Oscar Piastri let title-chasing Lando Norris through to win the Sprint and give his McLaren team-mate a potentially crucial extra point in his championship chase against Max Verstappen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
With Verstappen finishing third – but under investigation by the stewards for an alleged Virtual Safety Car infringement on the final lap behind Piastri – after overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc late on, Norris has trimmed his Red Bull rival’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship by two to 45 points ahead of Sunday’s main race – for which the Dutchman carries a five-place grid penalty for an engine change.
Having suggested after qualifying ahead of Norris on Sprint pole that he would be willing to cede the Saturday win to his team-mate, Piastri led the race’s first 21 laps before duly letting the Briton through down Interlagos’ back straight in a choreographed switch of position overseen by the McLaren pit wall.
“Not proud about it, but we worked well as a team together, so I thank Oscar,” said Norris. “We’ve done a great job as a team. Today was the result that we wanted. Oscar deserved it, but we did what we had to do.”
Just before that switch, Verstappen had started to look as though he could threaten Norris’ second place and McLaren’s one-two having overtaken Leclerc into Turn Four on lap 18 after a race-long pursuit of the Ferrari driver finally paid off.
With Norris soon eased through to the lead, Verstappen ultimately finished on Piastri’s tail for second place.
However, the Dutchman’s third place is at risk in a stewards’ investigation ahead of main qualifying at 6pm over an alleged Virtual Safety Car infringement from the Red Bull driver on the final lap when he drew up partially alongside Piastri before Turn Four just as the controlled-speed period was poised to end.
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Karun Chandhok was at the SkyPad to assess whether Max Verstappen’s attempted overtake on Oscar Piastri was fair after the virtual safety car ended.
Under a VSC – which was called here when Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas stopped in what was deemed a dangerous position at the side of the track – all drivers have to adhere to a mandated time on their steering wheel, designed to keep the gaps as they were before the caution period without the need for a full physical Safety Car before racing resumes.
Verstappen did not overtake the McLaren and then appeared to drop back to re-establish his previous deficit once the VSC ended, but stewards will now determine whether that still constitutes any kind of penalty.
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Oscar Piastri held on to the lead from McLaren team-mate Lando Norris on the opening lap of the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
With Leclerc having to settle for fourth after Ferrari’s race pace of recent races did not materialise as expected, Carlos Sainz was fifth in the sister car with George Russell sixth in the lead Mercedes.
Pierre Gasly held his grid position of seventh to give Alpine two crucial extra points amid their disappointing season, while Sergio Perez finally had something to smile about in the second Red Bull as he raced well from 13th to the final Sprint point in eighth. Perez’s recovery from his Sprint Qualifying disappointment included a move on RB’s Liam Lawson into Turn One, a week after the pair had a heated battle on-track in Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of points from an early qualifying exit, however, fell flat after a poor start dropped him from 11th to 14th on lap one. Hamilton ended up recovering his grid position, but that was still three places outside of the points-paying positions and he will now hope for better as attention turns to the main event of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
More to follow…
Sky Sports F1’s live Sao Paulo GP schedule
Saturday November 2
5pm: Sao Paulo Qualifying build-up
6pm: Sao Paulo GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday November 3
3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up
5pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
7pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo GP reaction
8pm: Ted’s Notebook
Formula 1’s Americas triple header concludes this weekend with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime