F1 São Paulo Grand Prix: Storylines to watch as the grid heads to Brazil

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A pair of title fights headline the storylines for the F1 São Paulo Grand Prix

Four race weekends remain in what has been a thrilling Formula 1 season.

And everything is on the line.

Unlike last season, when the grid arrived in Brazil for the São Paulo with Max Verstappen having already clinched the Drivers’ Championship, and Red Bull its second straight Constructors’ Championship, both titles are up for grabs as the teams head to South America.

On the Drivers’ Championship side, Verstappen remains a solid favorite, holding a 47-point lead over Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc, thanks to a tremendous run of form, has closed to within 71 points of Verstappen and is just 24 points behind the McLaren driver.

Things are even closer when it comes to the Constructors’ Championship. Wins from Leclerc in Austin and Carlos Sainz Jr. on Sunday in Mexico City have propelled Ferrari ahead of Red Bull and into second place in the Constructors’ title race. At the moment McLaren has a 29-point lead over Ferrari, and Red Bull is 25 points behind the Scuderia.

Can McLaren inch closer to their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998? Will Ferrari continue their tremendous form and leave Brazil in the lead themselves? Can Red Bull fight back after a brutal week in Mexico City? Will Verstappen manage to hold on in the Drivers’ Championship?

Four race weekends to go, with all possible results on the table.

Welcome to race week.

Can the Red Bull family rebound in São Paulo?

To say the week in Mexico City was a disaster for the Red Bull family might be an understatement.

Let’s start with Max Verstappen. His latest on-track tangle with Lando Norris saw the Red Bull driver hit with 20 seconds worth of penalties, effectively eliminating any chance he had at a podium finish. While Verstappen managed to mitigate the damage from there, his sixth-place finish — and Norris’ P2 — saw the McLaren driver shave ten points of Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

On the other side of the garage, Sergio Pérez absolutely had a weekend to forget. Pérez was eliminated in Q1 at his home race, started at the back of the field, got into an on-track tussle of his own with Liam Lawson as the race unfolded — and yes there might be some underlying tension between those two given the persistent rumors swirling about the 2025 grid — that left the sidepod of his RB20 damaged, and when the team bolted on a set of softs in the late stages in an effort to snatch the fastest lap and deny either McLaren or Ferrari that bonus point, the damage to Pérez’s sidepod prevented him from getting the lap he needed.

His Sunday ended with him airing frustrations regarding Lawson’s driving, and facing more questions about his F1 future.

Things were hardly better for their sister team, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

Yuki Tsunoda’s hard crash near the end of Q2 on Saturday brought the second segment of qualifying to an end, and forced the VCARB mechanics to race against the clock to get his RB01 ready for the Mexico City Grand Prix … only to see Tsunoda make contact with Alexander Albon on the opening lap on the long run into Turn 1, and spin into the barrier and out of the race.

As for Lawson, his battle with Pérez left many key Red Bull figures frustrated, from Pérez to Dr. Helmut Marko and even Christian Horner. An on-board camera captured Lawson, um, let’s just say “keeping up foreign relations” with Pérez during an overtake of the Red Bull driver late in the race — that’s a Top Gun reference friends, look it up if you are confused — and then cameras in the paddock caught Lawson waiting for Horner following the race, the two then going into Horner’s office in the Red Bull hospitality space for a closed-door chat.

All of this likely made for a long flight to Brazil, but thankfully the two teams and the four drivers can quickly try and turn the page in São Paulo.

Can Sauber take care of some unfinished business?

“While it may not have been the best possible outcome in terms of end position, the positive is that we were able to fight more effectively than we have been able to recently. Our pace was in line with some of our closest competitors, which gives us confidence for the next rounds.”

These were the words of Valtteri Bottas following the Mexico City Grand Prix, as the Sauber veteran finished in P14, his best result since his 13th-place finish in the Canadian Grand Prix, back in early June.

Bottas and Sauber are still searching for their first points of the 2024 season, with the team’s best result of the campaign Zhou Guanyu’s P11 back in Bahrain to open the season. With just four race weekends left, Sauber has four Grands Prix, and a pair of F1 Sprint Races, to try and break this dismal run of form.

Recent upgrades, the improved pace Bottas showed in Mexico City, and an F1 Sprint weekend give the team some hope that that elusive first point can come this weekend.

Of course, there is another outstanding matter of business facing Sauber. While the team has already confirmed that Nico Hülkenberg will join the team for next season, they have yet to confirm who their second driver will be in 2025.

Bottas remains a candidate, along with some younger drivers such as Gabriel Bortoleto and the sport’s newest phenom Franco Colapinto.

Is this the week Sauber clears the to-do list by notching their first points of the year, and naming their second driver for 2025?

We can hope.

Can Haas continue their fine form?

Haas arrived in Austin for the United States Grand Prix sitting seventh in the Constructors’ Championship standings, three points behind VCARB.

Thanks to two tremendous race weekends for the team, they head to South America now ten points clear of VCARB in the standings, leading 46-36. Both Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished in the points in the F1 Sprint Race in Austin, and while only Hülkenberg scored in the United States Grand Prix, Haas saw both drivers finish in the points in Mexico City.

Hülkenberg came across the line in P9 on Sunday while Magnussen delivered his best drive of the season, finishing in seventh.

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu praised both drivers in his post-race report.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s another amazing result for this team. I’m so happy that everyone’s hard work is paying off, with the updates, and the car getting better. I’m so happy for Kevin, he drove very well in Austin, but we couldn’t quite deliver on Sunday, but this weekend he had an amazing qualifying – today everyone delivered,” said Komatsu. “His pace in the second stint was unbelievable, he was catching Verstappen in his Red Bull and was finishing just four seconds behind. That was probably the best I’ve seen Kevin drive, I’m so happy for him.

“In a way, Nico being disappointed with P9 is a great sign for the team as well. Today Kevin showed what the car is capable of, so we’ll look at the data to see why Nico couldn’t perform the way he could perform. I’m looking forward to going to Brazil, another Sprint weekend, and really trying to go for another double points finish,” added the Haas boss. “A huge congratulations to everyone and a big thank you.”

A season ago, Haas finished dead last in the standings. But thanks to their recent form, they might be closing in on a seventh-place finish this year.

Remember friends, it is an F1 Sprint Week

The final race of the triple-header brings an extra challenge for the teams and their drivers.

Only one hour of practice to get things tuned before the lap times count for real.

This weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix is the penultimate F1 Sprint Race weekend of the season, with the Qatar Grand Prix standing as the final F1 Sprint Race of the 2024 campaign. That means the teams get just one hour of practice before qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race on Friday afternoon.

But that also means that there are two points-scoring events, the F1 Sprint Race on Saturday, and the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday. With eight points going to the winner of the F1 Sprint Race, and 25 points on offer for the winner of the main event, the standings could look very different next Monday morning.

Should be fun.