Lando Norris claimed victory this afternoon in Brazil ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri as the McLaren team took maximum points against Max Verstappen after swapping drivers in the final laps. While Piastri led from pole and was the dominant driver, gains by Verstappen against Charles LeClerc late in the race forced McLaren to issue team orders, allowing Norris to overtake Piastri for the victory in an attempt to cut into the Dutch driver’s Championship lead.
HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from the Sao Paulo Sprint as McLaren driver switch secures Norris victory
Despite a late race virtual safety car, Verstappen was unable to mount a significant challenge to Piastri in the final lap, and as of publication is currently under investigation for an alleged VSC infringement for failing to drive to a set delta time. As such, the results for the event have yet to be finalized by the FIA.
***Update***
Max Verstappen has been handed a 5-second time penalty for failing to stay above the minimum delta time under a VSC, dropping his finishing position to forth, and handing third to Charles LeClerc. This now reduces the championship gap between Verstappen and Norris to 44 points.
Meanwhile, Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz ended the session forth (third, post Verstappen penalty) and fifth as neither Ferrari were able to match the pace of the McLarens or Verstappen, however LeClerc’s defense against Verstappen was strong and showed promise for race pace against the Red Bull in dirty air. With Verstappen’s pending 5-place grid penalty for Sunday, the mid-field scramble could prove to be valuable for Ferrari and McLaren as both look to eat into Verstappen’s championship lead as they battle for the constructors championship.
George Russell, Pierre Gasly, and Sergio Perez rounded out the points paying positions as Liam Lawson and Alex Albon rounded out the top 10. With the final results pending validation due to Verstappen’s investigation, we will be updating this story as it progresses.
Tune in this evening for the main race qualifying at 15:00 local time, we’ll be following along for all the action as it happens in Sao Paulo.
Free Practice Report – CLICK HERE
Sprint Qualifying Report – CLICK HERE
FORMULA 1 LENOVO GRANDE PRÊMIO DE SÃO PAULO 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Nov. 1st | Practice | 11:30 – 12:30 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 15:30 – 16:14 | |
| Nov. 2nd | Sprint | 11:00 – 12:00 |
| Qualifying | 15:00 – 16:00 | |
| Nov. 3rd | Race | 14:00 |
Sprint Shootout Results:
Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 24 | 29:46.045 | 8 |
2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 24 | +0.593s | 7 |
3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 24 | +5.656s | 6 |
4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 24 | +6.497s | 5 |
5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 24 | +7.224s | 4 |
6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 24 | +12.475s | 3 |
7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 24 | +18.161s | 2 |
8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 24 | +18.717s | 1 |
9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | 24 | +20.773s | 0 |
10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 24 | +24.606s | 0 |
11 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 24 | +29.764s | 0 |
12 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 24 | +33.233s | 0 |
13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 24 | +34.128s | 0 |
14 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 24 | +35.507s | 0 |
15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 24 | +41.374s | 0 |
16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 24 | +43.231s | 0 |
17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 24 | +54.139s | 0 |
18 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 24 | +56.537s | 0 |
19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 24 | +57.983s | 0 |
NC | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 19 | DNF | 0 |
