2025 Race 21 - Brazil

[F1nKS]

Brazil 2025

Early weather forecasts are for rain on Saturday and Sunday. Historically 86% of safety car. Could be chaos.

Will Norris, with the lead, feel the pressure?

Will Piastri change his bad mojo?

[airshifter]

I hope if we have rain it stays light enough that the race can continue without delays except for safety cars or actual incidents.

I understand the cars throw a lot of spray but it seems like they can hardly race in the wet anymore. The intermediate tires get used, and the race is red flagged before the full wet even go on the cars.


It's a shame it has been working out that way because I actually enjoy a wet race to help weed out some of the better drivers.

[N. Jones]

Always at great race in Brazil. Race would just make is crazier and I'm not sure we need that after Mexico.

[Matthew]

With the sprint weekend coming to Sau Paulo, the title fight could get a real shake-up, and with rain expected (https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1066769/f1-2025-brazilian-grand-prix-weather-forecast-latest-sao-paulo/), we can definitely expect some drama. No matter what the weather does, there will be plenty happening for the fans. Along with live performances from Alok and Jorge Aragão, there will be driver appearances, team merchandise stalls, F1 simulators, and interactive pit stop challenges around the circuit. You can get a full overview of everything planned in this guide (https://www.fanamp.com/tr/the-best-fan-zones-and-events-at-the-brazilian-gp-2025) to the best events and activities, which includes details about entertainment, food markets, and fan activities that make Interlagos one of the liveliest weekends on the F1 calendar.

[Bagwan]

This is one of my favourite tracks , always throwing up a fun watch .

Light rain for the start , then drying for a while , and then a light sprinkle at the end is what I hope for , and thus predict , having looked into the crystal ball on this one .

[airshifter]

This is one of my favourite tracks , always throwing up a fun watch .

Light rain for the start , then drying for a while , and then a light sprinkle at the end is what I hope for , and thus predict , having looked into the crystal ball on this one .

I'm not so sure about your prediction. Maybe ask Trophy Wife, since her prediction on FGP has her leading you! :laugh:

But I'd be good with your prediction. Anything that doesn't stop the race due to too much rain, and keeps the cars running. Light rain, changing conditions.... anything other than red flags for it being too wet.

[Bagwan]

Oh no , Shifter , I was talking about the race , itself , not this sprint nonsense .
And I think my Trophy girl would agree , given her Liam and Yuki combo were both out in SQ1 .

It sounds like it may be a rain delay or even cancellation .

Take the wings off the cars and get back out there .
Now , there's an idea with legs .

[N. Jones]

I'll say it - Oscar has thrown the championship away.

[F1nKS]

I'll say it - Oscar has thrown the championship away.

Following Piastri's sprint race result and Verstappen's struggles in qualifying, it appears Norris is the one to beat.

[F1nKS]

Red Bull didn't show up this weekend. Racing Bulls got to Q3.

[F1nKS]

Piastri is fighting back. On provisional pole. Here comes the final run...

[F1nKS]

Piastri is fighting back. On provisional pole. Here comes the final run...

Norris answers and takes the pole. Piastri drops to 4th.

[Steve Boyd]

How long before Max is on the phone to Marko asking for a transfer to the Racing Bulls?

[F1nKS]

Jos did not look very happy. I wonder if he will be at any more races after this weekend.

[airshifter]

Already kind of an unusual weekend.

McLaren looking good but not on top form, Merc is strong as well. Both Max and the Ferraris seem a bit lost. Alonso showing that AM can work at times.

Oscar bins it in the Sprint, and no big surprises otherwise in the Sprint.



And then qually happens. The reigning world champ is out in Q1, the other two world champs on the grid out in Q2, yet we have Bearman, Kimi, Isack, Nico, Liam, and Pierre in the top 10. I don't think anyone would have made such a prediction. And half a second covers the top 9 drivers, but Lando has 3/10 on Oscar who is in 4th.

As if the crazy grid isn't enough, it now looks like very little chance of rain during the race, but it might start with a little or at least still wet. Windy, gusty, and cool.

