Red Bull's risky set-up choice damages Verstappen's title fight

Nov 8, 2025 | Formula 1

What happened

Red Bull took a bold set-up decision between sprint and qualifying. The aim was to find more speed. Instead, it went wrong. Max Verstappen and his teammate were eliminated as early as Q1. For the first time in his Formula 1 career, Verstappen was stranded on pure pace on the first lap.

Direct championship implications

Verstappen suffered from poor driving dynamics in the sprint earlier in the day. He finished fifth and lost ground on the leader. After the disappointing qualifying, the points deficit continued to mount. The title race is now under a lot of pressure.

Where did it go wrong?

The team made significant adjustments. They used data from the set-up experiments of Yuki Tsunoda, who had started the sprint from the pitlane. Yet the change did not bring any improvement. The problems changed from poor suspension to excessive sliding.

• Faulty set-up changes between sprint and qualifying.
• Data derived from experiments used, but insufficiently applicable.
• The car started to slide too much instead of becoming more stable.
• Several bottom plates were tested with no obvious improvement.

Technical details and handling

Verstappen lost time mainly in corners with speeds between 100 and 200 km/h. His minimum speed was clearly lower in turns 1, 4 and 12. He also lost time due to a less sharp braking response in turn 9 and had less effective throttle response afterwards. That pattern made the lap consistently slower.

Reaction within the team

Team boss Laurent Mekies acknowledged that the changes were a risk. The aim was to get the car back into a window where it could fight more. That did not work out. Mekies indicated that sometimes risks are necessary, but this time it backfired. He called the adjustments not subtle fine-tuning, but substantial changes.

What does this mean for the race?

With the poor qualifying, Verstappen faces a difficult task on Sunday. There is currently no easy technical direction to quickly improve the car for the race. A start from the pitlane or other interventions could be considered, but first the team needs to analyse exactly what went wrong.

In a nutshell

The combination of bold set-up choices and unpredictable driving led to a dramatic qualifying session for Red Bull. Verstappen could not push and had to deliberately understeer the car to avoid incidents. The team faces the task of learning quickly from this mistake if they want to maintain the title race.

Norris takes pole in Brazil, Verstappen drops out

Nov 8, 2025 | Formula 1

Summary

Lando Norris captured a convincing pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri will start fourth later. Max Verstappen was already eliminated in Q1.

Norris made a mistake in his first Q3 attempt with a blocking at Turn 1. As a result, he fell back to place 10. Piastri was briefly on provisional pole. On his last fast lap, Norris recovered. He took pole by a margin of 0.174 seconds over Kimi Antonelli.

Charles Leclerc finished third. Piastri dropped back on his second fast lap and got no further than P4. Isack Hadjar finished handsomely fifth for Racing Bulls. George Russell finished sixth, after complaining of too little grip many times during qualifying. Russell tried with mediums on the final run, but it did not help.

Liam Lawson was seventh and Ollie Bearman eighth. Bearman was strong in Q1 and Q2 and was fast on his first Q3 lap, but others just rode better closing laps. Pierre Gasly and Nico Hülkenberg completed the top ten. Remarkably, neither Lewis Hamilton with Ferrari nor a Red Bull were in that top ten.

Bortoleto unhurt after monster crash in Brazilian sprint race

Nov 8, 2025 | Formula 1

Serious crash on last lap

Gabriel Bortoleto was badly damaged on the last lap of the sprint in Brazil. He was trying to overtake Alex Albon for tenth place. As he approached Williams at Turn 1, he went inside. Part of the track was still damp. As a result, he immediately lost control of his Sauber.

The car slammed nose first against the inside barrier and shot back across the track, narrowly missing Albon. This was followed by a second, much harder hit on the outside. The car tipped over and came to a halt in the run-out lane outside Turn 1. Bortoleto immediately reported to his team that he was okay.

Medical checks: green light

As a precaution, Bortoleto received checks at the medical centre. He was found to have no injuries and was given the green light. Franco Colapinto, who was involved in a crash at Turn 3 on lap six, was also examined and is fine.

Other incidents and implications for teams

On lap six, Nico Hülkenberg also lost control after a wet kerb at the exit of Turn 2 and ended up in the foul in Turn 3. Hülkenberg was able to resume the race, but finished at the back.

On the last lap, Albon dropped down the field as Bortoleto's front wing got stuck in his car. As a result, both Sauber and Alpine are under time pressure to repair damaged cars before Grand Prix qualifying.

Key facts

• Bortoleto crashed on the last lap but is unhurt after medical checks.
• Nico Hülkenberg crashed on lap six and was later able to return.
• Franco Colapinto was also examined and appeared unhurt.
• Albon lost positions as Bortoleto's front wing stuck in his car.
• Sauber and Alpine must make quick repairs before qualifying.

Norris extends lead after Piastri crash in Brazil

Nov 8, 2025 | Formula 1

Norris wins sprint, Piastri goes hard into wall

Lando Norris won the sprint in Brazil. He thus increased his lead in the championship.

Oscar Piastri slid through turn 3 in the early stages and ended up in the tyre step. He ran over the run-out kerb at Turn 2, lost control and got the rear off as he drove through displaced water. Moments later, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto also went off track at the same spot.

What exactly happened

On-board footage shows it clearly. Norris drove wide and almost completely crossed the kerb with his left wheel. As a result, water was thrown off the kerb onto the track. Kimi Antonelli, who was second between the two McLarens at the time, reported over the radio that Norris hit the kerb and blew a lot of water onto the track.

Antonelli deliberately took more distance from the kerbs that lap. He said he tried to avoid the kerbs throughout the race because it was very tricky on the wet surface. Piastri was the first car behind Norris to cross the wet section. His rear broke away and he spun.

Reactions to the incident

George Russell later joked and compared it to a banana peel from Mario Kart. He jokingly called Norris ‘the smartest one on the grid’. This was not meant seriously; there is nothing to suggest Norris was intentional. However, the effect of the displaced water was real and visible.

Max Verstappen drove almost the same line as Piastri and suffered a big slide that he just managed to catch. Fernando Alonso also went through the water with his left rear wheel, but stayed on track. Hulkenberg took slightly more kerb than Piastri and also lost control. Colapinto had a big moment earlier in Turn 1 and seemed to be possibly off-line with some water on his tyres as a result.

Who were affected?

• Oscar Piastri: crashed and had to retire.
• Nico Hulkenberg: later also lost control and went off track.
• Franco Colapinto: lost grip after an earlier big moment and ended up in the wall.
• Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso: got off with a scare but escaped damage.

Championship implications

Piastri afterwards called it a ‘stupid or unfortunate mistake’. The damage is extensive. Where he might have finished in the top three, he is now nine points behind Norris instead of three. That difference is immediately felt in the standings.

Norris himself said the kerb is normally used, including in qualifying. In wet conditions, on the contrary, you normally try to stay away from the kerbs. He indicated he ran slightly wide once and saw the water coming onto the track.