Lando Norris extended his championship lead to nine points following the Sao Paulo sprint win as his McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri crashing out.
Norris started Saturday morning’s 24-lap race from pole, with the Sao Paulo circuit still damp in places following overnight showers. The medium-shod McLaren driver held the lead from soft tyre starter Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri, who had also opted for mediums.
But Piastri crashed out of third on lap 6 after slipping on Turn 3’s wet inside kerbs, going into the outside wall. Behind the McLaren driver, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto followed his example with nearly identical spins, with Hulkenberg escaping with minor repairs to his Sauber while Colapinto’s heavy smash in the Alpine brought out the red flag for barrier repairs.
Norris controlled his lead on a rolling lap 9 restart, while behind him George Russell briefly snatched second away from Mercedes teammate Antonelli, before the rookie attacked into Turn 4.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen managed to hold off Fernando Alonso for fourth, after having passed the Aston Martin driver at the start of the sprint – Alonso was unable to make his restart choice for the soft tyres pay off against the Red Bull on mediums.
But Verstappen, who had complained of his car’s lack of grip throughout Friday, found similar struggles to get his RB21 to turn in, leading to a tense exchange between the four-time champion and his race engineer.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in sixth and seventh, with Hamilton having won several positions off the start after only qualifying in P11.
At the front, Norris initially maintained easy control until he started losing the benefit of his fading soft tyres, with Antonelli’s longer-lasting mediums allowing him to get within DRS range.
Following a poor lap from the leader, lap 21 of 24 was the first opportunity for Antonelli to start challenging around Lando’s gearbox. But that was about as close as the Mercedes driver would get, with Norris hanging on to his first sprint win of the season.
Russell was third behind Antonelli, followed by a frustrated Verstappen. On lap 22, Leclerc gained on a slide from Alonso to move past the Aston Martin driver for fifth, ten seconds behind Verstappen, with Hamilton seventh.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took the final points place from Lance Stroll late on.
Lando’s eight points for the sprint win and Oscar’s non-score means he extends the drivers’ championship lead from one to nine points ahead of Saturday afternoon’s main qualifying session. Verstappen now trails Norris by 39 points in third.
Starting the final lap, home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out to follow Piastri and Colapinto into retirement, the Sauber dramatically spinning out under braking for Turn 1 and almost collecting Alex Albon.
So an important sprint win for Lando Norris. Nine points is significant and it will be fascinating if Oscar Piastri can bounce back from this disappointment to get a good grid slot for the main qualifying.
Sao Paulo Grand Prix, sprint results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 53:25.928
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.845s
3 George Russell Mercedes +1.473s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +2.105s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.060s
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +18.306s
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +18.603s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +19.366s
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +23.933s
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +29.548s
11 Esteban Ocon Haas +31.000s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +31.334s
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +38.090s
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +38.462s
15 Carlos Sainz Williams +38.951s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +42.349s
17 Alexander Albon Williams +55.456s
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine DNF
Lando Norris has taken victory in an action-packed Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the McLaren driver holding off Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli amid changing conditions in an event that saw the other papaya car of Oscar Piastri crash out early on.
While the Sprint got off to a relatively calm start – with Norris leading smoothly away from pole – the picture changed within a few laps when Piastri hit the barriers after getting on the damp kerbs at Turn 3, with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto subsequently going off at the same corner moments later.
The Sprint was subsequently red-flagged as the damage was cleared, but Norris again held the lead when the event resumed shortly afterwards. That position looked in doubt during the final laps, however, as the Briton struggled with his rear soft tyres and found himself under increasing pressure from Antonelli.
With the event ending under double yellow flags following a heavy crash for Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Norris ultimately held off Antonelli to take the win, the championship leader doing so with a margin of just 0.845s.
George Russell added to a solid outing for Mercedes in third, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took some valuable points in fourth should he hope to keep his title bid alive. Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari after a late pass on Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with the other Scuderia car of Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly following in seventh and eighth places.
With one only hour of practice taking place on Friday, a busy Sprint Qualifying session later in the day had seen Norris claim pole position for the 100-kilometre dash, a format that awards points to the top eight finishers from a maximum of eight for P1 down to one for P8.
The Briton’s closest challenger was Antonelli, whose own effort was just 0.097s adrift of Norris’ pace-setting time of 1m 09.243s. Behind them were the other respective McLaren and Mercedes cars of Piastri and Russell in third and fourth.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-wins-action-packed-sprint-in-sao-paulo-from-antonelli-as-piastri.14K4XHfYSHtFSL55dyKOWf
Oscar Piastri has crashed out of the Brazil Grand Prix sprint race, causing a red flag and adding pressure to his championship fight.