Max took an engine and setup changes and will start from the pit lane. Nothing much to lose there, and maybe he can get back to the points. But chances are his long shot at the title is done, and Oscar needs to up his game or his will go away as well.





As for Jos, he never looks happy. TBH having him in the pits does nothing to help.... ever.

[airshifter]

That was a fantastic race.

I'm not going to comment on anything until later to avoid many spoilers for people.

[airshifter]

I'm really shocked that nobody has commented on this race. From the start to the finish it stayed fairly busy.


The roll of the dice by RB with Max ended with a puncture and an extra stop, but if not for that he might have pulled off a win IMHO. But either way pulling off a pitlane to podium in that car was a really solid race, and after the weekend they had rather surprising. I'm not sure what they got wrong for the Sprint, but they made the right call to change the car and start from the pits.

Lando managed a great weekend as well, and stayed in control of the entire race. If he keeps up this type of racing he's going to be really hard to beat for the WDC unless he has some misfortune.

Both Mercs stayed solid, and both drivers had to fight off attacks from behind towards the end of the race. And both pulled it off very well, defending the faster cars behind them. I'm wondering if Kimi will step up to challenge George more often, or if it will be a rare event.

A nightmare of a weekend for Ferrari. Hamiltons race was messy from the start due to the Sainz contact, and to top it off he managed to bump Colapinto as well and lost his wing, along with gaining a penalty. Charles got the short end of the restart, and did nothing wrong but ended up with a DNF anyway.

Both Racing Bulls, as well as Nico and Pierre end up in the points. Well done to all of them.


And then there was Oscar, who didn't have the greatest weekend. But in all fairness the more often I watch the replay of the restart I think they were wrong to give him the penalty. There was clearly plenty of overlap while they were still on the straight, and even though he locked up some when Kimi turned in he hit the apex of the corner just fine. If anything Kimi moving caused both the lockup and the collision. But there was plenty of room on the outside between Kimi and Charles. I don't think Oscar was the one in the wrong on this one.

[Bagwan]

I agree , Shifter , Oscar got burned there .
They used the small lock-up to justify him having lost control , but it was prompted by the guy beside him braking a metre later and turning into his path .
It looked like Chuck ran wider than he needed to , likely because he figured Kimi , having Oscar there , would need more space to get around the corner .
And Kimi , while showing well overall , put himself at serious risk , and got seriously lucky in the Oscar clash . It might have all ended there .

Lando looks strong and didn't put a foot wrong , and Oscar looks like he's in a fight to even stay in second .


Then there's Max . From last place , twice , to a podium .
Wow .

I love that track .

[The Black Knight]

I agree , Shifter , Oscar got burned there .
They used the small lock-up to justify him having lost control , but it was prompted by the guy beside him braking a metre later and turning into his path .
It looked like Chuck ran wider than he needed to , likely because he figured Kimi , having Oscar there , would need more space to get around the corner .
And Kimi , while showing well overall , put himself at serious risk , and got seriously lucky in the Oscar clash . It might have all ended there .

Lando looks strong and didn't put a foot wrong , and Oscar looks like he's in a fight to even stay in second .


Then there's Max . From last place , twice , to a podium .
Wow .

I love that track .

I love the track as well always produces some good races. Great performance by Max. I just wish he'd switch team so we could see how good he really is. I still think he's being made look at lot better than what he really is with a car that is designed around him. His driving style is unique but if he had another car tailored around him would he look as good as he does now. I'm not so sure.

I can't honestly tell what has happened to derail Oscar's title hopes. Without a DNF it looks like it will be very difficult for him to get the title now. Lando can finish 2nd in the last 3 and still clinch. I don't think he deserved a penalty for the first corner clash though. There was a genuine gap, he went for it and was squeezed. I've no doubt he'll become world champion at some point if not this year.

