By 
The worst-kept secret in the Formula 1 paddock a year ago was that Mercedes would be on the front foot this year, with the arrival of sweeping new technical regulations.
That secret has fully materialized on this day at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
A week after Kimi Antonelli clinched the Drivers’ Championship, the team secured the Constructors’ title at the São Paulo Grand Prix. While Lando Norris took the win at Interlagos, and the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar took the other two podium spots, the Silver Arrows got the results they needed from Antonelli and George Russell to clinch the team’s ninth Constructors’ Championship.
Russell crossed the finish line in P4, while Antonelli took the checkered flag down in P5.
The day began with Mercedes needing to outscore Ferrari by just three points to wrap up the team’s eighth Constructors’ Championship, and with both Antonelli and Russell starting inside the top ten — and Ferrari’s duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc starting at the back of the grid due to engine penalties — the door was open for the Silver Arrows to wrap things up at Interlagos.
However, it was not without some drama.
The race began with the field on the intermediate tires, due to wet conditions in São Paulo. Both Antonelli and Russell endured some tense moments in those wet conditions, with Antonelli spinning out of the lead in the early stages, and Russell spinning as well as he exited pit lane during a pit stop to switch over from the intermediate tires to the C5 softs. Mercedes stabilized things with both drivers running inside the top five on Lap 56, but Interlagos is known for dealing some wild cards each year.
And one more was looming, as dark clouds returned and drivers were being warned that heavier rain was on the horizon for the final laps.
On Lap 57, the rain arrived. Mercedes warned Antonelli that the intensity of the rain might require a stop for intermediate tires once more. The newly crowned Drivers’ Champion was all over the rear wing of Isack Hadjar for the final podium spot, pushing the Red Bull driver lap after lap as conditions worsened in the rain.
Both drivers started to wobble on Lap 62, and some drivers at the back of the field made the early gamble for intermediates, including Fernando Alonso, Leclerc, Liam Lawson, and even Russell.
Then Norris pitted from the lead on Lap 62, making the switch to the intermediates as well. Max Verstappen followed from P2, and both Hadjar and Antonelli made the same decision as well.
When the field stabilized, Mercedes instructed Antonelli to let Russell through into P4, releasing the veteran to try and chase down a podium spot so the Silver Arrows could celebrate in style. But that is when Russell reported something off with his W17 as well, similar to what Antonelli was reporting earlier in the race.
Adding to the complications was the fact that race control then announced that an investigation into Antonelli’s release out of the pits during his final pit stop would be investigated, to see if he was released in an unsafe manner. But with Antonelli running nearly 20 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, any potential penalty would be unlikely to change the result.
Eventually, Norris took the checkered flag as even heavier rain arrived, followed by Verstappen and then Hadjar. Russell held on for P4, while Antonelli crossed the line in fifth, the results enough to give Mercedes the title.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mercedes-clinches-f1-constructors-championship-184011350.html
