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Hirakawa celebrates WEC title with Hartley and Buemi

Ryo Hirakawa made the right call by not pursuing a seat for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and heading to Monza for the WEC season finale instead.

On Sunday, he was crowned WEC world champion alongside Brendon Hartley and Sébastien Buemi!

The Toyota crew secured the title despite failing to score points in the race. Their championship lead was large enough, and the other Toyota failed to secure the second place it needed to win the title. In fact, it too failed to score.

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Norris on the podium in Brazil: Smashed his champagne bottle and charred his face with pyrotechnics

Lando Norris’s podium celebrations did not go to plan. It was only a matter of time before his trademark way of opening the champagne backfired and the bottle shattered. It happened in Sao Paulo, where he slammed the base of the bottle against the ground a little too hard.

A startled Norris stood up, only to put his face straight into the fireworks.

History was made in Sao Paulo as Toto Wolff matched two of F1’s greatest figures

Toto Wolff now has 17 world championship titles to his name as team principal (9 constructors’ and 8 drivers’).

The Mercedes boss has moved into joint first place on the all-time list — level with Formula 1 legends Enzo Ferrari and Ron Dennis! Wolff overtook Frank Williams this year, who has 16 world championship titles to his name.

17 – Enzo Ferrari, Ron Dennis, Toto Wolff
16 – Frank Williams
14 – Christian Horner
13 – Jean Todt, Colin Chapman
7 – Flavio Briatore
5 – Ken Tyrrell

Cadillac mechanics before the race: When all else fails, use a hammer

Valtteri Bottas took no part in Sunday’s race. After the installation laps, his mechanics were unable to remove the right-rear wheel. They could not free the seized wheel nut even with a hammer — a decidedly crude tool by Formula 1 standards.

It brought back memories of the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix for the Finn. On that occasion, Mercedes only managed to remove the nut back at the factory.

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Neymar waved the chequered flag at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Martin Brundle wanted to interview Neymar before the race. He stood beside him for a moment, then reflected: “I don’t think he even speaks English…”

The organisers honoured Neymar by giving him the chance to wave the chequered flag.

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Verstappen starts a new tradition in Sao Paulo

Verstappen drove a fantastic race. Only four drivers in F1 history have made it onto the podium from 21st on the grid. Verstappen joined Wolfgang von Trips, John Watson and Lewis Hamilton.

Incidentally, Max Verstappen’s last three appearances at Interlagos have produced the following results:

2024: 17 ➡️ 1 (+16)
2025: 19 ➡️ 3 (+16)
2026: 21 ➡️ 2 (+19)

Verstappen has started a new tradition.

The first showers are showing on the radar

The first showers have started appearing on the radar, seemingly out of nowhere.

The FIA’s weather forecast indicates that a passing front will bring moisture, gradually falling temperatures and light rain, which is expected to continue on and off for much of the day.

A more precise forecast of when showers will reach the circuit is not possible at this stage. However, any rain should be light, with an intensity of 0.5 to 1, so there is currently no risk of the start being delayed.

Russell: Racing will be too dangerous if conditions are the same as in qualifying

George Russell agrees with Isack Hadjar’s assessment that there was too much standing water on track in Q1 to race safely. “I love driving in the rain here but, at some point, if that was a race, there was no way we should be driving in that because the chances of seeing a really, really horrific incident are very, very high.”

Alonso stayed on the throttle longer than anyone else

Fernando Alonso was the bravest driver of all in qualifying. He was flat out for 28.5 per cent of the time, the highest figure in the field. That helped him get his Aston Martin into Q3.

George Russell, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar were next in that particular ranking.

Did Leclerc ask Vasseur to be godfather to his daughter Bianca?

Frédéric Vasseur faced a difficult press conference on Friday, dominated by the current situation at Ferrari and the tension between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

A light-hearted question about whether Leclerc had asked him to be godfather to his daughter Bianca must have come as a welcome relief to everyone present. “No, I have four children at home, and I don’t want to be the godfather of all the children of my drivers,” the Frenchman said with a laugh.

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