Another day to forget for Hamilton. He seems to have massive trouble adapting to this Ferrari and these rules in general don't seem to suit his driving style at all. But the true greats adapt to whatever machinery they have underneath them. I always said I think he's lacking about 0.2 tenths from the ultimate pace and I think that's showing with the gap for Leclerc. Whether that's always been the case or just because he's older now is impossible to tell. It's hard to tell with older drivers like Alonso if they've lost any pace because Stroll is such rubbish. The rules next year will hopefully suits Hamilton better but with Ferrari giving him 2.5 million per weekend he needs to pull his socks up. I never regarded him as the GOAT but his status as an elite driver in the sport is weaning.

Looking forward to 2026 rules.

[Steve Boyd]

I can't honestly tell what has happened to derail Oscar's title hopes.
I wonder if it is psychological.

Lando was very flaky in the second half of last season when he was in a close fight for his first F1 title and Oscar looked a lot stronger. Now Oscar is experiencing the same pressure for the first time in F1 and Lando seems to have learned from last season’s experience.

[The Black Knight]

I wonder if it is psychological.

Lando was very flaky in the second half of last season when he was in a close fight for his first F1 title and Oscar looked a lot stronger. Now Oscar is experiencing the same pressure for the first time in F1 and Lando seems to have learned from last season’s experience.

What you say is possible. He doesn't seem like someone that is easily phased by pressure though. I know the run in for a title fight is different but while the odd mistake would be understandable, the lack of pace is the biggest concern.

[Nitrodaze]

What you say is possible. He doesn't seem like someone that is easily phased by pressure though. I know the run in for a title fight is different but while the odd mistake would be understandable, the lack of pace is the biggest concern.

I think the upgrades have taken the car away from Oscar's preferences. Just as the initial design of the car favoured Oscar and not Norris. Somehow, McLaren is unable to build a car that suits both drivers perfectly. It is very hard to achieve that. That is a quality you would only find at Mercedes, even though they struggle with it sometimes.

Is Oscar done? I don't think so. There are clear signs that he has adapted to the current car. Las Vegas is his very best chance to cut the gap down. If he fails to do so, chances are the championship is lost to him. I have a sneaky suspicion that this would run to the wire. And it would cause a real headache for the McLaren management, to the point that any favouritism would become clear in the end.

[Nitrodaze]

What you say is possible. He doesn't seem like someone that is easily phased by pressure though. I know the run in for a title fight is different but while the odd mistake would be understandable, the lack of pace is the biggest concern.

I think the upgrades have taken the car away from Oscar's preferences. Just as the initial design of the car favoured Oscar and not Norris. Somehow, McLaren is unable to build a car that suits both drivers perfectly. It is very hard to achieve that. That is a quality you would only find at Mercedes, even though they struggle with it sometimes.

Is Oscar done? I don't think so. There are clear signs that he has adapted to the current car. Las Vegas is his very best chance to cut the gap down. If he fails to do so, chances are the championship is lost to him. I have a sneaky suspicion that this title battle would run to the wire. And it would cause a real headache for the McLaren management, to the point that any favouritism would become clear in the end.

It surprises me that there is not much said about how awful the stewarding has been this season. They seem to get progressively worst season by season. Poor Oscar!

[The Black Knight]

I think the upgrades have taken the car away from Oscar's preferences. Just as the initial design of the car favoured Oscar and not Norris. Somehow, McLaren is unable to build a car that suits both drivers perfectly. It is very hard to achieve that. That is a quality you would only find at Mercedes, even though they struggle with it sometimes.

Is Oscar done? I don't think so. There are clear signs that he has adapted to the current car. Las Vegas is his very best chance to cut the gap down. If he fails to do so, chances are the championship is lost to him. I have a sneaky suspicion that this title battle would run to the wire. And it would cause a real headache for the McLaren management, to the point that any favouritism would become clear in the end.

It surprises me that there is not much said about how awful the stewarding has been this season. They seem to get progressively worst season by season. Poor Oscar!

Adaptability is never an issue for Oscar. Engineers have frequently stated that he's one of the most adaptable drivers ever in F1 so I'd be surprised if that were the issue. Whichever McLaren F1 drivers wins it will deserve it. I like both McLaren drivers so I'll be delighted for whichever one wins it.