On the seventh lap of the sprint, the Australian driver dipped a tyre onto the kerb, picked up water and, as a result, crashed into the barriers on the inside of Turn 3. Closely following Piastri, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto were involved in the same incident as they both spun on the same point of the circuit.
Nico Hulkenberg managed to return to the pits and the team worked to repair the car during the red-flagged period. But for Piastri and Colapinto, their races were over.
Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle commented on the crash: “He’s dragged a little bit of water up off the kerb. That’s pretty damaging for Oscar Piastri in his quest for the world championship.”
He added: “That was so unlucky for all three of them because you can’t actually say they were doing anything wrong. It’s those that went on the kerb that found the water. The water’s not on the racetrack. Everybody that dipped a tyre onto that kerb got sent to the barriers.”
Heading into the race, Piastri was just one point behind Norris in the drivers’ standings as the battle for the title intensifies. Norris, who started the sprint race from pole position, was leading at the time of the crash and will have to defend the position at the race restart.
Piastri has struggled in recent weeks but felt more positive after practice 1 and sprint qualifying in Brazil.
“A couple of big moments on my first lap, which wasn’t ideal. Yeah, that was a bit of a shame, but ultimately I felt much happier today than the last couple of weeks,” the McLaren driver explained to the media after sprint qualifying.
“Practice went very well. I think sprint quali changed a few things, which took a little bit of getting used to again. But yeah, ultimately pretty happy. Would have liked a little bit more, but we can definitely fight with what we’ve got and there’s obviously a lot more points on Sunday.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/oscar-piastri-crashes-out-of-f1-brazilian-gp-sprint-race-in-championship-blow/10774856/
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri will “reset very quickly” after his Formula 1 Brazil sprint crash cost him eight championship points to winning team-mate Lando Norris.
On lap 6 of Saturday morning’s damp 24-lap contest, Piastri lost control of his McLaren on the wet kerbs on the inside of Turn 3. The Australian spun out and tagged the barriers to end his race, losing third position and with it six crucial points in the championship. Norris, meanwhile, won the sprint and increased his championship lead from one to nine points.
Behind Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto suffered nearly identical spins, with Colapinto’s heavy smash bringing out the red flag for barrier repairs.
With qualifying due up shortly, McLaren chief Stella backed Piastri to rebound quickly and said the most important element was the Australian appeared on the pace again this weekend after two off-kilter grands prix in Austin and Mexico.
“It was a great result for Lando, and a missed opportunity with Oscar,” Stella told F1 TV. “Conditions are tricky, you put the wheel on a kerb and that’s completely unforgiving, there’s no way to control the car.
“It happened to three drivers in the same lap, in the same point. So, it’s just unfortunate, but the most reassuring input thus far, is that Oscar has been fast. So we now look forward, we want to capitalise this speed in qualifying and then in the race tomorrow.”
The Italian added: “He will reset very quickly. I’m sure as soon as he’s back with the engineers, he’s thinking about what we can do for qualifying, what did we learn from the fuel-ups in the sprint. Racers, they reset, they go again. And you don’t have to carry any disappointment, because otherwise you’re just depowering yourself.
“We know that Oscar is very capable, very quick, so we repair the car and we go again.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/stella-piastri-reset-quickly-unforgiving-brazil-f1-crash/10774908/
Gabriel Bortoleto escaped a brutal crash on the final lap of the Brazil Grand Prix sprint race during a move on Williams driver Alex Albon. It ended with a heavy impact at Turn 1 of the Interlagos track.
Chasing Albon into the Senna S as the Brazilian hoped to overtake the British-Thai driver ahead of the chequered flag, Bortoleto dived for an overtake but lost traction as his car’s DRS closed and he struggled for traction on the damp asphalt off the racing line.
The car spun, hitting the inside of Turn 1 before ricocheting across the track to hit the outside wall. The violent shunt was strong enough to break the steering column and left debris from the Sauber across the circuit.
Some of this debris got stuck under Albon’s car, crippling his race and forcing him down the order. While Albon wrestled to bring his machine across the line in 15th after being lucky not to be collected by the Sauber, Bortoleto’s car sustained heavy damage.
The Brazilian climbed out of the car under his own power but was sent to the medical centre as a precaution. He has since been confirmed to be OK and uninjured. His car will have to undergo extensive repairs before qualifying for the grand prix later today, putting the team under major pressure. His place in qualifying is likely at risk because of this.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/gabriel-bortoleto-involved-in-violent-crash-during-brazil-sprint-race/10774882/