Piastri hands Norris sprint win, Verstappen penalised

Lando Norris won the 2024 Brazilian Formula 1 sprint race after swapping positions with team-mate Oscar PIastri late at Interlagos.

Max Verstappen nearly wrecked McLaren's 1-2 by getting between them late on, only to end up penalised and dropping to fourth.

As the lights went out, Piastri led from pole and immediately went to the inside of the esses to defend from team-mate Norris. 

Behind, Verstappen attempted to move down the inside of Leclerc but he locked up exiting Turn 1.

A long chase for third place would then follow - but the sprint was dominated by a fraught fight for the lead between the two papaya cars.

Norris would end up winning that fight through team orders while Piastri, though seemingly defiant for much of the race, settled for second after swapping positions on the straight down to Turn 4 on lap 22 of 24.

Verstappen had pried third place off Leclerc on lap 18 and, when McLaren swapped positions, the Dutchman was putting Piastri under pressure for second place. 

The virtual safety car was then deployed, giving Piastri a brief reprieve - but it resumed for a one-lap race to the finish line. 

Piastri hung on by just under a second to secure McLaren 15 points on Saturday.

After the race, it emerged that Verstappen was noted for a possible VSC infringement - and he was subsequently penalised for going 0.63 seconds under the permitted minimum time at the end of the VSC period when he briefly gained on Piastri. That led to a five-second penalty that dropped him to fourth.

How the tense McLaren battle unfolded

Piastri’s lap one dive to the inside in defence of the lead from Norris was perhaps a sign of things to come. 

By the end of lap one, the McLarens were out of DRS range with Leclerc, then Verstappen, in chase. 

“Yeah, I’m close,” Norris would soon state over the radio. He wanted Piastri to swap places.

“I thought we spoke about this,” was Norris’s next plea over the radio as he struggled in Piastri’s dirty air and fell out of his DRS range. 

On lap seven Norris was in DRS clutches of Leclerc while Verstappen also had DRS in chase - and this is where the championship contender was most vulnerable.

“Give Lando DRS” was the next order from McLaren: not an explicit demand to swap places but a ploy to give Norris some extra pace with Leclerc and Verstappen in chase. 

“With the gap to Leclerc, we’re happy, if we can, to hold these positions until the last lap,” was the next message from Norris’s race engineer Will Joseph over the pitwall. 

“Yeah, I will overtake,” replied a defiant Norris soon after.

That pressure-cooker of a situation was resolved on lap 22, with two laps remaining, when Piastri slowed on the straight to Turn 4 and let Norris past. 

This did however put Piastri right in the clutches of Verstappen.

McLaren’s blushes were however saved when the VSC was deployed for the stationary Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, which had rolled to a stop down the hill at the esses with a suspected exhaust issue.

The VSC was rescinded with less than one lap remaining and it looked like Verstappen had got the better of Piastri, but he held the Dutchman off to secure the one-two finish even before Verstappen's penalty.

Ferrari and Mercedes out of the fight

Leclerc was almost defenceless against Verstappen but more worrying was the relative lack of pace for Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz out of the lead battle in fifth.

Mercedes also struggled with George Russell another five seconds off Sainz in sixth place. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton lost three places at the start and finished back where he started in 11th, behind Alex Albon. 

Pierre Gasly was rapid for Alpine in seventh place and Sergio Perez overcame recent rival Liam Lawson for the final point in eighth.

The Mexican driver made a late lunge on Lawson on lap 15 but he locked up, and Lawson retook eighth. However, Perez recovered and secured the final point for Red Bull to leave Lawson ninth. 

Haas looked to be in contention for points before Perez’s recovery, but Ollie Bearman lost places at the end of the race to finish 14th behind Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto.

Aston Martin also had a tough race having had both cars start in the pitlane (for parc ferme changes). Fernando Alonso finished 18th, behind fellow pitlane starter Zhou Guanyu of Sauber, while Lance Stroll was last to the chequered flag in 19th.