Oscar Piastri gives up Brazil sprint win to Lando Norris, Max Verstappen faces investigation
Lando Norris takes more points out of F1 title rival Max Verstappen after Oscar Piastri moves aside.
Lando Norris took more points out of F1 title rival Max Verstappen's championship lead by heading a McLaren 1-2 in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race.
Norris claimed his first sprint victory after McLaren perfectly executed a team orders call for Oscar Piastri to move over and allow his teammate through on the run to Descido do Lago with two laps of the 24 to go.
2024 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Sprint Results
The timing of the coordinated pass was crucial, with a Virtual Safety Car deployed just seconds after the switch was completed when Nico Hulkenberg's Haas conked out.
Norris held off Piastri and Verstappen's Red Bull once the VSC ended on the final lap to take important points off his main rival and close the gap down to 45 points with four grand prix and one sprint race remaining.
"Not proud about it, but we worked well as a team together, so I thank Oscar. We’ve done a great job as a team. Today was the result that we wanted," Norris said in parc ferme.
"Oscar deserved it, but we did what we had to do. So I thank him and the team. We had great pace, so looking forward to qualifying and the race tomorrow."
However, there could be more drama to follow, with Verstappen under investigation for a potential VSC infringement.
The incident in question seems to be whether he exceeded the VSC pace delta when he hounded Piastri's McLaren along the Reta Oposta before the track went back to green.
Having successfully held off Verstappen for 18 laps, Charles Leclerc dramatically dropped back after being passed by the Dutchman as he took fourth, one place ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes' George Russell finished sixth ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, while Red Bull's Sergio Perez recovered from 13th with an aggressive drive to beat RB's Liam Lawson to the final point on offer in eighth.
After another disappointing qualifying result, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton lost ground at the start and could only finish 11th.
McLaren's maximum 15-point haul sees them strengthen their lead at the top of the constructors' championship, which now stands at 35 points over second-placed Ferrari.
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