Mercedes secured the 2026 Formula One constructors' championship at the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday, November 8, while McLaren's Lando Norris won a rain-affected race at Interlagos. George Russell finished fourth and his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli fifth, giving the team enough points to seal the title. Formula One and the sport's governing body, the FIA, confirmed the result after the 71-lap contest in Brazil.
It is Mercedes' ninth constructors' crown and its first since 2021, according to Formula One. Antonelli had already secured the drivers' championship at the preceding race in Mexico, so the São Paulo result completed a double championship season for the team. The constructors' competition rewards the combined results of each team's drivers across the season, rather than the winner of a single Grand Prix.
Norris started from pole position but lost the lead at the start as Antonelli moved ahead on a damp circuit. The track then dried enough for teams to switch from intermediate wet-weather tyres to slicks. Antonelli spun at Turn 1 on lap 20, and Norris took over the lead. A further spell of rain late in the race forced another change back to intermediate tyres, according to the FIA race report.
Norris crossed the finish line 14.602 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen for his third Grand Prix victory of the season. Verstappen had started 21st and recovered to second; teammate Isack Hadjar finished third, putting two Red Bull cars on the podium. McLaren's Oscar Piastri placed sixth. The official Formula One classification lists Russell fourth and Antonelli fifth after a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit release.
The Mercedes drivers' combined fourth and fifth places decided the team championship despite neither reaching the podium in São Paulo. Russell lost time in a spin at the pit-lane exit after changing to dry tyres, while Antonelli had led the opening phase before his own spin. Team principal Toto Wolff said in a Formula One interview that Mercedes was already examining its race performance and preparing for the next season, even as the team celebrated the title.
The championship result closes the fight for the teams' trophy while leaving individual races on the calendar. Formula One says the series next travels to the Las Vegas Grand Prix on the November 20–22 weekend.
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