'This one was for Gil' – Norris dedicates Sao Paulo GP win to late mentor de Ferran

Lando Norris says his victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was for Gil de Ferran, after winning the former McLaren sporting director’s home race for the first time.

De Ferran was at McLaren from 2018 until 2021, and again as an advisor from 2023 until his death at the end of that year. Norris completed a clean sweep of the Sprint weekend with victory at Interlagos, and says de Ferran was on his mind while he was leading in front of the Brazilian crowd.

“I did [have to work for it] – I was pushing,” Norris said. “An amazing race. Nice to win here in Brazil. It's an amazing track, amazing fans, and this one was for Gil, one of my mentors growing up a couple years ago. This one was for him. I'm sure he'd be very proud about it all, so I was thinking of that while we were driving. A perfect, perfect weekend.”

Norris took maximum points having started both races from pole position this weekend, but says it wasn’t a set of results that were easy to come by.

“I've been pretty satisfied the whole weekend, honestly," he said. "It's been a great day, a great weekend, all-in-all. I’d say challenging. It's not been completely straightforward. It's still been difficult out on track, but that makes it better.

“I think it was just a well-executed race – good start, good pit stops, good strategy, decent pace… I wouldn't say the pace was quite as good as what I would have liked today, so a few things to look into, but otherwise, every session that I needed to be on top, I was, and that's why I flew to Brazil.”

While Norris won by over 10 seconds from Kimi Antonelli, it was Max Verstappen’s performance – climbing through from the pit lane to finish right behind Antonelli in third – that caught his eye.

“It's a great win, but to be honest, seeing how quick Max was today — I’m pretty disappointed we weren’t quicker," he said. "That’s where my mind is at the minute – probably going to see the team, congratulate them and see where we weren’t quick enough, but that’s me. We’ll see what we can do.

“Obviously, not a long way to go [in the championship], but it can change so quickly, like we've seen today already. Just focus on myself, keep my head down, ignore everyone and keep pushing.”