was not a problem for once.
- Rain on Saturday during qualifying helped jumble the usual running order.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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