Lando Norris strengthened his grip on F1’s title battle with a commanding victory in a red-flagged Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint, while McLaren team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri saw his hopes dissolve in the barriers.
The 24-lap dash at Interlagos began on a still-damp circuit after overnight rain, with pole-sitter Norris on medium tyres fending off Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had gambled on softs, and Piastri close behind on mediums.
Piastri’s race came to a sudden halt on lap 6. The Australian hit the wet inside kerb at Turn 3, sending his McLaren spearing into the outside wall. Seconds later, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto suffered identical fates, with the latter’s heavy Alpine crash forcing race control to deploy the red flag for barrier repairs.
Hulkenberg limped back for repairs, but Colapinto and Piastri were both out. The incident proved costly for Piastri, whose zero-point haul widened Norris’s title advantage to nine points.
When the race resumed behind the Safety Car, Norris controlled the restart with trademark calm. Behind him, George Russell briefly swept past Antonelli for second, only for the 18-year-old Italian to retaliate decisively into Turn 4.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen, meanwhile, struggled for grip in his Red Bull and endured another tense radio exchange with his engineer after fending off Fernando Alonso for fourth.
Alonso’s switch to soft tyres for the restart failed to yield dividends, as he later slid wide and lost fifth place to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton, charging from 11th on the grid, climbed to seventh by the flag after a strong opening lap.
As the laps ticked down, Norris began to feel the strain of fading tyres, with Antonelli edging closer on his more durable mediums. By lap 21, the Italian rookie was within DRS range, but Norris kept his composure and managed his pace perfectly to secure his first Sprint victory of the season.
Antonelli and Russell completed the podium, with Verstappen fourth, Leclerc fifth, Alonso sixth, and Hamilton seventh. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly grabbed the final point after a late move on Lance Stroll.
The Sprint ended in further heartbreak for the home crowd when Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto spun out under braking for Turn 1 on the final lap, narrowly missing Alex Albon’s Williams.
Norris’s eight-point tally and Piastri’s crash give McLaren’s championship leader a valuable cushion heading into Sunday’s main race – and another psychological edge in the team’s increasingly tense title fight.
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