Piastri hands Norris victory in Interlagos sprint race · F1 · RaceFans

Oscar Piastri handed victory of the Interlagos sprint race to team mate Lando Norris as the pair finished ahead of Max Verstappen.

The McLaren pair led through the race. Piastri was ahead for most of the way, but the due swapped places in the closing laps.

Verstappen challenged Piastri for second place after a late Virtual Safety Car but was repelled, finishing third behind the two McLarens.

With 17 drivers lining up on the grid and three in the pit lane, all 20 cars in the field were fitted with medium tyres for the sprint race.

When the lights went out, pole winner Piastri held the lead into the first corner with team mate Norris slotting into second place behind. Charles Leclerc retained third as Max Verstappen also held fourth place despite a lock up under braking for the first corner.

Verstappen challenged Leclerc for second early on but could not get close enough to attempt a pass on the Ferrari. Piastri continued to lead over the first half of the race, but did not yield the position to his team mate.

Eventually on lap 12, a mistake from Leclerc dropped him out of DRS range of Norris ahead and brought him pressure from Verstappen, but the Red Bull was again unable to get close enough to him. Eventually, Verstappen got a great run out of the Senna Esses with seven laps remaining and used DRS to drive around the Ferrari to take third place.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Piastri had been encouraged to keep Norris behind within DRS range, but with Verstappen catching Norris the yellow flags appeared in the middle sector as Nico Hulkenberg pulled off the circuit with a problem. Fearing a Safety Car, McLaren ordered Piastri to hand over the lead to his team mate, which he did, before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed soon after.

The race restarted on the final lap, with Verstappen having a half-hearted look up the inside of Piastri into Descida do Lago. But the McLarens held firm and completed the final lap with Norris taking the full eight points with the victory. Piastri held off Verstappen to take second place.

Leclerc led team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr home in fifth with George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez completing the points scorers in eighth. Liam Lawson and Alexander Albon rounded out the top ten.

After the race, the stewards announced Verstappen will be investigated for a potential breach of the Virtual Safety Car procedure.