Written by Ria Ann Sam, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
McLaren earned a 1-2 after Lando Norris emerged victorious in the São Paulo Sprint, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, while Max Verstappen took the final podium spot in third.
After an exciting Sprint Qualifying which saw rookies make it into SQ3, Oscar Piastri took pole position with teammate Lando Norris starting behind him, and Charles Leclerc in third.
Oliver Bearman is filling in for Kevin Magnussen this weekend after the Dane said he was ill; marking his third racing weekend in Formula One before his full season for Haas. He started his maiden sprint at São Paulo from tenth on the road.
Zhou Guanyu, Lance Stroll, and Fernando Alonso started from the pit lane, having changed their set-ups between sprint qualifying and the sprint race.
There were no immediate changes on the opening lap, which saw the top five hold positions. Bearman lost a couple of places, however, he quickly made up ground and started battling his teammate.
Verstappen scrapped for most of the race with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman was told to take his time and only overtake Leclerc when he had an opportunity. After 19 laps, Verstappen made his move and came out victorious. Leclerc and teammate Sainz seemed to struggle with pace during the 24-lap sprint.
Sergio Perez overtook both Haas cars on lap 11, putting him in ninth place, however, his good foe Liam Lawson proved a tough nut to crack. Yet, after one unsuccessful attempt earlier, Perez overtook Lawson on lap 20, giving him the final point. It was a battle of note, considering the acrimony between the two during Perez’s home weekend in Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton too overtook Nico Hulkenberg, who retired from the race due to an exhaust issue which brought out yellow flags. Hamilton quickly overtook Bearman as well, although this was only for a non-point-scoring position in 11th.
Norris and Piastri were told to swap positions on lap 22, with Piastri moving aside on the run down to turn four, allowing his teammate to move ahead.
Green flags were flown on the final lap, which allowed the top three to fight; Verstappen nearly overtook Piastri into turn four and they almost made contact, but the Australian was able to stay ahead.
Lando Norris won his very first sprint race, with teammate Oscar Piastri behind him — giving McLaren the 1-2 finish they desired, ahead of Verstappen in third.
Alpine scored their first sprint points this season, with Pierre Gasly who finished seventh, behind Hamiton’s teammate George Russell, and the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz. Perez took the final point in eighth position.
Verstappen was noted for a virtual safety car infringement post the chequered flag; with the verdict yet to be announced at the time of publishing.
Worryingly, the Ferraris didn’t seem to have much pace; what happens to them during the rest of the weekend remains to be seen. Will they have an answer to the resurgent McLaren pace? We will get the answer when the drivers return for qualifying later in the day, at 15:00 track time (18:00 GMT).
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