Lando Norris went against McLaren to "return the favour" to Oscar Piastri in Qatar sprint

Lando Norris has revealed he rejected instructions from McLaren as he let Oscar Piastri take the sprint race victory at the F1 Qatar Grand Prix.

Norris controlled the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix from pole position.

The McLaren driver compromised his own race by lifting off to give his teammate DRS to defend from the fast-charging George Russell in third.

Norris looked on course to take the sprint race win in Qatar - as he did in Brazil - up until the final corner.

On the approach to the finish line, Norris lifted off and allowed Piastri to overtake, giving the Australian an unlikely victory.

It seems Norris’ decision to hand Piastri the win stems from a similar situation in the Brazil sprint race.

In Brazil, Piastri moved over for Norris to aid his hopes in the F1 drivers’ championship.

Speaking after the sprint race in Qatar, Norris explained that he ignored calls from McLaren to remain in the lead to "return the favour" to Piastri.

“It was probably a bit closer than what I was wanting, but I planned to do it since Brazil, yeah, just what I thought was best, probably a bit sketchy,” Norris explained.

“The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it and we did, so honestly I don’t mind, I’m not here to win sprint races, I’m here to win races and a championship – but that’s not gone to plan you know, so I did the best we could and I look forward to tomorrow.”

McLaren one step closer to F1 title

McLaren’s 1-2 finish in the sprint race at the Lusail International Circuit means they are one step closer to their first F1 constructors’ title since 1998.

McLaren are now 30 points ahead of Ferrari going into tomorrow’s Qatar Grand Prix.

If McLaren outscore Ferrari by 15 points on Sunday, they will be crowned 2024 F1 constructors’ champions.

McLaren haven’t won the constructors’ title since 1998 with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Had McLaren not been disqualified from the 2007 constructors’ championship amid spygate, they would have won that title with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari’s wait for a constructors’ title stretches back to 2008 should they not be able to overcome McLaren this year.