F1 Sao Paulo GP: What We Learned From Drivers' Complaints About Their Cars

Interlagos delivered yet another wet race to remember, with McLaren's Lando Norris emerging victorious and the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar rounding out the podium places. 

But just like in the other races in the Formula 1 calendar, multiple drivers on the grid complained of performance issues in their cars.

Here's what we learned:

Verstappen had a mega start in Interlagos, helping him charge from 21st on the grid to a second-place finish. The Sao Paulo GP is becoming a signature race for the Dutchman, as you can remember from his thrilling win in 2024.

However, Verstappen encountered oversteer issues when he switched to the soft tyres in his second stint. The four-time World Champion says that they need to learn something about this issue, especially since the steering went back to normal when he returned to the intermediates in his final stint.

Verstappen: "When we switched to slicks, we struggled with a lot of oversteer, which made the car difficult to drive, so I felt there was potentially more in it. Once we switched back to the intermediates, things improved again."

It was almost a perfect afternoon in Interlagos for Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli taking the lead at the start. However, the World Champion seemed to have issues with the car's balance during his second stint in the slicks. Antonelli eventually spun out at Turn 1 on Lap 20 of the race, losing the lead to Norris.

Over the team radio, Peter "Bono" Bonnington said that the issue might be the tyres' temperatures, but Antonelli said that he felt something is wrong with the rear of his W17.  

Antonelli: "Once we switched to the Soft tyre, I was getting into a good rhythm, but I started to feel something strange with the rear of the car. It was very unstable, particularly in some of the high-speed corners, and I then had the spin. That flat-spotted the tyres and compromised the rest of the race."

Charles Leclerc struggled right at the start of the race, a stark contrast to the incredible opening stint of his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Monegasque driver likened his first stint on the inters to "driving on ice", as he struggled with tyre temperatures.

Leclerc eventually finished P8 to score a few points for the Prancing Horse, but it was still a disappointing weekend for them.

Leclerc: "Particularly at the start, we just have so many struggles in putting those tyres into temperature. It’s unbelievable, and it’s just undriveable. Lewis definitely found a way because he had an incredible start, but for me it was just like driving on ice."

While his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso was battling for points at the start, Lance Stroll had to exit the race on Lap 38, no thanks to another battery issue.  It has been an unfortunate stretch of races for the Canadian driver, who has DNF'd in three of the last four races.

The positive thing for him moving forward is the fact that Alonso finished the race and was in contention for points during the opening stints. 

Stroll: "We had to retire the car on Lap 38 due to a battery issue. It’s been another challenging weekend at the end of a long triple header, but we know the areas we need to work on for next year."

The Williams drivers started the race within the Top 12, well in position to take advantage of the wet conditions and score a championship point. But they were denied of that opportunity, as Alex Albon finished P15, while Carlos Sainz Jr. took the checkered flag in P19.

Sainz attributed his woes to a difficult opening stint, when he faced a couple of performance issues. 

Sainz: "Today was a difficult day. The first stint was tough on the inters, and I experienced a lot of understeer and graining with the front tyres."

Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas, who crashed in Mexico due to a suspension failure, did not even start the race in Interlagos. Apparently, his rear wheel had a stuck wheel nut on it, which the Cadillac mechanics couldn't remove before the start of the race.

It was another difficult weekend for the Finn.

Bottas: "It’s sad that we were unable to start the race today. Before the lap to the grid, we tried to change the tyre but couldn’t get the right rear wheel nut off. We’re not sure what caused it, but we will learn from it and hopefully not face a similar issue again."