F1 Brazilian GP: Verstappen passes Norris at the start to win sprint race

Verstappen grabbed a much stronger launch off the line when the lights went out, and took advantage of a passive Norris to thread his Red Bull down the inside.

The threat of Norris subsided quickly when the McLaren was dispatched by George Russell at Turn 11, as the Mercedes pounced on a gap to move into second.

But Russell could not get near Verstappen and the Dutchman was given the opportunity to start expanding on his lead to fend off the slightest hint of a battle with DRS.

Russell's strong start to the 24-lap race soon faded and offered Norris the chance to re-pass after drawing closer with DRS, allowing safe passage for the McLaren driver into the runner-up position once more.

Verstappen was well ahead at this juncture, however, with over 1.4 seconds in hand while Norris could not make a concerted effort to close in on the Red Bull's tail.

A minor high-speed corner advantage in Norris' favour allowed a small glimmer of opportunity for McLaren that could not be delivered upon as Verstappen only had to respond in kind to the Bristol-born driver and keep the gap between 1.4s and 1.6s over the following tours.

After being given the chance to push the higher-speed corners, Verstappen could start to eke out the gap a little more on each lap and finally found a two-second cushion as the race moved towards its final quarter. This had been doubled at the chequered flag, as a final flourish gave Verstappen a 4.2-second lead at the end.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, the rest of the field at the start of the Sprint race

Norris thus had to be content with second, having been unchallenged from behind after passing Russell as the resurgent Sergio Perez was a long way behind after recovering third.

Perez fell behind both Mercedes drivers at the start of the race; Russell got past at the start and Lewis Hamilton made a brave move on the Mexican at Turn 4, but the W14 seemed to wane beyond the first lap and this offered Perez a way back into third.

With DRS, Perez nipped past Hamilton at Turn 1 having shown much stronger straight-line speed, and then began to reel in Russell for a move on the eighth lap. Although the Red Bull got through into Turn 1, Russell found enough downhill momentum to re-pass into Turn 4 with DRS.

Two laps later, Perez was offered the chance to pass Russell again - and on this occasion, was wise to the potential reversal into the next DRS zone and did enough to cover off the Briton.

Russell was unable to keep up with the leading trio and instead elected to cement fourth, while Charles Leclerc snatched ahead of Hamilton on lap 21 as the Mercedes struggled to find traction on the exit of the Senna S.

Their battle allowed Yuki Tsunoda to home in on the seven-time champion; although the Japanese driver had been passed by Leclerc at the start, he kept pace with the Ferrari and pounced when the two encountered a sluggish Hamilton.

Tsunoda got through Hamilton at the start of lap 22, using a DRS tow up the hill to draw alongside and capture the position into the opening corner.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14

Hamilton was able to hold on to seventh, as Carlos Sainz just about completed the scorers with eighth position as he warded off a late charge from Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo had earlier been in contention for eighth having battled Sainz, but a series of overtaking attempts left the AlphaTauri driver vulnerable through Turns 6 and 7 to countryman Oscar Piastri.

Piastri passed him with 10 laps to go, but Ricciardo managed to clear the McLaren with two laps remaining to close back in on Sainz.

The younger Australian managed to hold off a hard-charging Fernando Alonso for 10th, as the Spaniard attempted to carve his way through the pack after only qualifying 15th through his SQ1 clash with Esteban Ocon.

Lance Stroll followed his team-mate into 12th, as both Astons passed Pierre Gasly, with Ocon managing to collect 14th.

Alex Albon worked his way up to 14th, dispatching the medium-shod Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg - who were split by Zhou Guanyu.

Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant completed the finishers, as the latter was the only other medium-tyre runner bar the Haas duo.

Brazilian GP Sprint results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		24	-				8		Red Bull	Red Bull
2	L. Norris McLaren	4		24	+4.287 4.287	4.287			7		McLaren	Mercedes
3	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		24	+13.617 13.617	9.330			6		Red Bull	Red Bull
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		24	+25.879 25.879	12.262			5		Mercedes	Mercedes
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		24	+28.560 28.560	2.681			4		Ferrari	Ferrari
6	Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri	22		24	+29.210 29.210	0.650			3		AlphaTauri	Red Bull
7	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		24	+34.726 34.726	5.516			2		Mercedes	Mercedes
8	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		24	+35.106 35.106	0.380			1		Ferrari	Ferrari
9	D. Ricciardo AlphaTauri	3		24	+35.303 35.303	0.197					AlphaTauri	Red Bull
10	O. Piastri McLaren	81		24	+38.219 38.219	2.916					McLaren	Mercedes
11	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		24	+39.061 39.061	0.842					Aston Martin	Mercedes
12	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		24	+39.478 39.478	0.417					Aston Martin	Mercedes
13	P. Gasly Alpine	10		24	+40.621 40.621	1.143					Alpine	Renault
14	E. Ocon Alpine	31		24	+42.848 42.848	2.227					Alpine	Renault
15	A. Albon Williams	23		24	+43.394 43.394	0.546					Williams	Mercedes
16	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		24	+56.507 56.507	13.113					Haas	Ferrari
17	Z. Guanyu Alfa Romeo	24		24	+58.723 58.723	2.216					Alfa Romeo	Ferrari
18	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		24	+1'00.330 1'00.330	1.607					Haas	Ferrari
19	V. Bottas Alfa Romeo	77		24	+1'00.749 1'00.749	0.419					Alfa Romeo	Ferrari
20	L. Sargeant Williams	2		24	+1'00.945 1'00.945	0.196					Williams	Mercedes
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