Stewarding is awful in F1 and has been for a very long time. It's a tough one to solve though because of the Global traversing of the sport. It'd be hard to find Stewards that want to commit to 24 weekends away from their family.

[Nitrodaze]

Adaptability is never an issue for Oscar. Engineers have frequently stated that he's one of the most adaptable drivers ever in F1 so I'd be surprised if that were the issue. Whichever McLaren F1 drivers wins it will deserve it. I like both McLaren drivers so I'll be delighted for whichever one wins it.

Stewarding is awful in F1 and has been for a very long time. It's a tough one to solve though because of the Global traversing of the sport. It'd be hard to find Stewards that want to commit to 24 weekends away from their family.

McLaren made critical suspension changes to address some of the difficulties that Norris was having with the car. It appears these suspension changes do not suit Oscar. He has to change his driving style to suit these new suspensions.

You have to take note that McLaren did not introduce these suspension changes until after they had won the constructors' championship or at least it was 100% certain that they would win it, as they would not want to take the risk otherwise.

Another thing to notice is that the car has become marginally slower, bringing it within the grasp of Red Bull and Mercedes. The car, prior to the changes, appear to be much faster and had a consistent gap to their closest rival. McLaren clearly was only willing to take the risk of making these changes after they had achieved winning the Constructor's championship.

This is the reason why Norris is being booed at most race tracks. The fans have sensed that McLaren may be favouring Norris over Oscar. A fifty-something drop in points is also not convincing for a driver with such an impeccable rate of progression.

As such, l for one is not convinced that there has been a drop of performance in Oscar's ability to drive the McLaren car. As we have seen in the past with drivers like Perez in his Redbull days, Hamilton in his later years at Mercedes, to name a few, the design philosophy of these teams moved away from these drivers, and their driving performance plunged as a result. This is what appears to be happening to Oscar at the moment.

After Hamilton submitted his improvement document to Ferrari, this could also be noticed to be happening to Hamilton at Ferrari. Those dominant weekends where Hamilton was clearly outperforming Leclerc, then that performance suddenly evaporates in qualifying. And his race pace, which was the most notable aspect of his weekend preparation also disappears in the race.

These are symptoms of the covert actions that happen within F1 teams that we have noticed for years.

That said, it is not clear why McLaren would cease to back their driver with the clear points advantage to win the driver's championship to help one who was struggling. That does not make sense ordinarily. But if you factor in the fact that there is no real risk to McLaren if they chose to try to level the playing field between both their driver, then it may be clear why they might have done it. I suspect that they did not achieve levelling the playing field but tipped it towards Norris.

It would be ironic if somehow Verstappen finds a way to steal the driver's championship from both McLaren drivers. It would be the funniest thing to happen in F1 in a while.

Whichever way you look at it, there would be question marks to a Norris championship win. I also suspect that McLaren may probably damaged their relationship with Oscar. It will not be apparent now, but when the bitterness of unfairly losing hits Oscar, it may manifest itself in the 2026 season. The trust may cease to be there between driver and team, which would be a shame.

[Steve Boyd]

If Piastri feels better with the old suspension, it does make you wonder why they don't let him run it & let Norris keep using the newer set-up that suits him.

[Used to be Starter]

Stewarding is awful in F1 and has been for a very long time. It's a tough one to solve though because of the Global traversing of the sport. It'd be hard to find Stewards that want to commit to 24 weekends away from their family.

Two friends of mine are Stewards and they do the occasional F1 but more F2, 3 and 4. Yes it's interesting and challenging but can also be quite grueling.

[Nitrodaze]

If Piastri feels better with the old suspension, it does make you wonder why they don't let him run it & let Norris keep using the newer set-up that suits him.

Changing the suspension implicitly causes changes to other parts of the chassis, front and rear. Which would mean development to the old car stalls, as all focus will be on the new one. It would mean running an old car with its own set of parts and a new car with its own set of parts. The cost cap makes this difficult, l think, among other things.