The F1 weekend in São Paulo started anything but smoothly for Verstappen. Qualifying was chaotic due to rain and multiple red flags. Lando Norris took pole position ahead of George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda, while Verstappen was unlucky to be knocked out in Q2 and also received a grid penalty, forcing him to start from P17.

The sprint race didn’t go as hoped for Verstappen either. Oscar Piastri started from pole but ultimately finished behind teammate Norris. Verstappen gained a place from P4, but received a time penalty afterwards for a virtual safety car infringement, dropping him back to fourth and promoting Charles Leclerc to P3.

The race began in messy fashion. Before the field could even get going, things went wrong: Lance Stroll slid off the track during the formation lap and parked his Aston Martin in the gravel, while several drivers — including Lando Norris and George Russell — misinterpreted the start procedure and set off too early.

In the opening laps, Verstappen stayed out of trouble and immediately overtook several cars. A few drivers made contact with each other, which handed him extra positions. Thanks to his blistering pace, Verstappen was running sixth after just twelve laps.

Midway through the race it began to rain again, leading to a safety car and a red flag after a crash for Franco Colapinto. The red flag gave Verstappen the chance to switch to intermediates. Esteban Ocon surprisingly led at the restart, but after a crash by Carlos Sainz — and thus another restart — Verstappen took the lead and never looked back. The Dutchman won by more than nineteen seconds and shared the podium with Alpine drivers Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

With his commanding victory, Verstappen dealt a sledgehammer blow to Lando Norris in the title battle. The McLaren driver slid off the track twice, was gifted a position by teammate Piastri, and ultimately could do no better than sixth place.