Lando Norris increased his world title lead over Oscar Piastri to nine points after winning the São Paulo GP sprint despite his McLaren teammate crashing out.
In another major setback to the Australian driver’s fading title bid, two weeks after losing the championship lead to Norris, Piastri spun into the barrier at Turn 3 in damp conditions while running third on lap six.
Piastri contacted his front left wheel with the inside curb, causing water to splash up and sending his McLaren into the tire barrier.
Then, on the same lap and at the same corner, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg crashed, and the heaviest contact of the three was with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, with both cars going over the curb.
Under the ensuing red flag, Hulkenberg was able to drag his damaged car back to the pit lane for repairs to the rear wing, but Piastri and Colapinto were not present. The sprint was delayed for 22 minutes while the two standard cars were removed and the barrier at Turn 3 was repaired.
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Oscar Piastri crashed in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint at a crucial moment in the World Championship.
“I just dipped my wheels into the white line on the curb and went around,” Piastri said.
“A stupid mistake, or an unfortunate mistake. That’s all.”
Starting on slick tires on a track that was still damp but dry after the morning’s rain, Norris led the early laps from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli from pole position and was once again in front of the young Italian when the sprint resumed with a rolling start.
However, Antonelli’s performance was not easy for Norris. His challenge was also buoyed by the fact that Mercedes restarted on medium tires, which are more durable compared to McLaren’s soft tires.
However, Norris withstood the pressure in the closing stages to win by 0.845 seconds and make the most of Piastri’s crash to claim his second sprint win of the year ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix qualifying, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from 6pm.
And to further boost his title hopes, Norris extended his lead over Max Verstappen to 39 points, with the Dutchman finishing fourth behind George Russell’s Mercedes in third place.
Charles Leclerc overtook Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in the closing stages to take fifth place after a typically brave defense from the veteran Spaniard, while Lewis Hamilton moved up three places from 11th on the grid on the first lap to finish just behind the latter in seventh place.
Pierre Gasly scored Alpine’s final points, a rarity for an Enstone team that has struggled this season.
Brazil’s Gabriel Bortleto lost control of his Sauber while braking in the first turn as he tried to overtake Alex Albon’s Williams at the start of the final lap, causing a serious accident at high speed.
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Gabriel Bortleto went airborne after a failed overtaking attempt on the final lap of the São Paulo Sprint Race, causing a huge crash.
The Sauber lost control of its car on the outside line, veered to the left and crashed into the pit wall, then briefly flew into the air as it bounced back to the right, causing a violent impact to the barrier in the run-off area.
Bortleto reported over the team radio that he was feeling fine and was taken to the circuit medical center for mandatory precautionary tests before returning to the pit lane. Sauber mechanics now face a race against time to repair his badly damaged car so he can qualify for his first home race.
Norris tame ‘murky’ situation as Sprint again sacrifices Piastri
Although points were limited compared to Sunday’s full Grand Prix, the final two sprints had a huge impact on the three-way title race towards the end of the season, and were especially costly for Piastri.
His six-lap error at Sao Paulo on Saturday forced the retirement of two McLarens and left the road open for Verstappen to win, three weeks after he was finally blamed for an accident at the start of the sprint in Austin.
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In the Brazilian sprint race, Lando Norris holds onto pole position as Oliver Bearman is spun out by Liam Lawson.
Piastri’s early exit gave his teammate the full advantage this time, but the closeness of the incident was underlined by the fact that Norris also drove over the wet Turn 3 curb two cars in front on the same lap, making a splash but without any apparent problems.
Reflecting on his narrow victory over Antonelli, Norris said, “It was tough. Racing like this makes winning even more rewarding!”
“With Kimi here, he certainly hasn’t made my life easier. It’s one of those games where you have to push, because I know the guys behind you are going to push a little bit more.”
“It was sketchy! Even with the wind and bad tires, it was difficult.”
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Oscar Piastri has briefly explained his early crash in the São Paulo sprint race, leaving him further behind championship rival and teammate Lando Norris.
While McLaren mechanics work to repair the car ahead of main qualifying, Piastri has just a few hours to reassemble his team to ensure a grid position for Sunday’s main event.
“I want to put this behind (me),” Piastri said.
“More points will be awarded tomorrow, so the better we can get off to a good start in qualifying, the better the result will be.”
Verstappen’s desperate need for a strong second half heading into the event at Interlagos is even more acute given his much larger points difference to Norris after Sunday with three weeks left in the race weekend.
But the Dutchman downplayed the prospect of finding an answer to challenge McLaren, saying: “Like this, you’re in no man’s land. I really can’t stay with the players in front of me. I would like to do that.”
“If we can find out a little more, we might be able to compete with Mercedes.”
Sky Sports F1 Sao Paulo GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Saturday, November 8th
5pm: Sao Paulo GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Sao Paulo GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 9th
3:30pm: Sunday’s Grand Prix: Sao Paulo GP Build-up
5pm: Sao Paulo Grand Prix
7pm: Checkered flag: São Paulo GP reaction
8pm: Ted’s Notes
F1’s thrilling title race continues in Brazil with the São Paulo Grand Prix at 5pm on Sunday, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from 3.30pm. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
