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.
Verstappen finished third on the road after a late overtake on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but was relegated to fourth two hours later after stewards handed him a five-second time penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement from the last lap when running too fast behind Piastri.
Norris’ first-ever Sprint win and Verstappen’s place-losing penalty means the Briton has trimmed his Red Bull rival’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship by three to 44 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 afterwards.
“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 lost that third place in a stewards’ investigation ahead of main qualifying at 6pm, live on Sky Sports F1due to a Virtual Safety Car infringement which saw the Red Bull driver fail to adhere to the required minimum lap time as he prepared for racing resume on the final lap when running close behind the second McLaren.
Verstappen drew up partially alongside Piastri before Turn Four just as the controlled-speed period was poised to end and, while he backed off and did not overtake once the VSC did conclude moments later, the stewards ruled “this is a breach and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained at that time”.
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 – drivers must not overtake and have to adhere to a mandated time on their steering wheel, designed to keep gaps between cars as they were before the caution period without the need for a full physical Safety Car to be deployed before racing resumes.
Leclerc had finished within five seconds of Verstappen so was promoted to third once the stewards’ penalty was applied.
With Ferrari’s pace of recent races nonetheless not materialising as expected in at least the short 24-lap Sprint, 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 finished where he qualified – 11th – after a poor start saw him lose early ground and the Mercedes driver will now hope for better as attention turns to the main Grand Prix.
How McLaren just judged it right to prioritise Norris and secure one-two
From his impressive pole, Piastri covered Norris off at the start by cutting left to move across the front of his team-mate and, whether pre-arranged coordination or not, the McLarens successfully maintained their one-two formation through the often-dramatic opening lap at Interlagos.
The same was true for Leclerc and Verstappen in third and fourth respectively behind, although the Red Bull briefly sensed a chance for an inside move on the Ferrari into Turn One before locking up on the brakes and losing momentum through the Senna S.
Running within one-second DRS range of his team-mate on lap six, Norris told the pit wall over team radio that “I’m close” to which his race engineer replied that “we understand, just keep an eye on Leclerc behind”.
One lap later and a confused-sounding Norris came back on the radio to say: “I’m not sure what I’m doing here mate. We spoke about this before.”
But with the McLarens unable to shake off the Ferrari and Red Bull behind, who were running in increasingly close company themselves with Verstappen appearing to have more pace, and then Norris then making a small error himself, the Briton’s race engineer Will Joseph said they would wait to make the switch on the final lap.
As it transpired, with Hulkenberg dropping out on lap 21 and parking in a place that could have risked a Safety Car – and therefore the prohibiting of overtaking – McLaren took their chance at the start of lap 22 to switch their drivers’ order while the now-second-placed Verstappen just out of DRS range as Piastri eased off the throttle down the backstraight and Norris swept by.
“We were monitoring the gaps to Leclerc before and Verstappen to see if we could have executed an easy overtake between Lando and Oscar, but actually the gap never materialised, so we needed to watch for a case of Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car,” explained McLaren team boss Andrea Stella to Sky Sports F1.
“It actually appeared due to the incident with the car stopping on track, so we immediately executed. It was well done by the team, but it would not be possible without both drivers working so cohesively.
“We are definitely very happy with the conversations that are happening right now, and with the support that Oscar is giving to Lando. This is the best result we could have for both championships.”
In addition to the small latest boost to Norris’ hopes of catching Verstappen in the four Grands Prix and one additional Sprint that now remains in 2024, McLaren increased their lead over Ferrari to 34 points, and over reigning champions Red Bull to a mighty 63 points, in their quest for a first Constructors’ Championship title since 1998.
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
