Mercedes Secure second in Constructors’ Championship After Strong Showing at São Paulo Grand Prix
São Paulo, Brazil – Mercedes left the 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix regaining second place in the Constructors’ Championship, following a race where Kimi Antonelli secured his first P2 finish in Formula 1 and George Russell finished fourth. The team collected a total of 43 points over the weekend, including results from Saturday’s Sprint race.
Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin described the result as “very welcome following a couple of difficult weekends in Austin and Mexico.” he acknowledged that the team wasn’t quick enough to challenge McLaren’s Norris, a pre-race expectation, but praised antonelli’s defense against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. “It was good to see Kimi keep Max behind at the end. He did so on a much older and harder tire; Max had great pace today so that was no easy task once the Red Bull had got onto the back of us.”
Russell faced a challenging race, losing a position at Turn 1 to a car on the Soft tyre and battling oversteer while navigating through traffic. The team opted for a two-stop strategy, but ultimately lacked the pace to challenge Verstappen. Russell successfully defended P4 from McLaren’s Piastri in the closing laps.
Antonelli’s race was disrupted by contact on the safety Car restart. “He was the middle one of three cars into turn one and when Piastri locked on the inside and ran into him, Kimi got knocked into Leclerc,” Shovlin explained. Despite the impact, Antonelli maintained his position to finish second.
Shovlin confirmed the team’s focus now shifts to securing P2 in the championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi. “Making sure we finish there when the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi is our aim. Having a lead over Red Bull and Ferrari as we head into the year-ending triple-header is positive, but we know how quickly things can change.” The team will aim for “another solid weekend” at the next race in Las Vegas.
