Lando Norris has won the sprint in Sao Paulo. After retaining the lead off the start, Norris weathered a red flag and the late race advances of a charging Kimi Antonelli to claim his second sprint win of the season. With his teammate failing to score, Norris’s championship lead has just grown from one point to nine.
With rain having fallen for much of the morning, Interlagos had no shortage of moisture come the start of the sprint. It may have been dry enough for slick tyres, but with the track temperature having plummeted and standing water still present, there was no certainty as to which compound was optimal. Antonelli was the only one of the top three to opt for soft tyres, and after an initial burst of pace, the Mercedes driver found himself under pressure from Oscar Piastri.
That was until lap six when Piastri touched the kerb on the exit of turn three, spun into the barriers and crashed out. He was swiftly joined by Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto, who both came unstuck in exactly the same place. The incident brought out the red flag and has put yet another dent in Piastri’s championship hopes.
The red flag gave Kick Sauber the opportunity to repair Hulkenberg’s car, which allowed him to rejoin the race, albeit in last place. Max Verstappen and the Mercedes drivers’ took the opportunity to switch to the medium tyres, while Norris switched to softs.
The race resumed with a rolling start that allowed Norris to retain the lead. Russell nearly passed his teammate but had to settle for third, while Verstappen went in deep at turn one and found himself under immense pressure from Fernando Alonso. Verstappen hung on to retain fourth.
After that aggressive restart, Alonso found himself under pressure from both the Ferraris. Alonso was obstinate in his defence but eventually lost out to Charles Leclerc on lap 22. Alonso came home fifth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whose sliced his way through the opening lap traffic to climb from 11th to 7th. Pierre Gasly benefitted from the carnage ahead of him to claim the last points-paying position in eighth, ahead of Lance Stroll and Isack Hadjar. Esteban Ocon completed a memorable move on Liam Lawson at turn four on lap 17 en route to 11th ahead of his teammate Ollie Bearman.
Liam Lawson came home 13th ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. After qualifying last, Carlos Sainz started from the pit lane and recovered to 15th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. His valiant efforts in sprint qualifying ultimately amounted to very little as he finished 16th. Alex Albon finished 17th after narrowly avoiding a collision with Gabriel Bortoleto, who dove down the inside at the start of the final lap, only to lose traction and spear into the barriers. With his car severely damaged it remains unclear as to whether or not Bortoleto will be able to partake in qualifying later today.
This weekend is far from over, but with Norris having had the measure of both his title rivals thus far, it's safe to say Piastri and Verstappen have a lot of work to do if they’re to have any hope of catching him.
