Brazilian GP 2026 preview: world champion Antonelli in São Paulo

The Brazilian GP is round 20 of the 2026 season. The race takes place at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo. It starts on Sunday, 08.11.2026, at 18:00 German time. Qualifying is on Saturday, 07.11.2026, at 19:00. Free practice runs on Friday, 06.11.2026, at 16:30 and 20:00, and on Saturday, 07.11.2026, at 15:30.

In Germany, Sky Deutschland shows qualifying and the race live. In Austria, ServusTV broadcasts the race free-to-air, while Sky Österreich covers qualifying and the race. In Switzerland, qualifying and the race are expected to be shown on SRF and Sky Schweiz.

After round 19, the title is decided. Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been confirmed as world champion. Antonelli leads with 380 points and 9 wins. Max Verstappen is next on 261 points. Behind them are Lewis Hamilton on 259, George Russell on 250 and Charles Leclerc on 245 points. 4 races remain.

In recent rounds, Antonelli finished 3rd in Singapore, won in the United States and was 3rd again in Mexico City. Verstappen won in Singapore and Mexico City and took 3rd place at the United States GP. Leclerc finished 2nd in both Singapore and the United States.

Michael Schumacher holds the record for wins at this circuit with 4 victories. Hamilton has won 3 times here in 18 starts, with 7 podiums and 4 pole positions. A win would take Hamilton to 4 victories and draw him level with Schumacher. Verstappen also has 3 wins here, along with 7 podiums in 10 starts. He too is one win away from the record.

Verstappen won in 2024 from grid position 17 – no other winner here has started further back. Lando Norris won in 2025 from grid position 1. Fernando Alonso has stood on the podium 9 times in 22 starts, but a win here still eludes him.

In 19 of 42 races at this circuit, the driver starting from grid position 1 won – that is 45 per cent. In the last 10 races here, the winner came from grid position 1 on 7 occasions. New to São Paulo are Arvid Lindblad and Ryo Hirakawa: neither has contested a Grand Prix here yet.

Lewis Hamilton is set for his 400th Grand Prix start. Hamilton also holds the all-time records for wins (106), pole positions (108) and podiums (209). Lando Norris is one podium short of the 50 mark. Charles Leclerc stands at 24 pole positions. With his next win, Antonelli can reach the 10 mark. Verstappen stands at 74 wins.

At Mercedes, Antonelli leads Russell 14:5 in the race head-to-head, while qualifying stands at 11:8. It is tight at Ferrari: Hamilton leads Leclerc 10:9 in races, but Leclerc is ahead 10:9 in qualifying. Verstappen finished ahead of Isack Hadjar 13 times in 16 races together. At Aston Martin, Alonso out-qualified Lance Stroll 17 times. At McLaren, Norris leads Oscar Piastri 11:8 in races.