F1: Norris holds the Brazilian Grand Prix, Leclerc seventh and Mercedes sacred

Lando Norris won the Brazil Grand Prix in Interlagos on Sunday, November 8, 2026, ahead of the Red Bulls by Max Verstappen and d'Isack Hadjar. Left in pole position, the McLaren rider overcame a less successful start and the change of grip to sign his third win of the season. Charles Leclerc finished seventh, while Mercedes won the manufacturers' championship thanks to the fourth and fifth places of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Nice-Matin, L-Team and BBC agree on these results, confirmed by the official report of Formula 1. [S1] [S9] [S10] [S11]

Norris makes the difference between two showers

The victory has not been built on a continuous domination since the fire extinguished. Antonelli took the best start and exceeded Norris, before digging the gap on the wet track. The transition to dry track tires changed the race: stopped earlier, the British came back to the Mercedes. An Antonelli face-to-face at the first turn then returned the controls. [S9] [S10]

Norris mastered the suite, including when the rain came back in the last laps and imposed a new tyre change. At the finish of the 71 laps, his lead over Verstappen reached 14,602 seconds according to the official classification. This success was its first since the Dutch Grand Prix in late August, after another victory in Hungary this summer. He therefore did not prolong a victory at the previous appointment, contrary to what the West France account indicated. [S1] [S8] [S10] [S11]

Verstappen goes up, Hadjar completes the podium

Relegated to twenty-first place on the grid after a penalty related to a change of engine, Verstappen climbed the peloton to second position. The BBC points out its progress in these difficult conditions, while noting that Norris kept a higher pace, both on dry and wet tracks. [S1] [S10] [S11]

Hadjar finished third after letting his teammate pass to allow him to pursue Norris. Team reports this choice of race, without Red Bull succeeding in threatening the winner. The team thus placed two cars on the podium: it was not a double in the first two places, despite the wording used by West France. [S9] [S8] [S11]

Leclerc limited by his Ferrari

For Charles Leclerc, the climb from 14th place was not enough to join the top 5. The Monegasque finished seventh behind Oscar Piastri with ten positions on the grid. The official report states that he exceeded Liam Lawson in the penultimate lap to obtain this place. Lewis Hamilton, ninth, completes a difficult day for Ferrari. [S1] [S9] [S11]

Leclerc explained to Canal+, in words reported by Nice-Matin, that his car behaved correctly in the turns but lacked speed in a straight line. He requested an analysis of the data to understand this deficit. This finding by the pilot alone is not a technical diagnosis: the sources consulted do not allow the precise origin of the problem to be established. [S1]

Mercedes champion despite the mistakes

Mercedes won its ninth manufacturer title, the first since 2021, without placing a car on the podium. Russell finished fourth in front of Antonelli, an order confirmed by L-Team, the BBC and the F1, while the text accompanying the West France classification reversed their positions. The collective sacre comes a week after the title of the drivers won by Antonelli in Mexico. [S1] [S2] [S9] [S10] [S11]

However, the two Mercedes drivers lost some time on mistakes: Russell left face-to-face at the exit of the stands and Antonelli abandoned his head after his first tyre change. The Team also reports Italian complaints about the behaviour of its single seat, without establishing a definitive mechanical cause. Their result remains sufficient to secure the championship before the last three appointments, in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. [S1] [S9] [S10]

In the drivers' standings published by Ouest-France, Antonelli remained first with 390 points, ahead of Verstappen, 279 points. Russell now ranks third with 262 points, ahead of Hamilton, 261. Leclerc remains fifth with 251 points, while Norris, sixth with 246 points, gets closer thanks to his Brazilian victory. [S3]