Brazilian GP: Norris wins Sprint as Antonelli points finger over Piastri crash

Michelle Foster
Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg crash

Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg crash

Lando Norris held off a charging Kimi Antonelli to win the Sprint in Brazil, while his main rival for the championship, Oscar Piastri, crashed and brought out the red flags.

The race ended under yellow flags with Gabriel Bortoleto suffering a brutal crash at the Senna Esses on the final lap. His Sauber was destroyed but thankfully the driver reported that he was okay.

Lando Norris extended his championship lead with Sprint win

Despite forecasts that a cyclone could disrupt Saturday’s running at the Interlagos circuit, the Sprint race got underway on an almost dry track, just a few damp patches around, as the rain had come and gone in the early hours of the morning. The wind, however, was blustery.

Lando Norris lined up on pole position ahead of Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri and George Russell. Interestingly five of the top ten went with the soft tyres, the left side of the grid, and the other five were on the mediums.

The grid lined up with Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz starting from the pit lane.

Norris got away brilliantly to lead ahead of Piastri and Russell with Max Verstappen up into sixth after overtaking Fernando Alonso on the run to Turn 1. They were ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Oliver Bearman went spinning, caught by Liam Lawson, and dropped to 18th place

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Despite spray in the third sector, notably out of the final corner, DRS was enabled at the start of lap 3. Norris had already broken out of Antonelli’s DRS range, but the Mercedes rookie was under threat from Piastri.

Chasing Antonelli, Piastri lost control of his McLaren through Turn 3 with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto crashing at the same corner within seconds of him. Antonelli reported that “Norris hit the kerb and a lot of water went on to the [racing] line”.

The Sprint was red flagged with Hulkenberg the only one of the three drivers who crashed able to return to the pit lane, his Sauber mechanics working to replace his rear wing.

The Sprint resumed at 11:35 local time with a rolling start on lap 9. Norris headed out soft tyres with Antonelli, Russell and Verstappen on the mediums. Alonso on the soft tyres challenged Verstappen for fifth but wasn’t able to muscle his way through. Leclerc, Hamilton and Lance Stroll ran in the final points-paying positions.

As the top four settled down, Norris was warned that the wind had picked up while Alonso came under attack from Leclerc. The Aston Martin had been told to lift and coast by his race engineer for performance.

His teammate Stroll was under threat from Pierre Gasly, who told Alpine that the Ferrari need to pass Alonso. The reply: “I’ll be sure to let him know.”

With four to go, Antonelli on the medium tyres was all over the rear of Norris’ McLaren as the Briton began to struggle with his soft rear tyres. But while Norris defended against the Mercedes driver, Alonso fell to Leclerc.

Brazilian local lad Gabriel Bortoleto suffered a huge crash at the Senna Esses on the final lap, but reported he was okay. He lost control of his Sauber, sent spinning into the inside barrier at speed before hurtling across the track into the outside barrier. It was a huge hit.

The race ended under yellow flags.

Norris clinched the victory ahead of Antonelli and Russell, his victory extended his lead in the championship over Piastri to nine points with four grands prix and a single Sprint remaining.

Verstappen was fourth ahead of Leclerc, Alonso, Hamilton with Gasly completing the points in eighth place.

Brazilian GP Sprint result

1 Lando Norris McLaren
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.845
3 George Russell Mercedes +2.318
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +4.423
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +16.483
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Marti +18.306
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +18.603
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +19.366
9 Lance Stroll Aston Marti +23.933
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +29.548
11 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +31.000
12 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +31.334
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +38.090
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +38.462
15 Carlos Sainz Williams +38.951
16 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +42.349
17 Alexander Albon Williams +55.456

Did not finish

Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber – crash
Franco Colapinto Alpine – crash
Oscar Piastri McLaren – crash

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