SAO PAULO (AP) — It's shaping up to be a big weekend for Formula 1 leader Lando Norris, and a frustrating one for four-time champion Max Verstappen.
The McLaren driver widened the gap to teammate Oscar Piastri to nine points by winning the sprint race of the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday and followed it up by also taking pole position for Sunday's grid.
“Slippery, inconsistent, but fun,” Norris said about his two drives. “We have been in very good form, the team has given us a great car.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, all but gave up hope of earning a fifth straight F1 title after only finishing 16th in qualifying. With three races left after this weekend, he is 39 points behind going into Sunday after coming fourth in the sprint race.
“I can forget about that,” Verstappen said when asked about his title chances. “Where we are starting, that is not going to work.”
Perhaps he shouldn't write off his chances so quickly. Last year Verstappen won in Brazil despite starting 17th on the grid.
Norris beat Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli in qualifying by 0.174 seconds at the partially wet Interlagos track. His teammate Piastri — who failed to finish the sprtin race — will start from fourth position.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start from third position, with Lewis Hamilton only managing 13th in a disappointing qualifying session.
Rain had been forecast for Sunday as well, but with those predictions now changing some drivers opted to use soft tires that they will now have to keep for the race. A year ago, the qualifying was moved to Sunday due to torrential downpours.
Norris finished ahead of Antonelli and Mercedes' George Russell in a sprint race that was also marked by crashes, including a hard hit of Sauber's home-crowd favorite Gabriel Bortoleto onto the wall in the final lap.
Antonelli finished only 0.845 second behind Norris after the McLaren driver lost some of his lead due to soft tires.
“Kimi certainly wasn't making my life easier,” Norris said after the sprint race. “Definitely not an easy race, always expect a difficult one in Brazil.”
Ferrari's cars failed to impress, with LeClerc and Hamilton finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.
Bortoleto could not take part in qualifying after his car was damaged in the crash and will start from the pit lane on Sunday when he races in front of his home fans for the first time.
The Brazilian and Argentine fans that make up the overwhelming majority in the stands at Interlagos might see their soccer rivalry quickly spill over into F1, as Alpine's Franco Colapinto will start in 18th, close to Bortoleto.
Norris is coming off a win in Mexico City. Piastri has struggled lately; he’s winless in five races and has not reached the podium since Monza in Italy two months ago when he finished third.
Asked about the incident that took him out of the sprint race, Piastri said: "A silly mistake really. An unfortunate mistake. So that’s it.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain gestures after winning the third place during the sprint race ahead of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix auto race at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Nov.8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia stands in the pit during a practice session for the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix auto race at Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain drives during the sprint race ahead of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix auto race at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.
As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.
It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.
Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.
Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.
"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”
Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.
But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.
“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”
Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.
Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.
The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.
Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.
Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”
Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.
The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.
The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.
Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.
The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.
Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.
Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”
“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”
The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.
The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.
But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.
Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.
“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
