It was the third consecutive year that the Red Bull driver had secured a podium at Interlagos despite starting from a hugely disadvantageous position.
He won from 17th in 2024 and finished third after starting from the pit lane last season.
This latest performance was built on excellent wet-weather pace, decisive overtaking and well-timed tyre changes as Red Bull made the most of changing conditions. Verstappen’s grid penalty followed the installation of a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust after problems during Friday practice.
With the penalty already guaranteeing a position near the back, Verstappen chose not to set a lap time in the second qualifying session on Saturday. Instead, he preserved his wet-weather tyres for the race, a decision that proved valuable when Sunday’s action began on a wet track.
Although he did not enjoy the cleanest start, Verstappen quickly found his rhythm and began working his way through the field. The RB22 appeared particularly strong in the wet, with its high-downforce setup providing the grip needed to attack over Interlagos’ bumpy surface.
By lap eight, Verstappen had already climbed into the top six. One of his standout moves was a sweeping overtaking manoeuvre on Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari as he powered up the hill, underlining the pace advantage he enjoyed in the opening stages.
As the circuit dried, Red Bull brought him in for soft tyres at a crucial moment. The switch helped him continue his charge and briefly move into second place, putting him in a position to challenge the leaders.
However, his progress slowed when the soft tyres began to struggle on the drying surface. Verstappen experienced significant oversteer through the faster corners and was unable to maintain the balance that had made the opening stint so impressive. “I don’t know if we picked up some kind of damage because the car felt completely opposite to anything that I felt the whole weekend, with some really weird balance,” he said.
He added: “Unfortunately, once I got into P2, I couldn’t really make any inroads. So we have to understand what went wrong there.” Despite the handling difficulties, Red Bull stuck with a three-stop strategy, using two consecutive soft-tyre stints before returning to intermediates when the rain arrived again towards the end.
The final tyre change proved important as conditions became increasingly difficult. George Russell lost time after spinning at the pit exit during his switch to slicks, while race leader Kimi Antonelli also spun at Turn 1 on lap 20, losing the lead and opening the door for his rivals.
Remarkably, the 71-lap race featured no safety car, virtual safety car or red-flag interruptions. Verstappen therefore had to complete his recovery through overtaking and strategy alone, without the benefit of a restart to bring the field closer together. Lando Norris controlled the race from pole position to secure his third victory of the season and 14th of his Formula 1 career, finishing 14.602 seconds ahead of Verstappen, with Isack Hadjar completing the podium in third.
