F1 BRAZIL GP: NORRIS WINS SPRINT RACE AS PIASTRI CRASHES OUT
Lando Norris has reinforced his Formula 1 championship lead after winning a red-flagged Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race at Interlagos, while title rival Oscar Piastri crashed out of third.
Norris started Saturday morning's 24-lap race from pole, with the Sao Paulo circuit still damp in places after overnight showers. The medium-shod Briton held the lead from soft tyre starter Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Piastri, who had also opted for mediums.
But Piastri then crucially crashed out of third on lap 6 after slipping on Turn 3's wet inside kerbs, veering into the outside wall. Behind the Australian, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto followed his example with 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 restart while behind him George Russell briefly snatched second away from Mercedes team-mate Antonelli, before the Italian rookie retaliated into Turn 4.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen managed to fend off Fernando Alonso for fourth, after having passed the Aston Martin driver at the start of the sprint - Alonso 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 barbed exchange between the Dutchman and his race engineer.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in sixth and seventh, with Hamilton having won several spots off the start after only qualifying in 11th on Friday.
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 sniffing around Norris' gearbox. But that was about as close as the teenager 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 capitalised on a slide for Alonso to breeze past the Spaniard for fifth, 10 seconds behind Verstappen, with Hamilton seventh.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly grabbed the final points place from Lance Stroll late on.
Norris' eight points for the sprint win and Piastri's non-score means the former extends his drivers' championship lead from one to nine points, while 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 Brazilian dramatically spinning out under braking for Turn 1 and almost collecting Williams' Alex Albon.
F1 Brazilian GP - Sprint race results
| Cla | Driver | # | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Pits | Points | Retirement | Chassis | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L. Norris McLaren | 4 | | 24 | - | 1 | 8 | McLaren | Mercedes | ||
| 2 | A. Antonelli Mercedes | 12 | | 24 | +0.845 0.845 | 0.845 | 1 | 7 | Mercedes | Mercedes | |
| 3 | G. Russell Mercedes | 63 | | 24 | +2.318 2.318 | 1.473 | 1 | 6 | Mercedes | Mercedes | |
| 4 | M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing | 1 | | 24 | +4.423 4.423 | 2.105 | 1 | 5 | Red Bull | Red Bull | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc Ferrari | 16 | | 24 | +16.483 16.483 | 12.060 | 1 | 4 | Ferrari | Ferrari | |
| 6 | F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing | 14 | | 24 | +18.306 18.306 | 1.823 | 1 | 3 | Aston Martin | Mercedes | |
| 7 | L. Hamilton Ferrari | 44 | | 24 | +18.603 18.603 | 0.297 | 1 | 2 | Ferrari | Ferrari | |
| 8 | P. Gasly Alpine | 10 | | 24 | +19.366 19.366 | 0.763 | 1 | 1 | Alpine | Renault | |
| 9 | L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing | 18 | | 24 | +23.933 23.933 | 4.567 | 1 | Aston Martin | Mercedes | ||
| 10 | I. Hadjar RB | 6 | | 24 | +29.548 29.548 | 5.615 | 1 | RB | Honda | ||
| 11 | E. Ocon Haas F1 Team | 31 | | 24 | +31.000 31.000 | 1.452 | 1 | Haas | Ferrari | ||
| 12 | O. Bearman Haas F1 Team | 87 | | 24 | +31.334 31.334 | 0.334 | 1 | Haas | Ferrari | ||
| 13 | L. Lawson RB | 30 | | 24 | +38.090 38.090 | 6.756 | 1 | RB | Honda | ||
| 14 | Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing | 22 | | 24 | +38.462 38.462 | 0.372 | 1 | Red Bull | Red Bull | ||
| 15 | C. Sainz Williams | 55 | | 24 | +38.951 38.951 | 0.489 | 1 | Williams | Mercedes | ||
| 16 | N. Hulkenberg Sauber | 27 | | 24 | +42.349 42.349 | 3.398 | 2 | Sauber | Ferrari | ||
| 17 | A. Albon Williams | 23 | | 24 | +55.456 55.456 | 13.107 | 2 | Williams | Mercedes | ||
| dnf | G. Bortoleto Sauber | 5 | | 23 | 1 lap | 1 | Sauber | Ferrari | |||
| dnf | O. Piastri McLaren | 81 | | 5 | 19 laps | Spun off | McLaren | Mercedes | |||
| dnf | F. Colapinto Alpine | 43 | | 5 | 19 laps | Spun off | Alpine | Renault |