Race report

F1 Brazilian GP: Norris wins sprint after McLaren team orders - Verstappen fourth with penalty

Norris won his first F1 sprint race while Verstappen is penalised for a virtual safety car infringement

Lando Norris was waved by team-mate Oscar Piastri to win Formula 1’s 2024 Brazil sprint race, with the second McLaren saved from a Max Verstappen attack by a late virtual safety car.

However, the Red Bull driver was later handed a five-second penalty for his actions as the VSC was ending on the final lap. This dropped him to fourth, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

At the start, polesitter Piastri moved across to cut off Norris’s run to the inside at Turn 1, where the McLarens held their positions and Verstappen locked up unsuccessfully attacking Leclerc’s third place.

The McLaren pair moved slightly clear in the early laps, before Leclerc – who was unmoved by an early look from Verstappen into Turn 4 at the end of the track’s second straight – and the world champion closed back up.

Norris suggested he thought Piastri should have let him by in the opening quarter of the 24-lap contest, but the only order in the first half was for the leader to give his team-mate DRS after the second McLaren had fallen slightly away as the first 10 laps ended.

Leclerc pursued the McLarens closely through the next phase before a moment at the Senna S on lap 13 meant he had to defend against Verstappen to Turn 4 and the McLarens finally snapped the DRS threat from behind.

But, just as McLaren was telling Norris it expected to swap positions late in the race, Leclerc’s pace dipping meant Verstappen was finally able to fight by at Turn 4 with DRS on the outside line on lap 18.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Verstappen quickly tore a chunk from Norris’s lead ahead, as he continued to lap regularly within a second of his team-mate.

The McLaren pair pulled a two-second gap to Verstappen as lap 20 kicked off, before the Red Bull then closed in by a few tenths.

Then when Nico Hulkenberg pulled off at Turn 8 in his Haas, McLaren suddenly had to urgently swap the lead in fear of the VSC that eventually came.

On lap 22, Piastri obeyed the instruction to let Norris by, with Verstappen suddenly all over the now second McLaren and threatening massively in third.

But just before the penultimate lap kicked off, the VSC was activated and the race neutralised.

There was to be one last moment of action when the VSC ended as Norris made it to Turn 4 on the final lap, with Verstappen pulling out from behind Piastri’s slipstream as if to attack with the neutralisation still active.

When it went green, Norris powered clear easily to win by 0.5s, while Verstappen did not get to make his move as by this stage he and Piastri and reached Turn 4.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Soon after the race ended, it was announced that Verstappen’s actions were being investigated for a possible infringement.

“Yeah, not proud about it,” Norris said of the team orders. “But we work well as a team together. So, I thank Oscar, but we've done a great job as a team.

“Today was the result that we wanted. Oscar deserved it, but we're doing what we have to do, so I thank him and the team.

“We had great pace. Looking forward to qualifying [later on Saturday] and the race tomorrow.”

Ferrari’s expected race pace advantage never materialised, as Leclerc dropped back towards team-mate Carlos Sainz by the end – the Spaniard having been dropped quickly in the early laps.

George Russell was the lead Mercedes in sixth, with Pierre Gasly an impressive seventh for Alpine, while Sergio Perez fought his way up from his SQ2 exit to finish eighth and claim the final point.

Lewis Hamilton recovered a few spots from losing badly at the start, while in the other Haas Oliver Bearman also dropped back from running at the end of the top 10 early on.

Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race result

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	24	-				8		McLaren	Mercedes
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81	24	+0.593 0.593	0.593			7		McLaren	Mercedes
3	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	24	+1.497 1.497	0.904			6		Red Bull	Red Bull
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	24	+5.656 5.656	4.159			5		Ferrari	Ferrari
5	C. Sainz Ferrari	55	24	+7.224 7.224	1.568			4		Ferrari	Ferrari
6	G. Russell Mercedes	63	24	+12.475 12.475	5.251			3		Mercedes	Mercedes
7	P. Gasly Alpine	10	24	+18.161 18.161	5.686			2		Alpine	Renault
8	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11	24	+18.717 18.717	0.556			1		Red Bull	Red Bull
9	L. Lawson RB	30	24	+20.773 20.773	2.056					RB	Red Bull
10	A. Albon Williams	23	24	+24.606 24.606	3.833					Williams	Mercedes
11	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44	24	+29.764 29.764	5.158					Mercedes	Mercedes
12	F. Colapinto Williams	43	24	+33.233 33.233	3.469					Williams	Mercedes
13	E. Ocon Alpine	31	24	+34.128 34.128	0.895					Alpine	Renault
14	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	50	24	+35.507 35.507	1.379					Haas	Ferrari
15	Y. Tsunoda RB	22	24	+41.374 41.374	5.867					RB	Red Bull
16	V. Bottas Sauber	77	24	+43.231 43.231	1.857					Sauber	Ferrari
17	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24	24	+54.139 54.139	10.908					Sauber	Ferrari
18	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	24	+56.537 56.537	2.398					Aston Martin	Mercedes
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	24	+57.983 57.983	1.446					Aston Martin	Mercedes
dnf	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27	19	5 laps					Retirement	Haas	Ferrari
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