THE BIG PICTURE: One gets the feeling the world championship was dropped into Lando Norris's lap this weekend.

EVENT: Is there anyone in the world -- outside of the money counters -- who believe this race should not be the season finale?

TRACK: The newly cut grooves to disperse water build up caused headaches to many a team's setup decisions.

SPRINT SHOOTOUT: Norris flips the script from FP1 on Piastri, Antonelli is fast getting between the McLarens, and Verstappen is scratching his head.

SPRINT: The highlight (lowlight?) was yet another crash by Piastri.

SPRINT START: Despite the top eight alternating tire choice, they were all cautious at the start maintaining positions except for Verstappen getting by Alonso while further down Hamilton gains three spots.

QUALIFYING: Shockingly, stunningly, Verstappen does not make it out of Q1 and there were no mitigating circumstances. Hamilton does not make it out of Q2. Up front, Norris gets pole again and Antonelli is second again. Piastri only manages fourth, Leclerc does well in third, and Racing Bulls shine.

RACE: That was wildly entertaining from start to finish with passes, strategy calls, comeback drives, defense, controversy, and championship ramifications.

START: Norris gets a good jump but still moves over to block, Piastri gets a slow start and has to busy himself fighting off Hadjar, Hamilton damages his car and falls to the back, while Bortoleto's miserable home debut weekend gets even worse.

NORRIS: Like last year, he's closing out the season with the utmost confidence. And speed.

PIASTRI: Lost in the all the storylines of crashing and the penalty is the fact Oscar was not as fast as his teammate all the times it counted.

MCLAREN: In some ways, with a 24 point gap between their drivers, it alleviates some stress trying to make sure they keep it fair between them.

ANTONELLI: Overlooking the role he played in the chain reaction which eliminated Leclerc, this was by far Kimi's best performance. To hold off a hard charging, hungry Verstappen for those many laps for such a young rookie is extraordinary. And he's never even been to Interlagos before.

RUSSELL: Only the second time this year George was outdone by his rookie teammate all weekend, but still a strong weekend.

VERSTAPPEN: Max + Brazil + back of grid = masterful performance.

RED BULL: They made perhaps the worst setup mistake in years on Saturday. They made perhaps the best turnaround setup decisions on Sunday.

FERRARI: Well, they did win the World Endurance Championship. So, there's that...

BEARMAN: Another excellent performance by Oliver.

RACING BULLS: They were on fire this weekend.

HULKENBERG: With the whole crowd looking at his teammate, Nico was the one who scored points.

BORTELETO: It was not the worst debut for a local driver at his home track (that sad, tragic fate belongs to Ricardo Rodríguez at the 1962 Mexican GP), but it certainly was not the way Gabriel envisioned in his dreams.

GASLY: It is something when Pierre can take that slug and score a point. On both days.

ALBON: First fastest lap of his career.

FIA: The problem with Piastri's penalty is it doesn't take into account the holistic situation. It can be argued Piastri was far enough up initially to deserve room. But because he bailed to try to save the situation, a snapshot makes his positioning appear against the rules. He would have been better off being a jerk and just keep at it to grab the apex first and plow into Antonelli.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Juncture.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 58 -- The points swing between Piastri and Norris since Zandvoort.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time a driver started from pit lane and finished on the podium was Lewis Hamilton in the 2014 Hungarian GP. His car caught fire during Q1, so was relegated to the back row. The team decided to make changes and start him from the pit lane. With cold brakes and wet conditions, he spun off at turn two on the first lap, scrapping the wall, and lightly damaging his front wing. He eventually worked his way back up, helped by a safety car and others crashing, to finish third.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: After Ferrari president John Elkann made some of the most asinine comments in that team's history (and that's saying a lot!), @RobLMyers posted this:

Elkann is delusional if he thinks that Ferrari has made big steps forward with the car. Yes, the pit stops are good but the engineering is a joke. Look at Adami and Bozzi - utterly useless.

If you want progress, listen to the drivers and back them. #F1

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Red Bull race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to his driver, Max Verstappen, when he took the lead, "Something I didn't think I'd say Max at the end of the pitlane earlier. You are now race leader."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Ollie Bearman observing the cool, drizzly, cloudy, damp weather conditions before the start of the grand prix, "It is a British autumn day out there!"

SCHEDULE: The last break and then a tripleheader to decide the driver's title. It starts out at Las Vegas where Mercedes excelled last year and Verstappen always does well, but McLaren does not. Nonetheless, at this point, Verstappen is going to need help even if he can run the table.

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