Norris wins Sao Paulo F1 Sprint race as Piastri crashes out

McLaren driver Lando Norris came out on top in the Sao Paulo F1 Sprint while his team-mate Oscar Piastri crashed out of the 24-lap race. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on the 100km dash.

Lando Norris started from pole position in the 24-lap Sao Paulo F1 Sprint and managed to keep the lead into Turn 1. Although Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggled for grip at the start, he managed to hold on to the second place, followed by Oscar Piastri and George Russell.

While the opening laps saw no major changes, Piastri crashed out on Lap 6 after he clipped the wet kerb on the left-hand side of the track at Turn 3. Piastri’s mistake was copied by Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto.

The trio of crashes forced the race direction to stop the race in order to clear the cars and repair the barriers. After the lengthy red flag period, the FIA opted for a rolling start.

Having started on mediums, Norris switched to the softs for the restart, and managed to keep the lead. Although the McLaren driver had been expected to dominate the race, he came under threat from Antonelli as his rears started to degrade.

The championship leader managed to resist the intense pressure from the Mercedes driver to win the 24-lap race, extending his championship lead to nine points.

Mercedes ended the sprint with a double podium as Russell completed the top three. Reigning champion Max Verstappen never looked able to fight for a podium position and crossed the finish line only fourth, ahead of Charles Leclerc,

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso endured a race-long battle with Leclerc, and lost out to the Monegasque but still took an encouraging sixth place.

Lewis Hamilton ran out of time to overtake Alonso, ending up seventh, while Pierre Gasly rounded out the points finishers in the sprint which ended under under double-waved yellow flags due to Gabriel Bortoleto’s shunt on the penultimate lap.