Formula 1 in Brazil

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McLaren celebrated a double victory in the Brazil sprint.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

McLaren driver Lando Norris has secured victory in the sprint race in Brazil. The Briton won on Saturday ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri. Norris also gained further points on world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. The Dutchman was handed a five-second penalty and therefore only finished in fourth place.

Lando Norris won the Formula 1 sprint in Brazil ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri thanks to a stable order. Norris took the lead on Saturday in Sao Paulo three laps before the end of the race without any resistance and made up three points in the world championship battle with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. The Dutch defending champion crossed the finish line in third place, but slipped back one position behind Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) due to a time penalty at the end of the race.

McLaren celebrated a double victory in the Brazil sprint.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

For Norris, it was the first sprint win of his career, which means he is now 44 points behind Verstappen. "I'm not proud of it, I thank Oscar for it. Oscar would have deserved it, but we did what we had to do," said the Briton in the winner's interview. Qualifying for the Grand Prix on Sunday (18:00) will take place in Interlagos on Saturday (19:00). Verstappen, who failed to finish on the top step of the podium for the first time in the fifth of six sprints this season, will be moved back five places on the grid due to an engine change.

Here is the standings in the drivers' world championship:

In the short 24-lap race, the McLaren duo got away well from the front row of the grid. Behind them, Leclerc defended third place ahead of Verstappen. Pole-setter Piastri stayed ahead of Norris, with the championship runner-up having Leclerc and Verstappen big in his rear-view mirror. "Yes, I'm close," Norris radioed to the pits and added, referring to a position change with Piastri: "I thought we agreed that."

Perez fights for a point
The leading quartet completed their laps with small time gaps, McLaren only wanted to swap places on the last lap. Six laps before the end of the race, Verstappen passed Leclerc, but did not get any closer to Norris. Norris was only allowed to take the lead three laps before the end.

After that, a virtual safety car caused another exciting situation following a technical failure by Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg, when Verstappen almost overtook Piastri, even though the race had not yet been green-flagged. The stewards subsequently sanctioned him with a five-second penalty for driving too fast behind the "VSC".

Behind him, Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull started a race to catch up from 13th on the grid, and the Mexican still scored a point in eighth place.