Norris Triumphs in Sao Paulo Sprint, Narrowing Verstappen’s Lead
Lando Norris’s triumph in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race has narrowed Max Verstappen’s lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship to 45 points. The McLaren driver’s victory, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, marks his first career sprint race win.
Norris took the lead on lap 22 after Piastri swapped positions with him. The Briton then held off a challenge from Verstappen, who will start Sunday’s Grand Prix with a five-place grid penalty for an infringement of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) rules.
Piastri, who finished second, praised the team’s performance. “It was a great day for the team to score a lot of points,” said the Australian. “We showed we are in decent shape.”
Verstappen, who had won the previous four sprint races this year, admitted that it was a “tricky race.” “The pace was good, but it took quite a long time for me to pass Charles (Leclerc),” he said. “I had to wait for a mistake to pass him.”
McLaren’s one-two finish lifted them 35 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. George Russell came home sixth for Mercedes, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.
The race began in hot conditions, with the air temperature at 28 degrees Celsius and the track at 47 degrees. The two McLarens made a clean start, with Piastri covering off Norris while Leclerc resisted Verstappen’s early attack for third.
Norris was unhappy to be running behind Piastri and asked his team to request his teammate to move aside. However, it was not until lap 10 that Piastri was asked to “give Lando DRS” and switch places.
Norris remained stuck in second in Piastri’s “dirty air” until lap 22, when McLaren finally made the swap. Piastri was then vulnerable to Verstappen, who closed in on him before a VSC was deployed with two laps to go.
Verstappen complained that Piastri was running too slowly under the VSC, but the race went “green” again for a final flying lap. Norris held on to win by 0.593 seconds, with Piastri 1.5 seconds ahead of Verstappen.